Chile Vanilla Oatmeal Stout

Finally, another brew day!  I decided to do an oatmeal stout with a twist.  I discovered some Turkish Chile called Urfa. Rich chile flavor with a little smokiness, moderate heat, and cocoa notes.  I built my recipe for the stout based on the chile flavor profile.  I opted to use only chocolate malts, instead of roasted barley to bring more chocolate/cocoa flavor to the brew to enhance the chile.  I don't want the chile to overpower, so I went light to start.  The chiles provided a little more bitterness and with the IBU's at 29-30, the brew is slightly bitter.  When it comes time to bottle, I will prime with vanilla sugar for balance and to enhance the chocolate/cocoa flavor and aroma. 
Brew day statistics:  OG projected: 1.058, OG actual: 1.064.  4.5 gallons into the fermenter.  Mashbill: Gambrinus ESB Pale, Weyermann Dark Wheat, Weyermann Carawheat, Briess Chocolate, Weyermann Chocolate Wheat, flaked oats, and flaked barley.  I opted for a flavor neutral yeast so I chose Fermentis US-05.  With the use of flaked grains and a mash temperature of 157, the unfermentable sugars should provide a big, smooth mouthfeel.  I'll be bottling in two weeks.
CHEERS!

Doppelsticke Altbier

FG ended up at 1.014 with ABV at 7.9%.  Not quite a Doppel so it will be a Sticke Altbier.  I decided the name is going to be Doppelganger.  Aroma at bottling: malt and slight caramel notes with floral and spice aromas from the hops.  Flavor at bottling: slightly sweet caramel/malt up front gives way to moderate bitterness, but balanced, with a slight lingering bitter hops finish and a warming sensation.  I can't wait for this one to carbonate! 
PROSIT!    

Doppelsticke Altbier

Racked to secondary onto Hallertau hops.  Gravity is 1.014 placing ABV at 7.9%.  Aromas of sweet malt and some hops spiciness.  Flavor: mildly sweet with a slight nuttiness and pronounced slightly lingering bitterness.  Another week or two awaiting the hops to fall out, then into bottles it will go.
PROSIT!

Doppelsticke Altbier

Test run at a new one for me.  If you know me, you know I love my Altbier so I decided to go big this time.  Projected OG was 1.083, measured 1.074.  (These last few batches seem to have dropped in efficiency and not sure where the problem is.)  Four ounces of hops in the boil and 1 ounce to go for dry hop.  Smelled great on the boil.  Used German Magnum, 2 ounces and German Spalt, 2 ounces.  Going to dry hop with Hallertau.   
PROST!

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

Bottled today.  Gravity has not changed.  Still at 1.030.  I heard Windsor yeast finishes a little high, but o.k.  The UK Phoenix hops smell and taste great.  Two weeks to go before testing.
CHEERS!   

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

Looks like my posts are not in chronological order for some reason, but, meh.  My day starts out at 6:00 a.m.  (Why can I not sleep in on my days off?)  Anyhow, I'm racking to secondary onto 1 ounce of UK Phoenix hops.  The gravity after 1 week primary fermentation is 1.030 placing ABV at 4.75%.  Seems like it is a bit high yet, considering it has another week or two to go.  (I mashed at 155F)  Another 1-2 weeks in secondary on the dry hop to see where it will finish up.  Current aroma: toffee/caramel notes with floral and spicy notes from the hops.  Current flavor profile: mildly sweet, malty, caramel/toffee with moderate hops bitterness, some hops spiciness, and bitter cocoa/coffee notes.  (At 7:00 a.m. this actually quite appealing!)  Well, now the clean up begins. 
CHEERS!   

Oh My Giddy Aunt, English IPA

Time to try brewing a new style.  I'm going to go simple on this one, a sometimes simple is better.  My mash bill consists of Gambrinus ESB Malt and Bairds Carastan Malt.  I'll use a single variety of hops for the entire batch.  British Phoenix.  First brew with these hops and I am very interested in the flavor profile.  Should have some spice, floral, and chocolate notes, which should pair well with the toffee notes from the Carastan Malt. 
CHEERS!