I need some advice before brewing my first Oatmeal Stout, please

They should already be pre-gelatinized. If you're only adding a little bit I can't see how it would matter too much either way though.

: Bill Velek wrote: : > I will be doing an all-grain using batch-sparging. The oatmeal I have is : > "Quick Oats" -- what one buys in the grocery store for breakfast, but I : > don't know if it has been gelatinized or not. The cooking directions

: They should already be pre-gelatinized. If you're only adding a little : bit I can't see how it would matter too much either way though.

I've heard that the "Quick Oats" are pre-gelatinized, but I've only used the regular "old-fashioned" ones. Even if they are pre-gelatinized, cooking them more won't hurt. Basically, with either oats, rice, or corn as an adjunct, it's best if you can boil the hell out of it for at least 1/2 hour, but be very careful to watch for sticking. A cereal mash helps that a lot:

Take 2 lbs of your base malt and your oatmeal (1-2 lbs probably?). Mash in with enough water for both... probably a gallon or so. Hold at 150F for 1/2 hour or so, and then raise to a boil for another 1/2 hour. The enzyme rest will help liquify some of the starches to reduce scorching/sticking tendencies. After the boil, add the gloop to the rest of the mash.

-Cory

I use flaked oats not rolled oats (quick or instant). The LHBS sais there was a big difference and I'd guess that to be more than the grind. I have not used the rolled oats you have in a beer. I hear they make a nice breakfast cereal though. I wouldn't risk the batch to save a few cents on the grain.

Hi Bill,

I have had the best results when using flaked oats from my LHBS. You can just mash these along with the rest of your grains with no issues. I tries using Quick Oats before and it caused my one and only stuck sparge. Go with the flaked oats if you can...otherwise use less Quick Oats.

Also, keep the amount of oats at 10% or less of total grain weight. I usually use about 5% oats in my oatmeal stout.

Later,

M

Bill Velek wrote:

I used 18 oz. of quick oats with no problem. I also batch sparged, so the stuck sparge issue may have been less important.

Mmmmmm Oatmeal....

May be time to do another of those myself.

regular "old-fashioned" ones. Even if they

oats, rice, or corn as an adjunct, it's best if you can

sticking. A cereal mash helps that a lot:

with enough water for both... probably a gallon or

hour. The enzyme rest will help liquify some of

gloop to the rest of the mash.

What is the reason for the boiling after the enzyme rest?

Also, FWIW, I've had success doing a short protein rest for the oats alone, using quick oats, by holding them at about 118-120F. A source I don't recall said something about reducing gums or something. This may have helped prevent a stuck sparge, I believe.

John S.

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I've had several goes at oatmeal stouts and also with flaked barley which is similar in so much as it's a flaked grain. I have got far better results with cooking oats even though they are the 1 minute variety. To avoid a stuck run-off & sparge, I mash-in malted grain and use a fairly thin mash. After 15 minutes or so, I add the cooked oats to the top of the mash tun being carefull not to mix them into the grain bed. To replenish the supply of active enzyme, I re-circulate the wort a few times during the mash. Although I usually batch sparge, with oatmeal stouts, I fly sparge so as not to mix the oats into the grainbed, especially down to the bottom where the screen is. This method works well and you can use lots of oats if you want to, providing that you don't disturb the grainbed after the oats have been added. Steve W (in Aus)

: I've had several goes at oatmeal stouts and also with flaked barley which is : similar in so much as it's a flaked grain. I have got far better results : with cooking oats even though they are the 1 minute variety. : To avoid a stuck run-off & sparge, I mash-in malted grain and use a fairly : thin mash. After 15 minutes or so, I add the cooked oats to the top of the : mash tun being carefull not to mix them into the grain bed. : To replenish the supply of active enzyme, I re-circulate the wort a few : times during the mash. : Although I usually batch sparge, with oatmeal stouts, I fly sparge so as not : to mix the oats into the grainbed, especially down to the bottom where the : screen is. : This method works well and you can use lots of oats if you want to, : providing that you don't disturb the grainbed after the oats have been : added. : Steve W (in Aus)

Have you ever computed your "oats efficiency" using this method? It seems like it would work pretty well, but I'd think you'd need a lot of circulation to do a good conversion.

-Cory

Thanks, everyone. Some very good suggestions. I actually came down with the flu and felt so bad on Sunday that I spent nearly the entire day in bed. Not feeling too bad now, and since I have nothing else scheduled for tomorrow, and my starter is ready to go ... I'll be brewing as long as I don't have a relapse.

Anyway, I have 2 carboys to bottle, too. They are from a party-gyle I did 16 days ago, and they're still in their primaries. I had meant to transfer them to secondaries a week ago, but couldn't find the time. Now I figure I'll just bottle instead.

I purchased BeerToolsPro a weeks ago or so, and will see what I can do with it now.

Looks like I have my work cut-out for me, but I have plenty of cold beer. ;-)

Thanks again for the input. I'll post a report later.

Cheers.

Bill Velek

Here is a report on how my Oatmeal Stout did, but first I want to thank everyone again for all of their input. Obviously, it wasn't possible to follow all the advice I received.

Since I had all day and the ingredients, I decided to do another party-gyle of sorts* and make my oatmeal stout during a second mash so that I could start with a grain-bed already in place. I did a TRUE party-gyle during my previous brew session, using a heavier than usual grain bill, a single mash, and then just separated my runnings, using the first runnings with high gravity for one beer, and the second runnings for a weaker beer. This time I did SORT OF a party-gyle, but only in the sense that I figured I would get some residual sugar out of the first grain-bed while at the same time helping to avoid a stuck sparge if I managed to not disturb it much. Since this was my first, I don't know how much trouble 1.5# of oatmeal can be with 7.5# of malt, so I didn't want to take any chances. It worked remarkably well -- not even the slightest hint of a stuck sparge and everything looks excellent so far, except that there was one minor complication due to my not thinking clearly (I was drinking while brewing, of course). I had intended to mash in at about 130-135F(54-57C) for half an hour, and then raise it to 155F(68C) for another half hour, but I forgot to try to compensate for the high temperature of my mashtun and grain bed from sparging my first batch, and so when I struck the second batch shooting for 130F(54C), I ended up with 150F(66C), and adding cold water would probably have diluted it way too much, so I just did a single-step infusion for the whole hour at that temp. I have no idea of how fermentable it will be, but the O.G. was 1.052 -- a little lower than I expected. Here was the grain bill:

remnants in 1st grain bed (spent grains from 9# 2-row and 1# crystal)

6.0# - 2-row 1.5# - quick oats 0.5# - crystal 0.5# - chocolate malt 0.5# - roasted barley

I'll give a follow-up regarding attenuation and final outcome later.

Thanks.

Bill Velek -- my web-sites:

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