Dear Replicator

I have been looking for a clone recipe for Slow Elk (Oatmeal Stout), brewed by the Big Sky Brewing Company of Missoula Montana. Any help would be appreciated.

Jim Arnold
Auburn Washington

Jim,

Here’s what Matt Long, brewer at Big Sky, has to say about Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout. "In 1995, Big Sky Brewing Company set out to produce a different kind of oatmeal stout. Too many American oatmeal stouts were heavy and bitter, a combination that overpowers the delicate flavors imparted by the oats. In America, a stout by definition seems to mean, ‘pour on the black barley and load it up with hops.’ It also seems to mean high alcohol content. We wanted a stout in the tradition of the British Isles; medium bodied, very drinkable, and smooth. In short, we wanted a session beer. Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout was born to satisfy these desires. Commercially, it comes in around 3.9% alcohol by weight and is the sort of beer that you can feel comfortable drinking over long philosophical debates or as a digestif with chocolate desserts.

Matt was kind enough to give us the fine details on this unique beer.

The "oatmeal" in the recipe gives the beer a special smoothness not normally found "stout" colored beer. I believe that it is a beer style that is under-appreciated, and has great potential to grow as a beer style.

Slow Elk Oatmeal Stout

(5 gallons, extract and specialty grains)
OG = 1.055 FG = 1.016 IBUs = 20

Ingredients

• 6.6 Lbs. Coopers light unhopped malt syrup
• 1.5 Lbs. crystal (80° Lovibond)
• 4 oz. black patent malt
• 6 oz. chocolate malt
• 6 oz. flaked oats
• 6.25 AAU’S East Kent Golding hops (1.25 oz. of 5% alpha acid)
• 1 teaspoon Irish moss
• 2/3 cup corn sugar for bottling
• London ESB Ale (Wyeast 1968) or English Ale (White Labs WLP002) or Muntons dry yeast.

Step by Step

Steep specialty grains in about 3 gallons of water at 150° to 155° F for 30 minutes. Remove grains, and add malt syrup and bring to a boil. Add 1.25 ounces Kent Golding hops and 1 teaspoon Irish moss and boil for 60 minutes. When done boiling, strain out hops and add the wort to cool water in a sanitized carboy to fill to the 5-1/2 gallon mark. Add your yeast when the wort is 75° to 80° F, and aerate well. Let the wort cool to about 68° F over the next few hours and ferment at 66° to 70° F until complete (normally 7 to 10 days).

All-grain option

Replace Coopers malt extract with 7.5 pounds of pale malt. Mash grains together for 60 minutes at 155°. Collect enough wort to boil for 90 minutes and have 5.5 gallons yield. Decrease boiling hops to 1 ounce (5 AAU) to account for increased hop extraction efficiency in a full boil. The remainder of the recipe is the same as the extract.