With everything going on in 2020 and now what feels like an unusually cold fall here in the Midwest, I really want to brew a big, dark, sweet, smooth, luscious beer to help keep me sane as winter approaches. I found this recipe for a high-ish gravity oatmeal milk stout from The Growler, originally credited to Michael Dawson's book. I think I'd like to do this this weekend, so I've slightly tweaked it to make a 6-gallon batch and to account for the fact that I generally get poor efficiency on high-gravity beers:
15 lbs Mariss Otter
1.75 lbs Flaked Oats
1.5 lbs Blackprinz
1.5 lbs Pale Chocolate
1 lb Crystal 120
1 lb Lactose
1 oz Bravo (or any ~15 AA bittering hop) @ 60 mins
Mash with 6.75 gallons @ 155 F, Batch sparge with 4 gallons.
Pitch US-05 from slurry off my last batch, ferment around 66 F.
OG 1.083/FG 1.023/8% ABV/42 IBU/SRM 50
I'd appreciate any feedback on this- I've never brewed with lactose before, and generally my stouts and porters tend to be much more on the dry/roasty end of the spectrum. I feel like this recipe has a lot of sweetness in it between the lactose and the C120 and the high mash temp, but it also uses a higher proportion of dark malts than I would typically consider. My hope is that these two factors will balance out and create a really decedent but balanced flavor profile, but I can also imagine missing the mark and making something too cloying, too roasty, or just too intense all around.
Would love any and all insight, especially from folks who have ever brewed a beer along these lines or have more general experience with beers in the sweet stout family.
Cheers!
15 lbs Mariss Otter
1.75 lbs Flaked Oats
1.5 lbs Blackprinz
1.5 lbs Pale Chocolate
1 lb Crystal 120
1 lb Lactose
1 oz Bravo (or any ~15 AA bittering hop) @ 60 mins
Mash with 6.75 gallons @ 155 F, Batch sparge with 4 gallons.
Pitch US-05 from slurry off my last batch, ferment around 66 F.
OG 1.083/FG 1.023/8% ABV/42 IBU/SRM 50
I'd appreciate any feedback on this- I've never brewed with lactose before, and generally my stouts and porters tend to be much more on the dry/roasty end of the spectrum. I feel like this recipe has a lot of sweetness in it between the lactose and the C120 and the high mash temp, but it also uses a higher proportion of dark malts than I would typically consider. My hope is that these two factors will balance out and create a really decedent but balanced flavor profile, but I can also imagine missing the mark and making something too cloying, too roasty, or just too intense all around.
Would love any and all insight, especially from folks who have ever brewed a beer along these lines or have more general experience with beers in the sweet stout family.
Cheers!