Oatmeal Stout

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Location:British
Category:Ale
BJCP Comparable Category:16B - Oatmeal Stout

Beer Style Description

This is the description of how the Oatmeal Stout style of beer should taste, feel and look. However, there may be perfectly fine beers in this style that fall outside of these ranges and descriptions. This information is just to show the most commonly accepted ranges for the Oatmeal Stout beer style.

  • Color: Dark brown to black
  • Body: Full
  • Malt Flavors & Aromas: Coffee, caramel, roasted malt or chocolate aromas should be prominent. Roasted malt character of caramel or chocolate should be smooth without bitterness.
  • Hop Flavors & Aromas: Optional, but if present should not upset the overall balance.
  • IBUs/Bitterness: Medium
  • Fermentation Characteristics: Oatmeal is used in the grist, resulting in a pleasant, full flavor without being grainy. Fruity esters are not present to very low. Diacetyl is usually absent in these beers but may be present at very low levels.
  • Common Ingredients: Pale, caramel and dark roasted malts (often chocolate) and grains. Oatmeal or malted oats (5-20% or more) used to enhance fullness of body and complexity of flavor. Hops primarily for bittering. Can use brewing sugars or syrups. English ale yeast.
  • Commercial Examples: Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, Broughton Scottish Oatmeal Stout, Figueroa Mountain Stagecoach Stout, St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, Young's Oatmeal Stout

Brewing Properties of Oatmeal Stout

These are the functional brewing properties of Oatmeal Stout beers, as descided by the Brewers Association. These guidelines reflect, as accurately as possible, the historical significance, authenticity or a common profile in the current commercial beer market.

ABV
The alcohol by volume is shows the amount of alcohol this style of beer should have.
3.8 - 6.1%
Bitterness
The International Bittering Units (IBU) scale is used to approximately quantify the actual (not perceived) bitterness of beer.
20 - 40 IBUs
SRM
SRM is a scale for measuring the color intensity of a beer. Low SRM grains impart a pale straw color while higher values mean it will add a darker color to the wort. Learn more »
20 SRM
(39 EBC)
Original Gravity
Original Gravity (OG) is a measure of the sugar content in the wort before alcoholic fermentation has started to produce the beer.
1.038 - 1.056
Final Gravity
The Final Gravity (FG) is how much sugar is left over in the beer when fermentation is complete.
1.008 - 1.020

If you see an error in our data, please let us know!

Based on Brewers Association 2020 Beer Style Guidelines with changes. Used with permission of Brewer's Association.