OatBurger Oat Malt Stout

B My wife and father in law have been bugging me for an Oatmeal Stout for quite a long time now, and I finally gave in on Saturday. . .sort of. In a twist on their request, instead of adding oatmeal to my beer, I went with Oat Malt.  Why, you should ask? Well basically it is easier to brew with Oat Malt.  In the mash tun, Oatmeal (Flaked Oats, whatever) if used in large enough amounts can form a big gooey mess (think breakfast time!), that can be quite detrimental to the runoff.  Oat Malt, which looks and acts a lot like the traditional malted barley, does not seem to cause any of these problems, while contributing most of the benefits of the oats.

To that end, the recipe:
Recipe: #036 - OatBurger Oat Malt Stout
Brewer: Tres Perros Brewing
Style: Oat Malt Stout
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.059 SG
Estimated Color: 32.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
9 lbs Warminster Floor Malted Maris Otter
3 lbs Pale Malt - 2 Row (Briess)
1 lbs Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess)
1 lbs Oats, Malted (Thomas Fawcett)
1 lbs Simpson's Chocolate Malt
1.00 oz UK Goldings [7.20 %] (60 min)
1.00 oz UK Golding [7.20 %] (15 min)
1.00 tbsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
2.00 tbsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min)
10.00 gal Bottled Spring Water
1 Pkgs Yorkshire Square Ale Yeast (White Labs WLP037)

Single Infusion Mash 154*F (60min), (I batch sparge.)


Brewday itself went pretty straight forward (will remember to take more pictures next time).  My OG was 1.057 (only two points off my projected OG).  Now the beer is in its third day of happily bubbling away as a yeast city. The yeast, in this case is White Labs 037 - Yorkshire Square Ale.  This yeast is supposedly the strain used by Samuel Smith's.  My beer, unlike the traditional English style is fermenting in a carboy, not in Yorkshire Squares. A Yorkshire Square vessel is a two-story system consisting of a shallow chamber approximately two six feet, above which is a walled deck. Cooled wort is fermented in the lower chamber, while the yeasty head settles on the deck above. During the first stage of fermentation, the fermenting wort is periodically pumped from the bottom of the chamber over the yeasty head, to keep the yeast mixed in with the wort. Later, the mixing is stopped and the wort in the chamber allowed to settle and cool gently. Most of the yeast rises onto the deck, and is left behind when the beer is drained from the chamber. The whole process takes at least six days. 

The yeast used in the Yorkshire system is unusual in that it acts particularly slowly and requires frequent rousing and aerating if it is to work properly. This action is due in part to the yeast’s strongly top-fermenting qualities, which cause it to rise rapidly to the surface of the fermenting wort.

Hopefully my inability to rouse it in this way will not keep it from attenuating fully.


One last thing before I go, a short discussion on nomenclature.  There seems to be a lot of fuss online on what constitutes a stout, and what is a porter.  The folks on HomeBrewTalk seem to think it cannot be a stout without roasted barley. The Mad Fermentationist notes that there are several examples that break this mold: most notably that the amazing Great Lakes Brewing Porter, Edmund Fitzgerald, has roasted barley (and thus by the HBT definition, would be a stout), while Sierra Nevada's Stout has none. Finally, Zynthophile notes that while there may have been stylistic differences historically, these days there really isnt much distinguishing them besides the brewers choice of name.  As a homebrewer, I like this concept best.  I say it is a stout, and thusly a stout it is!

Incidentally you can follow Tres Perros on Twitter (@3PerrosHomebrew). Also, amusingly, the dog on the label of the brew I made this past weekend is not one of mine, but one of our member's (also my in-laws) dogs, Otis

The WestWood Acoustic Festivals Official Beer!

In honor of the WestWood Music Festival, a truly inspired FREE musical event being planned in early August by my in-laws, we have decided to collaborate on an official brew for the event! Soon, during a weekend in July we will all get together at the homestead and work together at making this tasty elixir.  After a lengthy decision making process, the correct option made itself quite clear.  Here is the recipe if you want to make it yourself:

Recipe: #022
Brewer: Tres Perros Brewing
Asst Brewer: LA Sports Club
Style: Mild

Recipe Specifications --------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.038 SG
Estimated Color: 28.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Boil Time: 60

Minutes Ingredients:
2.50 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 32.26 %
3.00 lb Mild Malt (4.0 SRM) Grain 38.71 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 6.45 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 90L (90.0 SRM) Grain 6.45 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 6.45 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6.45 %
0.25 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 3.23 %
2.00 oz Fuggles [3.60 %] (60 min) Hops 26.9 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale


Mash the grains @ 154*

And just in case you were curious, this is what the beer is called:

Yeast Starters/Blog Starters

Just like the yeast starter above means the start of another batch of beer, This post means the restarting of blogging here for me.  I haven't forgot about you all, life has just been hectic.  Stay tuned for more posts soon!

Piggy Fermentation!

This is why you should get a carboy to do your primary fermentation in, because it can be fun to watch!  Don't let anyone tell you that fermentation is a passive process:

Batch #004 - Pigs On The Wing Brew Day!

So, evidently, the first Saturday in May is "National Homebrew Day!". For us here at Tres Perros, it was also IPA brewday!

This time around, it was another "extract, with specialty grains" brew, highlighted by Nugget Hop bittering, and Fuggle Hop aroma/flavor additions. Some other procedural changes were made this time as well, using a turkey fryer outside for the the boil being the most obvious.

We started by steeping the grains in two gallons of water on the gas range inside:



Then drained the grains into a larger pot, moved then moved the whole process outside for the remainder of the process:



Another one of the procedural differences in this batch was a longer boil, highlighted by the first Nugget addition, which boiled for 90 minutes (instead of the 60 minutes that I have done in the past):



The final difference of this batch compared to recent batches, was that we used a different brand of yeast. As opposed to the WYeast smack packs used in the past, we used a vial of White Labs yeast:



Now, after what felt like an exceedingly long lag time (It was really only about 30 HRS), we are bubbling along just fine and building a Krausen:

Fugget Ale Name Change!

Oddly enough, the recent swine flu outbreak inspired me, and so Fugget Ale is no more, see above!

Next UP? Fugget Ale!

To keep the ball rolling right along, another batch coming up this Sunday. This time around, we are going to do a Dry Hopped IPA with Nugget and Fuggle Hops. I think it has potential to be my Summer Sipper this year. Here is the initial brewsheet as a tease. . .

Old Ale Bottling Day!

Today we got the Old Ale out of the Secondary Fermenter, into the bottles for conditioning. Alas, it really doesnt mean we are any closer to drinking the beer, because that is still 6 to 7 weeks off into he future, but we are one step closer.



First off, I have to say that this is the single most useful we have made to help the brewing/bottling process recently is in the picture above. That bottle washer jet cut down the time it took today by half! Especially if you reuse commercial bottles in your homebrewing adventures, I cannot reccomend a bottle rinser highly enough.



Note the subtle sign on the bottling bucket below. One of the most important things to do in homebrewing is to learn from your mistakes. We had serious issues with the spout leaking before, and were going to make sure that that trauma never occured again!



Now, they are resting/conditioning comfortably in our basement (next to the Scottish Export Ale, which should be ready to drink this weekend coming up!). Side note, I think I might be able to brew down there all through the Summer! We had a bit of a warm snap this weekend, temps in the mid - 80's the last three days. . . and during that time, the warmest it got down there is 63! w00t!



Up next sunday, an IPA!

Sunday 04/19 - Tres Perros Update!

Today was a big day for brewing on the home front, First we racked of our old ale into secondary. The initial gravity was a touch high, and the gravity after primary fermenting was a bit lower than we expected, so I guess it will be a bit stronger alcohol wise than originally expected (5.9% by volume). Tasted the sample I took to check the gravity, seems to be coming along just fine. I feel confident about this batch.




After that I tasted our Scottish Export Ale, which had been bottle conditioning for two weeks now. And while I think two more weeks will do it some good, that this beer shows lots of promise. Tasted pretty much like a beer of this style should!



Pretty, huh?

So What Was Batch #001?

Somebody asked me what was the first homebrew batch we ever did. Well here is the answer. We brewed a premeasured can of extract from the company John Bull. The clerk at the home brew supply store we went to suggested adding 3lbs of malt extract, so wee did. Boiled the lot for a half an hour and added the dry yeast packet. After a week fermenting and two in bottles conditioning we had beer! And surprisingly, it was pretty good (though it definitely got better with time)! It was more than enough to start us down the road we now travel. . .

Glass Carboys Are More Fun!

One of the fun parts of fermenting in glass carboys is that you can watch the yeast at work while you wait. This batch seemed to kick into gear pretty quick, with foam (called krausen) forming on the top of the wort in only eight hours. By twelve hours there was a good inch of foam on the brew and the blow off was bubbling furiously. Its forty eight hours later now, and the action hasn't let up a bit. Check it out!

Batch #003 - Old Ale Brew Day!

Saturday was the best day of the week again for us here at Tres Perros. . . BREW DAY! This time around, we are attempting and Old Ale/Stock Ale variety. It is actually an approximation of a clone of a rather popular brand of British old Ale that is rumored to not be distributed in the United States any more. The brew being cloned must stay a secret for now, (well its not really much of a secret if you do a bit of research) but eventually that fact will be revealed. But that's not important right now, what is, was that it was BEER MAKING TIME!

(Note: If anybody is interested in homebrewing, but hasnt taken the plunge yet, the following post is a pretty simple breakdown of how to make an Extract Based Brew. Its pretty simple, if you just take your time and think things through).

The first thing we did was get everything together. I am a rather scatterbrained type of guy and it really makes life easier if I keep all the materials I need to do something in close contact. The french call this mis en plas (literally "put in place"), and in cooking as well as brewing, its a good tenet to follow.:



First you get together all the things you need for the boil, and then you gather everything that needs to be sanitized and do as such. Sanitation cannot be overstressed. While you are trying to grow yeast in an effort to get them to make beer for you, thats the only thing you want growing:



Next we weighed out all the specialty grains out to steep. Specialty grains are used by homebrewers to add color, body, taste, and aromatic properties to the beer. In fact, some styles of beer cannot be properly achieved without the help of specialty grains.



When steeping specialty grains for for an extract brew, you generally need the water between 150-170 degrees, for aat least thirty minutes. The process is much, like making a pot of grain tea:









Our recipe called for a rinse at the end of the steeping cycle. In another pot we had more water heated to 175 degrees, which we ran through the sack of grain to get all the goodness out:



When thoroughly rinsed out, you pour all the water back int he pot and bring it to a boil. When the boil is good and rolling, there are Malt and Hop Pellet additions to be made at regular intervals. In our recipe the boil lasted for a full hour:





(Our Old Ale recipe included a can of Coopers Dark Ale extract. This can be used to make a pretty decent beer on its own, but with a little tweaking seems to make a decent base to build upon, for a good beer. We added it into the pot at the very beginning of the 60 min boil).



(In all the brews I have made to date, I have used hop pellets, as they seem to be the most convenient to use and store. In this case, Willamette hops are added for bittering at the 45 minute mark).



In batches of beer that boil a volume smaller than the total volume, it can be beneficial to only add some of the malt extract at the beginning of the boil. Adding some of the malt toward the end of the boil accomplishes a few things. First, because the malt spends less time over the burner its less likely to scorch or discolor. also, there is some evidence to suggest it helps you utilize hops more efficiently. We added the unhopped amber extract with 15 minutes remaining in the boil.



A quick addition of Perle Hops with 2 minutes to go and the boil is done!

All thats left is to strain and cool the wort, add some yeast, and you are ready to go!









Now, as usual, the tough part. The waiting. . .