The Undertaker (Oatmeal Stout) -- Tasting Day

Winter here has been largely unbearable this year (at least by Philadelphia standards), so I've been brewing a lot of dark beers lately.  One of the beers that I try to always keep on hand is a nice, smooth oatmeal stout.  I've gone through various iterations of this beer over the past year and this iteration, while nice, is not likely going to end my tweaking with this beer.

This time around, I took my base oatmeal stout and aged it on 4oz of medium-toast french oak chips and 1.5 cut/hollowed Madagascar vanilla beans for 6 days.  Normally, I would age on the vanilla beans for a few more days, but the beer was already getting quite oaky, so I decided to bottle.

This one really benefited from some extended aging.  It was overly oaked after 2-3 weeks in the bottle and then once it hit the 1.5 month mark it really changed and mellowed out.

A -- Dark black and a slight ruby tint on the edges.  Tan head that fades quickly and stays as a ring.  No lacing.  Could benefit from some head-improving grains.  I imagine the flaked oats are preventing a steady head on this one.

S -- Lots of vanilla, some nuttiness.  A little bit of oak in the nose but this has largely faded.

T -- Similar to the nose, lots of vanilla.  A slight amount of roast comes through in the middle, but it definitely could be a bit more roasty.  I'm also getting a sweetness at the end almost reminiscent of a milk stout, although it is probably just the high mash temp.

M -- Thick, chewy.  Just how I like my stouts.

O -- Decent beer, could be a little bit roaster.  I might sub out some of the kitchen sink grains that I threw in there and just concentrate on overall roast malt rather than trying to layer a ton of flavor.  I'll also probably toss in a pound of Carafoam to improve head retention.

The Undertaker (Oatmeal Stout)

Est OG: 1.067

Est FG: 1.019

Est ABV: 6.3%

IBU: 30

SRM: 37

12lb Maris Otter Pale Malt

1lb Flaked Oats

12oz Victory Malt

8oz Flaked Barley

8oz Black Malt

8oz Caramel 80L

8oz Pale Chocolate Malt

6oz Carafa III

3oz Chocolate Wheat

2oz Willamette @ 60min (30 IBU)

1pkg British Ale II (WY1335)

Mash @ 156f for 60min