Editing Stout (section)

==Oatmeal stout==
[[File:D Mendocino Oatmeal Stout beer bottle 8286690116 o.jpg|thumb|160px|An oatmeal stout from [[Mendocino Brewing Company]], a craft brewery founded in 1983]]
''Oatmeal stout'' is a stout with a proportion of [[oat]]s, normally a maximum of 30%, added during the brewing process.<ref name="bjcp-oatmeal-stout">{{cite web |url=https://www.bjcp.org/style/2021/16/16B/oatmeal-stout/ |website=BJCP |access-date=20 March 2024 |title=Beer Judge Certification Program }}</ref>

Even though a larger proportion of oats in beer can lead to a bitter or astringent taste,<ref>Lewis, Michael J. (1995). ''Stout'', p. 50. Brewers Publications, {{ISBN|0-937381-44-6}}</ref> during the [[medieval]] period in Europe, oats were a common ingredient in ale,<ref>Cornell, Martyn (2003). ''Beer: The Story of the Pint'', p. 49. Hodder Headline, {{ISBN|0-7553-1164-7}}</ref> and proportions up to 35% were standard. In 17th-century England, mixed oat and barley malt was referred to as 'dredge'. Despite some areas of Europe, such as Norway, still clinging to the use of oats in brewing until the early part of the 20th century, the practice had largely died out by the 16th century, so much so that in 1513 [[Tudor period|Tudor]] sailors refused to drink oat beer offered to them because of the bitter flavour.<ref>Page 78, ''Beer: The Story of the Pint'', Martyn Cornell, published 2003 by Hodder Headline, {{ISBN|0-7553-1164-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://libguides.lib.hku.hk/az.php|title=Databases|website=Libguides.lib.hku.hk}}</ref>

There was a revival of interest in using oats during the end of the 19th century, when (supposedly) restorative, nourishing and invalid beers, such as the later milk stout, were popular, because of the association of [[porridge]] with health.<ref>Page 158, ''Beer: The Story of the Pint'', Martyn Cornell, published 2003 by Hodder Headline, {{ISBN|0-7553-1164-7}}</ref> Maclay of Alloa produced an Original Oatmalt<!--correct spelling--> Stout in 1895 that used 70% "oatmalt", and a 63/- Oatmeal Stout in 1909, which used 30% "flaked (porridge) oats".<ref>Pages 59 & 60, ''Old British Beers'', Dr. John Harrison, published 2003 by Durden Park Beer Circle, {{ISBN|0-9517752-1-9}}</ref>

In the 20th century, many oatmeal stouts contained only a minimal amount of oats. For example, in 1936 Barclay Perkins Oatmeal Stout used only 0.5% oats.<ref>Barclay Perkins brewing records in the London Metropolitan Archives</ref> As the oatmeal stout was brewed in  a parti-gyle process with their porter and standard stout, these two also contained the same proportion of oats. (Parti-gyle brewing involves extracting multiple worts from a single mash through separate sparges. Each subsequent sparge extracts a more diluted lower gravity wort from the same ingredients in proportion. As a result each wort is boiled and fermented to produces a different strength beer from same ingredients) The name seems to have been a marketing device more than anything else. In the 1920s and 1930s Whitbread's London Stout and Oatmeal Stout were identical, just packaged differently. The amount of oats Whitbread used was minimal, again around 0.5%.<ref>Whitbread brewing records in the London Metropolitan Archives</ref> With such a small quantity of oats used, it could only have had little impact on the flavour or texture of these beers.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Many breweries were still brewing oatmeal stouts in the 1950s, for example Brickwoods in Portsmouth, Matthew Brown in Blackburn and Ushers in Trowbridge.<ref>Whitbread Gravity Book, Whitbread Archive in the London Metropolitan Archives</ref> When Michael Jackson mentioned the defunct Eldrige Pope "Oat Malt Stout" in his 1977 book ''The World Guide to Beer'', oatmeal stout was no longer being made anywhere, but [[Charles Finkel]], founder of Merchant du Vin, was curious enough to commission [[Samuel Smith Old Brewery|Samuel Smith]] to produce a version.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-001674.html|title=Michael Jackson's Beer Hunter – Kisses, oats and stouts|website=Beerhunter.com}}</ref> Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout then became the template for other breweries' versions.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Oatmeal stouts do not usually taste specifically of oats. The smoothness of oatmeal stouts comes from the high content of proteins, lipids (includes fats and waxes), and gums imparted by the use of oats. The gums increase the viscosity and body adding to the sense of smoothness.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/article/indices/11-beer-styles/1194-oatmeal-stout-style |title=Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine – Beer Styles – Oatmeal Stout |first=Stephan |last=Galante |website=Byo.com |date=October 1997 |access-date=28 November 2011 |archive-date=9 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109210249/http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/article/indices/11-beer-styles/1194-oatmeal-stout-style |url-status=dead }}</ref>