St. Patrick's Day Oatmeal Stout

Those of you who also stop by my other bog, from Archaea to Zeaxanthol, may remember that I have recently begun brewing my own beer. My second brew, an Oatmeal Stout, just happens to be ready today (honestly, I didn't plan it this way!) It turned out pretty good if I may say so myself. I'm not much of a stout connoisseur, but I'm very happy with this brew. I think it might be a tad too bitter - not sure if it's the hops or too much roasted barley. Maybe both. I'll have to try experimenting with amounts when I try brewing this again. For you home brewers out there, here's my recipe:

Oatmeal Stout
Method: Partial mash
Batch size: 5 gallons
Boil size: 2.5 gallons
O.G.: 1.054 F.G.: 1.015

grain bill
1 lb pale malt (2-row)
1 lb roasted barley
8 oz crystal malt (60L)
8 oz chocolate male
8 oz flaked oats

extracts
1 lb Amber dry malt extract
4 lbs Pale liquid extract

hops
3 oz East Kent Golding (45 minutes)

yeast
Irish Ale (White Labs, #WLP004)

bottle priming
4 oz turbinado sugar

1. Mash the grains in ~4.5 quarts of water at 155°F for 60 minutes
2. Sparge with ~2 gallons of 180°F water
3. If necessary, add water to achieve 2.5 gallons
4. Proceed with standard extract and hop boiling (per hop schedule above)
5. Ferment 2-3 weeks at ale temperature (65-75°F
6. Bottle
7. Condition (at least 3 weeks at room temperature)
8. Drink

Stouts (as well as porters and most ales) are best served at ~55°F, which can be achieved by storing in a cool cellar or by placing room temperature bottles in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Most heavier beers, like stouts, are supposed to continue to improve with age - 3 weeks in the bottles is considered by some still too young to drink. I do think that the beer I first brewed tastes better now than it did when I first tried it, so I imagine this stout will taste even better in a month or two than it does now (if there's any left!). Happy St. Patrick's Day!