I was stoked to make this beer from start to finish. I read about a clone of Lost Abbey's Judgement Day where the raisins were added for the entire boil. Judgment Day is a sweet beer to begin with so I wasn't sure how this one was going to work. I now feel like the silkiness that the oats tend to add are insignificant.
Of all the stouts that I made for the winter (Chocolate Stout, Chocolate Cherrywood Stout, and the Rum Raisin Stout, and even the Date and Molasses Porter), I tweaked each ingredient list here and there; Maris Otter base malts, 2 Row, Roasted Barley or Flaked Barley, Oats and Carafa 2 and 3, just to get a better understanding of the grains themselves. I used a half pound of raisins in the boil and then racked onto another half pound of raisins the were in a dark rum for 14 days. It has been great playing with different alcohols, woods and fruits this year. Peaches and Rum, Cherrywood/ Bourbon, Oak/ Bourbon Raisins and Dates even Plums and Bourbon. This year I hope to get into a few others.
I give this beer a solid B+. It is very sweet, but the rum added to that and I would rather see it come through on the heavy side rather than always wonder how much is enough. I can now start to scale back. The head on this dissipated very quickly, but from the picture above you wouldn't guess. I am thinking that the raisins are the culprit. I was away for a few weeks during all of these dark beers while they were racked so they all had plenty of time to be undisturbed or bottled too early. I am learning to be patient.
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