Sensing that I was running perilously low on my Chocolate Coffee Stout in the keezer I had no other choice but to spend my day off brewing up an Oatmeal Stout. I consider it a heinous beer crime to not have a steady supply of stout on hand during the winter months. Having a dark glass of smoothness is comforting on a cold winters day and to go without is a thought that I just can’t bear.
So I got to work, with a freezing fog layering my valley and a slippery deck beneath my feet, I lit my strike water and hurried back inside for the long wait of 40 degree water slowly heating to 168. In this time I pulled out the main star of my Stout, the Flaked Oats. Now a trick I learned some time ago is to toast your oats in the oven before going in the mash. I put mine in at 300 degrees and let them roast for about 30 to 40 minutes until they are golden brown and smelling awesome. I have found that by doing this it makes your Oatmeal Stout a little more Oatmeal Cookie like in aroma and flavor. Perfection in my book.
The rest of the brew day went with off without a hitch. One bit of advice though…When brewing outside in sub-freezing tempatures, Don’t neglect your hose!!!! Every half hour or so I will run fresh water to purge the line to avoid ice build up. Before I knew this trick I went to run my imersion chiller and I got nothing due to a frozen hose. Nobody wants a frozen hose.
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