Ole 30 Weight

Looking for a beer with stoudt taste that was smooth and drinkable, as well as being a little sweet.

Brewer:	Andy Greider		Email:	andygreider@comcast.net
Beer:	Ole 30 Weight		Style:	Chocolate Oatmeal Stout
Type:	Extract w/grain		Size:	5.5 gallons
Color:	194 HCU		Bitterness:	39 IBU
OG:	1.055		FG:	1.004
Alcohol:	6.6% v/v (5.2% w/w)
Water:	Polar Spring, Spring Water
Grain:	8 oz. British chocolate 8 oz. Roasted barley 8 oz. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils) 8 oz. British black malt 1 lb. Flaked oats 1 lb. British crystal 50-60L
Steep:	Steep all grains in mesh bags for 30 min at 160°
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.152	2 gallons
	6 lb. 8 oz. Dark malt extract
	Malt Dextrine (8 oz) at 60 minutes Added bar of Hershey's Special Dark (8oz) to Boil at 30 min Added small packet Irish Moss at 5 min left in boil.
Hops:	2 oz. Northern Brewer (8.5% AA, 60 min.) 1 oz. Centennial (11% AA, 60 min.) .5 oz. Fuggles (aroma)
Yeast:	WLP004 Irish Ale - White Labs
Log:	Began brewing on 7-14-03, chilled wort to 74°, pitched yeast. OG, incidentally, was 1.080, not the 1.055 listed above. So, ac on this is higher than the stated value. Had a few problems with the primary ferment airlock, but all was ok after day 3. Racked to secondary for 1 week, and then bottled. Slightly more sediment on bottom of secondary than with any other beers - wonder if yeast was burnt out or what?
Carbonation:	3/4 priming sugar in bottling bucket (dissolved in one-half cup of pre-boiled water)
Tasting:	Taste while bottling was very heavy and sweet. After one week this beer began to carbonate, and slowly develop some good body and taste. After two weeks, although it needed a bit more carbonation, the taste was thick, smooth, rich and slightly sweet - this is the closest I have come to getting what I wanted out of a recipe yet! Now at almost 3 weeks, will be trying one tonight to see how it goes... Next time around, I think I will be sure to add another bit of grain and malt, and maybe forego the actual chocolate. We'll just have to see.

Recipe posted 08/12/03.