Oatmeal Stout AKA-Bumpaddle Oatmeal Stout

This will be a real quick post..essentially what I did is brewed my first Oatmeal Stout (Aka "Bumpaddle"), bottled my English Bitter ("Miracle Elixor") and pitched the Stout wort right onto the yeast cake in primary last Sunday (but I did do this on a massive hangover from hitting up the hopleaf the night prior night...so I've got that goin for me..which is nice).

You can see my tempory "3 tier" system to the right, also I would like to note that I'm a knucklehead and have figured out why my mashes have been getting stuck so frequently with the last few batches...I've been batch sparging (which I prefer) but I have also been opening up my drain valve all the way..which obviously (well now anyway) has been compacting the grain bed and not maintaining the inch or so of liquid I should have over the grain bed when sparging. Needless to say this time it went great by allowing 30 minutes to sparge.

This is the second time I have re-pitched onto an existing yeast cake, the first was with my Barley Wine (onto a American Ale yeast used for a pale ale) which worked out well. With this batch I am able to say it worked just as well, if not better.

Primary fermentation was pretty much wrapped up within 3 days, which still amazes me. I plan on sitting this guy down in Secondary for at least a few weeks as it did come in a little heavy (1.068OG-above style guidlines..border line "imperial stout") before bottling..and then an additional 3-4 weeks to bottle condition might be necessary.

So this was a pretty full brew day, not only did I bottle my English Bitter (which is amazingly well balanced I must say) but I also brewed up an Oatmeal Stout, and finished the morning off by dropping 2oz of American Oak chips into my Belgiam Wild ale, which has been in tertiary for 4 months and will continue to be there for at least another 8 months prior to bottling. To the right you will see a close up on this batch in tertiary close up, you can somewhat make out a chunk of oak floating in there...just thought it was kinda cool looking..

This weekend I plan on JUST bottling my Saison...well thats the plan anyway....I will say I do have the grain and hops on hand for a pretty kick ass all cascade APA..which of course is a hop that will likely not exist in 2009.

Flemmish Beer Stew

What you see to the right of you is my second attempt at a Flemmish Beer Stew...and they are only getting better. Usually I would not bother with putting up a recipe onto the beer blog, but considering the time of year and the use of beer I say my way to rationalize doing so. This is one of my favorite dishes at a local belgium beer bar..or gastropub-The Hopleaf in Chicago (http://www.hopleaf.com/) and I have long thought about making it at home. Then one day came along on Basic Brewing Video (http://www.basicbrewing.com/) and lo and behold the fellas were throwing down a Flemmish Stew! That did it for me, within a week I had made my own (first attempt which was great) and now I am getting around to evolving it even more.

I'll keep it brief..but here is the tie in-RODENBACH :)

Various pics below, if you would like the recipe give me a shout and I'll post it up.

Here is the recipe folks..

This is based on a recipe for 6 people, so adjust where necessary:

4 pounds meat, such as chuck, diced into cubes, a teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 cup white flour, 1/2 stick unsalted butter,2 large onions, thinly sliced, 20 oz of your choice of belgian beer ( I prefer a sour brown ale)2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme, bay leaves 1/2 tablespoons red currant or other jelly you prefer (try to make it tart though)1 tablespoon vinegar

1. Season the beef cubes with the salt and pepper and dredge with the flour. Shake off any excess.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large heavy skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the meat cubes and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Work in batches so as not to crowd the beef cubes, or they will steam instead of sauté. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, if necessary. Transfer the beef cubes to a heavy Dutch oven.
3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the onions and cook stirring occasionally, until browned, about 15 minutes. If necessary, raise the heat toward the end of the cooking time. It is important to brown the meat and the onions evenly to give the stew its deep brown color. The trick is to stir the onions just enough to avoid burning the but not so often as to interrupt the browning process. Combine the onions with the meat in the Dutch oven.
4. Deglaze the skillet with the beer, scraping with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits, and bring to a boil. Pour the beer over the meant. Add the thyme and bay leaves.
5. Simmer, covered, over low heat until the meat is very tender, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Before serving, stir in the red currant jelly and vinegar; simmer for 5 minutes. This sweet-and-sour combination will give this hearty stew its sprigs and bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasoning and serve.

Cheers!