Essence of Stout

On sale from next week & perfect for the impending cold spell.

A stout is brewed with plenty of coloured malt to lend a pitch black colour, a full body and a roasty, toasty, chocolate mocca flavour. Oats give it a real smooth texture and this year I'm adding a teeny, tiny bit of vanilla pod, for roundness.

Hops would spoil all this, so we only use them for bittering. If we did use them for flavour it would become an oatmeal porter which is entirely different but worth trying.

Oatmeal Stout

Dark beer alert.


Roasted barley lends a near pitch black quality along with notes of coffee and chocolate; brown malt brings a slight grainy texture and an earthy character; mellow, silky smoothness is found with the addition of generous amounts of wholesome malted oats while Kent grown Fuggles hops impart a deep, satisfying bitterness.

Serving suggestion: oysters, chocolate ice cream (with rosemary) or all alone.

Oatmeal Stout

October looms and here in the Garden of England we're finding our thoughts leaning towards the dark side. Creamy, rich, luxuriant and very, very dark.

Malted oats in the grist provide a palate smoothness and a homely aroma; roasted barley and black malt give colour, flavour and aroma. Fuggles hops we use only for a decent level of bitterness, there being no other area of employment open to the hop in this style of beer: it's the malts, and only the malts, that we're after here. The hops do a job, and although it's an essential job without which there'd be no beer it is, nevertheless, a backroom job. The main event is roasty, toasty, chocolaty smoothness with hints of orange and porridge.

Luxury.

Next episode: Broadstairs Food Festival

The Year in Beer 08 - February

It's still chilly out, and set to get chillier through the week with February showing early signs of the correct seasonal weather. Good, because the monthly special is a cockle warming 'Oatmeal Stout'. There's a little background to the brew here.

It's turned out with a lovely roast/choc/mocca flavour and rich 'n' smooth mouthfeel and it should be on in the Monty come Friday night for those of you not heading to Dover Winter Ales Festival.

Oatmeal Heaven

Yup, today was Oatmeal Stout Day!

I've never brewed one before and couldn't wait to get stuck in. Essentially, the history of OMS is to do with wholesome foods after the war and brewers were keen to get anything into their beer that allowed them to claim a health benefit for their product (is that too cynical?). They'd never get away with it today.

But crushed, malted oats (much like porridge oats) have a delicious, homely aroma and velvet smooth texture so I mashed 8 kilos in with 12 of roasted barley (black, burnt, coffee - think sooty chimneys) and 150 of pale ale malt and away we went.

Pity you can't taste or smell them - they're lovely. In fact, come round and get a handful!

I'll say no more for now but that all went well and I can almost taste the finished brew in my head. It'll be on special for February so I'll tell you more nearer the time........