14 replies to this topic

[macbrak]

I'm getting my big brew recipe together and I'm going to do the SS Minnow Mild but that Quaker Oats dude is going to be subbing in for the Skipper. So I bought the years supply o' oatmeal from costco for other reasons and wondered if using half of that would be too much (its packaged with 2 4.5lb bags)Note: I will be doing 10 gallons and the following is just 5. It works out to about 15lbs of grain for the 4.5lbs of oats.Recipe from aha:SS Minnow Mild Ale—English Dark Mild – All Grain RecipeFor a 5 gallon (19 L) yieldO.G.: 1.037F.G.: 1.012IBU: 15Fermentables5.5 lb (2.5 kg) 2-Row English Pale Malt11 oz (312 g) English Crystal 55o L6 oz (170 g) Crystal 120o L3 oz (85 g) British Chocolate Malt3 oz (85 g) Brown Malt (if unavailable, substitute Biscuit Malt or Amber Malt)Hops0.75 oz (21 g) East Kent Golding, 5.8% Alpha Acid, for 60 minutes (If E.K. Golding is unavailable, substitute Fuggle, or Willamette hops for 15 IBU.)4.5

[earthtone]

ok so where are the oats? there's none in that recipe..... my $.02 is you should do a beta glucan rest and a mashout and you should be fine but a lb of rice hulls is beauty for peace of mind.

[macbrak]

Sorry I just cut&pasted the official recipe. Just add 4.5# of flaked oats.

[earthtone]

yeah, toss in a lb of rice hulls and hit your protein rest temp then raise to mash and do a mashout before sparge and things should run fine for you.

[BrewerGeorge]

It's pushing it. Thing about oats is that they don't just mess up the filter bed like wheat because they are hull-less. In addition, they raise the viscosity of the liquid so it doesn't flow well. (That's why you want them in the mild in the first place, right?) That's why earthtone recommended both rice hulls and a beta glucan rest. The thing is, though, that doing the glucan rest to lower viscosity will defeat a lot of the purpose of putting that much oat in there in the first place. It's also a bit of a PITA for infusion step mashing because it's at a low enough temp that it's a bit difficult to get to mash temps with just hot water additions. You gnerally have to make the glucan rest really stiff to have a shot. Unless you are using the oats for a cheap source of fermentables, or to lighten the flavor, I would personally just use less rather than using a lot and working hard to get the same viscosity you'd get just by using less. (Does that make sense?)Are they "Old Fashioned" oats or instant? The old fashioned has a bit more internal integrity so they won't break up as much and are easier to mash with. You might get away without adding rice hulls if they're old fashioned (and you don't use too many).

[macbrak]

They're "Old Fashioned" but I planned on running 'em through the grinder with the malt. I want to beef up the alcohol but also get a little of that creamy oatmeal stout feel. I think I'll just use a pound or two w/ rice hulls as a stuck mash on Big Brew Day isn't fun.

[earthtone]

I wouldn't crush them. I use the big fat flaked grains from the LHBS and I don't crush them. You get plenty efficiency out of those grains uncrushed (I've hit over 80% using big flaked oats).

[BrewerGeorge]

DEFINITELY don't crush them. I've made that mistake. They'll bind up the mill terribly. Like earthtone said, you'll get plenty of efficiency without having to crush them.

[macbrak]

I've mixed them with the other grain and didn't have an issue last time but I'll take that into future consideration.

[3rd party JKor]

I love oatmeal, but I don't think that I could even eat 4.5 pounds of it.

[Stout_fan]

I used 3.8 in a 13 gal batch,umm ... this is a bit more

[earthtone]

lol 9 pounds....yeah a bit more.

[djinkc]

I brewed a pale ale a while back with 30% oats. Sparging was not fun..........

[macbrak]

no just 4.5 in 10 gallons.

[djinkc]

https://www.brewboar...p...361&hl=oatsAnd if IIRC it ended up being closer to 30%. Did the rests with a fairly straightline ramp up and it was still a major mess sparging. Been there and done that so it wasn't that bad. But, I don't want to do it again. IMHO, the step mash made it worse. If/when I do it again it will be single infusion with about 5 handfulls of rice hulls.FWIW, I really enjoyed the beer. My wife didn't but I like oats.....