The Norseman

I felt that on a chilly, Halloween night, it was only appropriate to brew a dark, roasty stout. I have been planning on brewing an oatmeal stout for some time. I've only brewed three stouts in my 6 years of brewing. The Irie Stout, a cherry stout, and La Vaca Milk Stout. In each of these stouts, there's something that I added...but as far as a nicely balanced, roasty, silky oatmeal stout, I have yet to brew one. This past year I've tried to move away from "experimental" beers in some ways, and tried to really hone my skills on some more "basic" beers. Hence the pale ales and IPAs, brown ale, and now an oatmeal stout. I love brewing outside the box, but at the same time, I want to really get better at the subtle nuances that separates a good beer from a memorable one.
There are a ton of recipes out there for oatmeal stouts, so coming up with the parameters and personal tweaks of the recipe wasn't that hard. The hardest part for me, ironically, was coming with a name and concept. Which is usually the first thing I come up with. I wanted to go with something dark and "metal" but kept floundering. I liked the idea of a hearty dark beer for the coming winter and a hearty name to go with it. Jefe suggested "Viking Beard" and feeling like the Viking vibe fit and of course they were a bearded lot, so I settled on the Norseman.
Here's the recipe:
6 lbs Organic Light LME
Partial Mash:
1 lb Organic 2 Row
.75 Organic Chocolate Malt
.75 Organic Crystal 120
.50 Organic Roasted Barley
1 lb Flaked Oatmeal
.70 oz Organic Pacific Gem Hops
1084 Irish Ale Yeast

In Jamil Zainasheff's book, 80 Classic Recipes he suggests mashing at a higher temperature to achieve some nice mouthfeel and creamy texture. I mashed at 160 for 45 minutes, so hopefully that was high enough for the desired effect. I have high hopes for the Norseman, because as the cold weather comes, I start craving dark, hearty beers.
More to come...
Salud!
Bearded Brewer