Another year, another iteration of the Eagle Face! This is my absolute favorite recipe, and it has done well for me. I’m entering this in the national homebrew competition this year, after scoring a very respectable 40 last year. Unfortunately, the comments on the judging sheets were not as precise as I would like, other than a vague “needs more malt character.” So, I decided to change the background malt from 2-row to Maris Otter. Other than a minor change in bittering hops, this is pretty much exactly the same as I usually brew. Following last year’s example, I toasted the oats for a bit, too.

Eagle Face Oatmeal Stout 1.5

• 7.5 lbs. Maris Otter pale malt
• 1.5 lbs. flaked oats (toasted 1.25 hours at 300°)
• 1 lb. 80° crystal malt
• 1 lb. Victory malt
• 0.75 lb. chocolate malt (Briess)
• 0.5 lb. roasted barley (Bairds)
• 6 oz. rice hulls
• 0.53 oz. Magnum hop pellets (11.8% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 0.31 oz. Warrior hop pellets (15.8% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
• 1 pkg. English ale yeast (WLP001), prepared in 1L starter 24 hours in advance

Target Parameters

• Infusion mash to hit target of 158°, 60 minutes, batch sparge.
• 1.062 o.g., 1.023 f.g., 5.2% abv, 37 IBU, 41 SRM
• Claremont tap water, 56 ppm Ca, 9 ppm Mg, 23 ppm Na, 41 ppm SO4, 21 ppm Cl, 220 ppm HCO3, 135 ppm RA

Procedure

• I mashed in with 4.25 gallons of water at 171°, to hit a mash temperature of 158°.
• After 60 minutes, the mash was down to 157°. I added 0.75 gallons of water at 180°, let rest 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings. I then added 3.25 gallons of water at 180°, vorlaufed, and collected the second runnings.
• In total, I collected 6.25 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.053, for 74% efficiency.
• I boiled for 60 minutes, adding hops and finings per the schedule in the recipe.
• After a 60 minute boil, I cooled to 72°, pitched the yeast, and put the beer in the fermentation chamber. I’ll be fermenting at 68°.
• I brewed this beer on 24 February 2018. Starting gravity was 1.062–right on target!
• Update: I kegged this beer on 8 March 2018. Final gravity was 1.028, a bit higher than predicted, but I’m pretty comfortable that the beer is fully fermented out. Everything tastes pretty good right now; calculated abv is 4.5%.