Prince of Darkness (PoD, Oatmeal Stout) Tasting

Looks like I forgot to write a post when I bottled the PoD. Anyway, I'm very happy with this one. Taste and aroma are right on target, making this very drinkable. I didn't want to share the ESB#2 with many people, because I wasn't very happy with it. This one is a different story.

Anyway, improvement points are:

1. Perhaps it is a bit watery, and lower ABV than I had expected. I'll attribute this to the way high mash temperature. Getting the mash temperature spot on is an art I have yet to master.

2. Little/No head. The advice I've been given on this one is that I need to extract more protein when I mash. I think in the case of the PoD, which has a significant portion of unmodified grains (oatmeal, roasted barley), I'd do well to include a second temperature step in the mash. Apparently 122 DegF will release smaller, head-forming proteins.

3. Poor carbonation. This style shouldn't be exactly bursting with effervescence, but the PoD was a bit low. Unfortunately, I neglected to record how much priming sugar I used here. However, just about everything I've made I think is a bit lacking in this respect.