Adding an oat mash to the sugar wash

[JHeron]

I have 40KG of sugar I am going to mash for a vodka today using Shady's recipe, for the most part.
I have a half bag of malted oats on hand and was thinking I would mash about 5 or 10lbs of it and throw it in with the sugar (grains and all) to see if it makes for a smoother sugar shine.
I figure it will help feed the yeast too.
What do you guys think, is it worth the effort or will the flavour be stripped away in the slow reflux run anyways?
Cheers,
Jon

[MooseMan]

My experience with oats has been that it definitely gives a better mouth feel to my flavoured spirits.
I've never used it for vodka but I can't see why it wouldn't do the same to some extent at least.

As you say, it will help the ferment anyway and help buffer the pH.

[JHeron]

I am going to try 5lbs I guess
My plan is to do a BIAB mash on the stove and then instead of sparging I will hang the bag in the fermenter with the oyster shells
Sound like a plan?

[shadylane]

Give it a try.

[Salt Must Flow]

When you say, "was thinking I would mash about 5 or 10lbs of it and throw it in", do you intend to just make oatmeal and throw it in or convert the starches before throwing it in?

The reason I ask is because converting the starches would probably tend to foam significantly less than if you just boiled the grain and toss it in.

[JHeron]

I was planning on mashing it first to convert the starches.
Get out all the sugar I can
I weighed out 5lbs
Looking forward to tasting!

[Dancing4dan]

I was planning on mashing it first to convert the starches.
Get out all the sugar I can
I weighed out 5lbs
Looking forward to tasting!

Mashing with enzymes to convert the starch to sugar?

[JHeron]

Good point!
I thought they had diastatic power but I see they dont so enzymes it is!
Thanks for the tip!

[JHeron]

I ended up adding 2.5lbs of Vienna along with the enzymes just to be sure
That barrel is making heat today and fermenting like crazy!
I think I will hoist out the grain bag after a week or so.
I will let you all know how the vodka tastes once I get it run off.

[Chucker]

How much water did you use?

[EricTheRed]

I have 40KG of sugar I am going to mash for a vodka today using Shady's recipe, for the most part.
I have a half bag of malted oats on hand and was thinking I would mash about 5 or 10lbs of it and throw it in with the sugar (grains and all) to see if it makes for a smoother sugar shine.
I figure it will help feed the yeast too.
What do you guys think, is it worth the effort or will the flavour be stripped away in the slow reflux run anyways?
Cheers,
Jon

If i do a sugar wash - it gets oats added - definitely tones down that bite
but i'm now on AG Vodka mashes

[JHeron]

How much water did you use?

About a foot to 16" down from the top of a 55 gallon olive barrel
It was reading an estimated 11%

[JHeron]

I have 40KG of sugar I am going to mash for a vodka today using Shady's recipe, for the most part.
I have a half bag of malted oats on hand and was thinking I would mash about 5 or 10lbs of it and throw it in with the sugar (grains and all) to see if it makes for a smoother sugar shine.
I figure it will help feed the yeast too.
What do you guys think, is it worth the effort or will the flavour be stripped away in the slow reflux run anyways?
Cheers,
Jon

If i do a sugar wash - it gets oats added - definitely tones down that bite
but i'm now on AG Vodka mashes

Nice!
What grains are you using for that?

[EricTheRed]

25 kgs fine cornmeal
10kgs ground to fine meal rolled oats
I use enzymes
140 litres water

[Chucker]

How much water did you use?

About a foot to 16" down from the top of a 55 gallon olive barrel
It was reading an estimated 11%

That seems like a lot of sugar for that volume of water. Most here seem to agree that 1#/gal is a good rule of thumb. That’s pretty much about how it works out for grains, too, in using 2-2.5#/gal; about the same in terms of fermentable sugars.

[JHeron]

How much water did you use?

About a foot to 16" down from the top of a 55 gallon olive barrel
It was reading an estimated 11%

That seems like a lot of sugar for that volume of water. Most here seem to agree that 1#/gal is a good rule of thumb. That’s pretty much about how it works out for grains, too, in using 2-2.5#/gal; about the same in terms of fermentable sugars.

Thankfully it finished dry as a popcorn fart!
When you add malt it likely changes the standard sugar/water ratio by a lot.
I am going to start stripping it in my new 100l boiler soon