All-grain · 20 L (5.3 gal)
Oatmeal Stout Recipe
BJCP 16B · Oatmeal Stout
Black and silky, with chocolate, latte and a smooth finish. The oats give it a creamy body that a dry stout doesn't have.
Oatmeal Stout recipe by the numbers
- Batch size
- 20 L (5.3 gal)
- Original gravity
- 1.051
- Final gravity
- 1.016
- ABV
- 4.6%
- Bitterness
- 28 IBU
- Color
- 29 SRM (58 EBC)
- Mash
- 67 °C (153 °F) for 60 minutes
- Boil
- 60 minutes
- Fermentation
- 18 °C (64 °F) for 14 days
- Bottling
- 4.5 g of sugar per liter (0.6 oz/gal)
About 160 kcal per 330 ml (11 oz) bottle, worked out from its original and final gravity.
Oatmeal Stout recipe: ingredients and steps
Batch size
Recipe for 20 liters (5.3 US gallons) into the fermenter.
Malts
| Malt | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Pale ale malt6 EBC (3 °L) | 3.60 kg (7.94 lb) | 75.0% |
| Flaked oats2 EBC (1 °L) | 0.50 kg (1.10 lb) | 10.4% |
| Crystal (caramel) malt120 EBC (46 °L) | 0.25 kg (0.55 lb) | 5.2% |
| Chocolate malt900 EBC (338 °L) | 0.30 kg (0.66 lb) | 6.3% |
| Roasted barley1100 EBC (413 °L) | 0.15 kg (0.33 lb) | 3.1% |
Hops
| Hop | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| East Kent Goldings5.5% alpha acids | 45 g (1.59 oz) | 60 minBittering |
You will also need
Yeast: Dry English ale yeast, such as S-04: one 11.5 g (0.4 oz) packet.
Water: About 29 L (7.7 gal): 14.5 L (3.8 gal) for the mash and 14.5 L (3.8 gal) for the sparge.
Priming sugar: 4.5 g of table sugar per liter of beer bottled (0.6 oz/gal), about 85 g (3.0 oz) for 19 L (5.0 gal): low carbonation, so the texture comes through.
Hops: pellets, kept in the freezer until brew day.
Step by step
- Heat 14.5 L (3.8 gal) of water to 73 °C (163 °F), add the crushed malts and the flaked oats and stir well. It should settle at about 67 °C (153 °F): hold that temperature for 60 minutes, covered. A high mash leaves sugars the yeast doesn't eat, and they give the beer body.
- Lift out the grain and sparge it with 14.5 L (3.8 gal) of water at 76 °C (169 °F), slowly: the oats make it sticky. If it gets stuck, add a handful of rice hulls. You should collect about 24 L (6.3 gal) of wort at 1.044–1.045.
- Boil for 60 minutes, uncovered, with the 45 g (1.6 oz) of East Kent Goldings in from the start.
- Chill to 18 °C (64 °F), transfer about 20 L (5.3 gal) to the sanitized fermenter and take a gravity reading: it should be around 1.051.
- Pitch the yeast and ferment at 18 °C (64 °F) for about two weeks.
- The gravity finishes high, at 1.016: that's normal with this mash and this yeast. Once it has held steady for three days in a row, it's done.
- Bottle with the sugar dissolved in a little boiled water and let it carbonate for two weeks at room temperature. It improves with another month in the bottle; serve it cool, not ice-cold, at 10–12 °C (50–54 °F).
If you toast the flaked oats in the oven at 150 °C (302 °F) for about 20 minutes, until they smell like cookies, the beer picks up a very pleasant toasted-cereal flavor.
Chocolate malt gives the cocoa and roasted barley the touch of coffee. If your Goldings isn't 5.5% alpha acids, use 45 × 5.5 ÷ your percentage to get the grams and keep the 28 IBU.
The style: Oatmeal Stout (BJCP 16B), with its history, its numbers and other ways to brew it.
Different setup? Recalculate with the water calculator, the IBU calculator and the priming sugar calculator.
Rating recipes and keeping a brew log need an account, which is only available in Spanish for now. English accounts are coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
How strong will this Oatmeal Stout be?
About 4.6% ABV: it starts at 1.051 and finishes at 1.016, and (OG − FG) × 131.25 gives that percentage.
How long until it is ready?
One brew day, fermentation at 18 °C (64 °F) for 14 days and about two weeks in the bottle: give it a little over a month.
Can I use a different bittering hop?
Yes. What matters is keeping the bitterness: if you use another hop instead of East Kent Goldings at 5.5% alpha acids, work out the grams from its alpha acids (or with the IBU calculator) to stay at about 28 IBUs.
What if my system does not get 72% efficiency?
Your gravity will come out different. Scale the base malt up or down (or add a little dry malt extract to the boil if you fall short) and recalculate the water with the calculator.
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Reference style: Oatmeal Stout in the BJCP guidelines, 2021 edition. Original recipe by Hacer Cerveza Casera, designed for a homebrew setup.