1. The “Extra Stout” version of Guinness is strictly an overseas export product that is generally not sold in Ireland. There, and elsewhere in the area, the main version is Guinness “Draught”. “Extra Stout” was developed because the folks at Guinness discovered that the Draught version does not travel well. So to say that Guinness “Extra Stout” is the definitive Irish stout doesn’t seem all that accurate considering they don’t really sell it in Ireland.

2. While I can’t speak with certainty for how stouts were served traditionally, to say that Guinness should be served “warm” is misleading at best. Guinness recommends that their stout be serves at around 6-degrees Celsius, or about 42-degrees Fahrenheit. This may be warmer than most Americans serve their beer, but it’s a far cry from “warm.”

3. Throughout the tour I recently took of the factory at St. James Gate, not once did I hear a mention of Guinness using sour beer in their batches. They do use a yeast starter from a previous batch, but that’s not the same. If you have evidence that Guinness does add soured beer, please be so kind as to let me know what it is. I would find it most interesting to know one way or another.

Aside from those points, it was a fine article. Thank you for all your hard work.

Blessings,

Brian

When adding oats, yes, I believe you should consider cooking them, allthough I think you can use instant oatmeal without cooking. I don’t recall the exact details here (its been a while since I used oats) but I’m sure someone else can chime in here.

I have read about adding quick rolled oats to stout mash to increase smoothness and creamyness. Also that adding rolled barley to the mash gives stability to the head.

Does the barley also give the creamyness to the stout, so I would not need to add both?

Also, I notice that it is recommended to cook the oats before adding, and that the quick oats have been gelatinized for better fermenting. Since the barley is not “quick”, so not gelatinized, would it need to be cooked to add it’s qualities?

And finally, would it be better to blend the grains into flour?

Thanks for any help. You may want to post this to the on your site for the benefit of your readers, but can you also email me directly?

Thanks again.

Richard

Brew and Irish Stout! Describes the history of Irish Stout, designing and Irish Stout recipe, and a collection of Irish Stout recipes for homebrewers….