I brewed batch 9 yesterday, some Oatmeal Stout. I used Papazian’s mini-mash recipe from The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Now, I purchased the grains a few weeks ago and had them crushed when I purchased them so I wouldn’t have to try to do it myself. Of course, no one told me to brew them right away, so they’ve been sitting here for weeks waiting till I can get time to brew it.
I started out whipping out my grain bag and throwing all the grains in. Then I put them all in 1-1/2 gallons of water and steeping it at 133 degrees for 1/2 hour. Then I brought up the temp to 150 for 45 minutes, adding boiling water to help bring it up. Then I took it up to 167 degrees for 15 minutes. While all this wort brewing was happening, I sanitized my buckets and some cheese cloth and other utensils I might need.
Once my wort was done, I carefullly removed the grain bag and set it aside for a moment. The bag had ripped (actually slightly melted then ripped), so I had to strain the wort to remove a bit of oatmeal that had escaped. Then I sparged the grains as best I could, burning the crap out of myself in the process. Sparging meant holding the grains in a strainer over a bucket while my wife poured hot water all over my hands and the grains. I need to invest in better equipment!
Then off to boil the wart! I added 2 OZ of Willamette hops and boiled away. Now, I had a problem. The recipe calls for 3.3 lbs of dark malt extract at this point, but my brew pot was near the rim. Grr….. I had to wait about 30 minutes for enough of the liquid to boil out to add the malt extract.
After an hour in the pot, I poured a gallon of cold water into by brew bucket, added the wort (I used a hops bag so I didn’t have to strain the hops out), and topped it off to 5 gallons.
Now, silly me, I normally take a small bit out to taste, but I was late to get somewhere, so me and the family rushed out the door at this time. So, I figured I’d wait till I pitched the yeast to taste it.
This morning, before church , I airated the beer and pitched the yeast, making my wife angry at me in the process (oops!) Before I pitched, I sanititzed a cup and removed a small amount of beer to taste. Needless to say, my tasting was interrupted by the aforementioned wife, so I wasn’t able to sample the fruit of my labor until this evening.
After spending Easter with the family, we got home and put stuff away and settled in and I noticed this cup sitting on the counter with some beer in it. So, despite the fact that it’s been sitting out all day, I tasted it.
Wow! That was good! This oatmeal stout is going to be an amazing beer!
So, I can’t wait till it’s bottled and ready to drink. I’ve had enough beer failures since I’ve been at this and I’m ready for an amazing drink of my own crafting.
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I am no beer fan. It’s not like I have vowed against alcohol, but even after trying, I didn’t liked the idea of alcohol as an enjoyable taste.
I tried Vodka, wine, whiskey, never got in love with it.
Yet, the article was enjoyable to read, to know that someone may get this much love for beer. But then, I guess it is a business and work, so it’s nice that you love your chosen work!
Actually, it’s just fun. I don’t do this as a business. I’ve just started home brewing in December, and have been blogging about my beer making adventures since. The whole “Brett’s Beer Company” came at the suggestion of a few colleagues who suggested I come up with a brand name for my home brew.
And thanks for reading, even though you don’t care for beer (to each their own!) I definitely enjoy doing it.
[…] I’ve made this particular stout before, and it turned out awesome! This time, I wanted to spice it up a bit by adding some maltodextrine […]