Stout

Can somebody explain to me exactly what this means :Notes
Toast the oats. 350* for 20m, turning a few times. Leave in a sack for three days.
Yes, that's an eight-hour rest! Dough-in at night, mash-our with some coffee and a biscuit ????

Thanks
Mike



Scottish Stoat

Oatmeal Stout (13 C)



Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 20.82 l
Boil Size: 25.72 l
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 22.64 l
Final Bottling Vol: 20.82 l
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage


Date: 06 Dec 2011
Brewer: Taylor
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: My Equipment
Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 73.2 %
Taste Rating: 0.0


Taste Notes: Nice body, roasty aroma. A bit of roasty sour in the taste (some phytase action in that long rest?), with a mellow grain and malt finish. Definitely a keeper.


Prepare for Brewing

◯ Clean and Prepare Brewing Equipment
◯ Total Water Needed: 32.88 l
◯
Water Prep


Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

20.82 l Scottish Water 1 -


Mash or Steep Grains

Mash Ingredients


Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

4.99 kg Pale Malt, Golden Promise (4.7 EBC) Grain 2 69.8 %
1.36 kg Oats, Toasted (19.7 EBC) Grain 3 19.0 %
0.45 kg Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC) Grain 4 6.3 %
0.23 kg Roasted Barley (591.0 EBC) Grain 5 3.2 %
0.11 kg Black (Patent) Malt (985.0 EBC) Grain 6 1.6 %

Mash Steps


Name

Description

Step Temperature

Step Time

Mash In Add 10.41 l of water at 64.1 C 54.4 C 20 min
Step Heat to 65.6 C over 0 min 65.6 C 0 min
Step Add 5.68 l of water at 73.1 C 67.8 C 480 min
Mash Out Decoct 6.62 l of mash and boil it  77.8 C 10 min
◯ Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 16.79l) of 75.6 C water

◯ Add water to achieve boil volume of 25.72 l
◯ Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.062 SG

Boil Ingredients


Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

7.09 g Magnum [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 9.6 IBUs
35.44 g Magnum [13.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 8 37.1 IBUs
2.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) Other 9 -
◯ Estimated Post Boil Vol: 22.64 l and Est Post Boil Gravity: 1.073 SG

Cool and Transfer Wort
◯ Cool wort to fermentation temperature
◯ Transfer wort to fermenter
◯ Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 20.82 l

Pitch Yeast and Measure Gravity and Volume

Fermentation Ingredients


Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

1.0 pkg Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728) [1000.00 ml] Yeast 10 -
◯ Measure Actual Original Gravity _______    (Target: 1.073 SG)
◯ Measure Actual Batch Volume _______    (Target: 20.82 l)
◯ Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 20.82 l

Fermentation
◯ 06 Dec 2011 - Primary Fermentation (4.00 days at 19.4 C ending at 19.4 C)
◯ 10 Dec 2011 - Secondary Fermentation (10.00 days at 19.4 C ending at 19.4 C)


Dry Hop and Bottle/Keg
◯ Measure Final Gravity: _________  (Estimate: 1.018 SG)
◯ Date Bottled/Kegged: 20 Dec 2011 - Carbonation: Bottle with 97.39 g Corn Sugar
◯ Age beer for 30.00 days at 18.3 C
◯ 19 Jan 2012 - Drink and enjoy!

Notes
Toast the oats. 350* for 20m, turning a few times. Leave in a sack for three days.
Yes, that's an eight-hour rest! Dough-in at night, mash-our with some coffee and a biscuit.

1.  Toasting the oats will give them more flavor (think of oatmeal cookies) when brewing.  Allowing it to air for a few days gives the oats a chance to loose some of the acrid sharp flavors and aromas that come with the toasting.  I often toast mine similarly, doing a fairly good sized batch and allowing it to air in a loose sack before storing in a sealed container. 

2.  The recipe author is doing a prolonged mash, either he does it overnight for convenience or he does it to allow some development of lactic acid from the grains (many grains have lactobacillus already present) to fill out the flavor.  My guess is it is an attempt to put in some lactic acid flavors and then halting the process by killing the lactobacillus during the boil. 

Thanks for that Oginme,

I was a bit confused by the author's wording.
I think I have my head round the process now.

Thanks again

Hi again,
Having read this process again, I wonder how the author maintains his mash temperature over an eight hour period?
Would this require some pretty sophisticated equipment?
Do you think this is really necessary to achieve a decent result?

As for maintaining temperature overnight, most likely he does not.  In fact, Acidophillus bacteria are more active at temperatures below 44C (111F) and the author is probably using the temperature drop to spur that particular activity.

There are other ways of adding lactic acid notes to your brew, but not having done them personally, I wouldn't know where to point you to to get a similar result. 

The other thing to keep in mind is that this is only one person's process.  You may be able to achieve a perfectly acceptable result with a single infusion, 60 minute mash.  Who knows, it may even be better than the original.

Thanks again,

I'm going to try the single infusion (nothing ventured nothing gained).
I have an ale brew to do first then I'll give it a go. I'll post the results and let you know how I get on.