Smoky Oatmeal Stout 2003/2/2 1.039 5.1 lb 8 Maris Otter lb 1 Black Patent Malt lb 1 Roast Barley lb 1 Flaked Barley lb 1 oz 2 Flaked Oats lb 1 Smoked Brewers Malt oz 2.5 East Kent Goldings oz 0.5 East Kent Goldings WYeast 1084 - Irish

Smackpack

3.0 1.015 2003/2/8 2003/2/17 32 9 The smoked malt was a random addition to the recipe. It had been sitting in the cupboard for ages, and I decided a little extra smoked flavour would go well in this beer. This is the first batch with a new bag of Maris Otter. The old batch was old, and was giving reduced yields. The last time I brewed this, my associate (I think it was David) added 3oz (i.e. all) of hops at the start of the boil. That produced a nice beer, but I decided to revert to the original recipe here, largely for the benefit of my wife, who likes stouts but dislikes hops. This is the first time I've brewed without a protein rest. I had been doing it as part of the voodoo ritual that is brewing, but my fellow home brewers finally convinced me it's not necessary with Maris Otter. The lauter tun got stuck again. I think I will increase the size of the holes at the bottom of the inner bucket. I forgot to take the hops out of the kettle while it cooled. This might make it rather hoppy (equivalent of dry hopping?). I realized later that I also forgot to add Gypsum to the water. Started about 5 gallons of water on high. Ground the grains (except the flaked barley and the oats) with the lever a little on the fine side. Added the ground grains and the flaked oats to the water at 130F. Left the burner on high. Started about 5 gallons (as much as the second pot will hold) on high for sparge water. Added the flaked oats at about 150F. This was entirely due to me forgetting to add them before. If it works, I can leave it in the recipe. See "voodoo" above. Maintained heat at 150F (burner on "Warm") for 45 minutes. Increased heat to low. At about 160F, got impatient, and poured mash into lauter tun. Evened out the grains in the lauter tun. When the sparge water got to 170F, poured the water into the sparge bucket, and started sparging. Sparged for approximately 2.5 hours. Frequent lifting of the bag to allow the wort to flow. Brought to a boil. Added bittering hops. 45 minutes into the boil, added aroma hops. 55 minutes into the boil, placed wort chiller in the brewpot. Stopped boil at 60 minutes. Moved brewpot off burner. Connected wort chiller to tap. Shovelled snow for 55 minutes. This is not part of the recipe! Transferred wort to fermenter and pitched yeast.