I brewed an oatmeal stout on the 15/7, bottled on the 31/7, so still a young beer. 7 days fermenting I took a reading and noticed an odd smell. Beer tasted ok. When bottling it still had the smell, and again tasted fine. I've just tried a bottle to see how it's progressing and it still has this odd smell. The beer still tastes fine, tho obviously needs longer in the bottle. I used tap water that was treated with a campden tablet overnight (as per a previous brew with no smell issues) and the beer doesn't strike me as being infected. I can't really describe the smell, just odd. The yeast was MJ44, again one I've used before without issues. Maybe the smell is due to one of the ingredients (roasted barley/choc malt?). I hope it goes over time, but can anyone offer any suggestions? I had to swap in Fuggles due to stupidly not having Challenger hops, but I can't see that resulting in an odd smell. Bit baffled. Shame I can't attach a smell on the thread!! 
. Out of interest, how long do your oatmeal stouts take to mature? I'm thinking that these may need around 4 weeks in the bottle before coming good?
