Oatmeal brewing

[ZAPP168]

I was interested in using oatmeal in brewing, but I am confused as to when to add the oatmeal in the process.
Thanks

[BrewDog]

It goes in your mash with the other grains. A protein rest is highly recommended (122F).

[haaseg]

If your are only doing extract brewing (this *is* the extract thread), then you are going to need to end up doing a partial mash. You'd mash the oatmeal first, then throw the resulting wort in with your extract when you boil.

If you haven't done something like this before, do a bit of research on "partial mash" or "extract with specialty grains" or something similar. I believe there's a section on it in Papazian, and John Palmer's "How to Brew" covers it as well.

[mortong]

You don't even need to do a partial mash. Just steep the oatmeal with your other specialty grains before adding the extract. Palmer's How to Brew has a section on steeping as well.

[HogieWan]

I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure you need to mash oatmeal along with enzymes from base malts.

[Danno6102]

Hogie's right. Oatmeal needs to be mashed with som sort of base malt with some diastatic power to convert.

Danno

[I'mRocketMan]

So do a partial mash with an equal amount of base malt (as the oatmeal)

[haaseg]

Originally posted by I'mRocketMan
So do a partial mash with an equal amount of base malt (as the oatmeal)

Actually you might need a better ratio than that... I'm not sure. A protein rest is generally recommended if your adjuncts are greater then 25% of your total grain bill. But an equal amount of base malt would mean 50%.

But I think we're not talking so much about extracting fermentable sugars from the oatmeal (mashing). I think that ZAPP186 is just talking about getting the flavor/mouthfeel. This comes from the unfermentable portions of the oatmeal. As mortong mentioned, the oatmeal can probably just be steeped in order to achieve this.

[HogieWan]

From annapolishombrew.com (http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/shoprecipekits108.asp) (scroll to oatmeal stout kit) :

You may see other selling malt extract recipes claiming to make oatmeal stout, but beware! There are no oatmeal malt extracts on the market, and no matter how long you steep oatmeal into a malt extract recipe, it won't do anything for the beer. Oatmeal must be mashed.


I have seen flaked oats used in other extract recipes, though.

[HogieWan]

Flaked oats are gelantinized (cooked), so you have be able to cook the oatmeal before using it - I think we need one of the resident experts to chime in here.

[stronk]

I have used oatmeal before. It needs to be mashed. If you don't mash it, it will end up as a sticky blob and won't contribute much to anything.

Well, it's worked like that for me before, so that's what I recommend.

[HogieWan]

One more link from How To Brew (http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-2.html)

This section says oats need to be cooked for the starches to be soluble and that oats must be mashed.

[mortong]

As I understand it, it needs to be mashed with barley to convert the starches into fermentable sugars. For the mouthfeel, it doesn't need to be converted, although it does need to be soluble.

Because instant/flaked oats are "pre-gelatinized," the are soluble in the steep. Because of lack of enzymes, they will not break down into anything fermentable. You end up with a heavier, thicker beer as a result. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Do not try to strain or syphon this mess until primary fermentation is complete. I know from experience that it just won't work.

For an example, see BYO's "Quaker Stout."
Quaker Stout (http://www.byo.com/recipe/972.html)

Of course, there is a way to break it down much more easily that doesn't require a mash setup, and that works according to BYO (although it's pretty ghetto):

Preheat your oven to 150-158 degrees F. Put 3 gallons of water in an all-metal pot. Add grain bags with your oats and 2-row. Let sit for one hour. Not anywhere near as efficient as a true mash, but according to BYO it does work. While you're doing this, you can use another pot to create 3 gallons of extract wort: ("Reference (http://www.byo.com/feature/305.html))


Edited for typo

[danno]

I was at a homebrew party last night, and aside from drinking entirely too much mead, he had an oatmeal stout on tap that was fabulous. smooth and very silky. I asked him what he put in it, and he said he used Oat Malt, not oatmeal, and quite a bit of Simpsons Golden Naked Oats. something to think about when you're formulating your next recipe...

[bruin_ale]

My second batch of beer was a partial mash. It's not very difficult and you don't need much equipment. If you have a large boiling pot and a strainer, that's pretty much it.

Here's a link to a BYO article that I used. I think I got about 60-65% efficiency, hard to tell since my hydrometer is only +-2 points accurate and I was only mashing a few pounds of grain.

http://www.byo.com/feature/986.html

[rogerdoct]

:D I had a great Oatmeal Stout tonight. Smooth, with just enough bite! I had it at Squatter's Brew Pub in Salt Lake City. I am brewing a Bohemian Pilsner next, but right after that is consumed, I am going to brew a smokey oatmeal stout!
Roger "Doc".

[toneyc]

Why wait? Do it! Do it now!

:D
Toney.

[markaberrant]

So if I just wanted to steep in some oatmeal, should I use Flaked Oats or Oatmeal Malt? What is the difference?

[bruin_ale]

I just use quick oats from the store, which is the same as flaked oats. Not sure what oatmeal malt is... If you're going to steep oats, you should put in some 2-row or 6-row to convert the starches in the oatmeal. Otherwise you won't really get much other than a bunch of unconverted starches.

[markaberrant]

Originally posted by bruin_ale
I just use quick oats from the store, which is the same as flaked oats. Not sure what oatmeal malt is... If you're going to steep oats, you should put in some 2-row or 6-row to convert the starches in the oatmeal. Otherwise you won't really get much other than a bunch of unconverted starches.

But if I just want it for the mouthfeel, steeping some Flaked Oats should do the trick right?

I have no idea what Oat Malt is either, I just saw it here:

http://www.paddockwood.com/product_info.php?products_id=1116

[bruin_ale]

I'm not positive since I've never tried it, but I think I remember reading somewhere that you'll get a bit of the creamier mouthfeel by steeping the oats even if you don't use a base malt to convert the starches. If you try it out, let us know by posting your results here.