Malting Oats

Production methods from starch to sugars.

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oakie
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Malting Oats

Post by oakie »

I just got back from a place that sells whole oats for 13 cents a pound. So I was wondering why you shouldn't malt your own oats?

I just remebered reading on Uncle Remus' post about malting rye that there was a type of mold or fungus that can be found in the grain and usually only becomes active during malting.

Does any one know anything about this like what it is, how common it is, or ways to get around it? And does anyone out there have any experience with malting oats?

Thanks, Oakie
wineo
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Post by wineo »

Im running oats mash now,and from what ive read malting oats,and rye is a no no.The oats get putred real quick,and so does the rye,from what Ive read.They say its risky,cause some of that stuff can kill you.I will be converting oats,and rye with malted barley,and enzymes.If I tried it ,It would be my luck that I would go mad or die or something,so Im not going to try.
wineo
Uncle Remus
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Post by Uncle Remus »

I've never malted oats. Rye was a piece of cake. I malted several pounds and distilled it with no ill effects.

I think a lot of this stuff is simply old wives tales.

Give it a try, just keep everything clean and keep a close eye on it for any mold starting to grow.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer.
oakie
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Post by oakie »

yeah might as well try it and see what happens I sure got plenty to play around with.
wineo
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Post by wineo »

Uncle remus,You might be right about it being an ole wives tale.I guess the mold is what you have to watch.I havent tried it.Dont have the time anyway.Its hard to keep up with the batches I have going now.I just ran 12Lbs of oats,3Lbs of 6 row,and 2Lbs of 2 row pale ale through my barleycrusher.Im going to restart my oat whiskey,with a new mash,and use backset from my run tonight,to mash with.I saved a gallon of the old mash,to start it with tomorrow.
wineo
oakie
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Post by oakie »

It probably is just an old wives tale. I tried a couple of new things this time. I diluted some hydrogen peroxide down to two percent and rinsed the oats off with this before I started. I also added six or seven drops of lime juice to the soaking water to help stop any bacterial growth. Neather of these seemed to hurt the grain at all cause it's been going great so far.
BW Redneck
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Post by BW Redneck »

The fungus in question is usually cited as ergot. Ergot is rare in this part of the states. If ergot is present, it will become active and "sprout" during malting. If in doubt, throw it out.

I would malt oats myself, but my supply is unhusked, so I can't really do much without contributing a flavor akin to straw.
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Uncle Jesse
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well

Post by Uncle Jesse »

something tells me even if you manage to get some ergot into your rye, it won't be present in the distillate
If only the best birds sang, the woods would be silent.
Uncle Remus
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Post by Uncle Remus »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Here's a blip on ergot. It says somewhere in there it almost never effects oats.


I found malting rye was very easy. I've mashed and distilled what I malted some time ago now. I've been sipping it now and then with no ill effects...although I do sometimes pick up my son's electric guitar and start belting out riffs of Purple Haze, after I've had a couple of pulls :lol:

I think your right UJ even if the grain had ergot it would be pretty tough for it to survive the mashing and distilling process. But if it did....hmmm....couple of pulls and you take a trip and never leave the farm! That shit would make absinthe and the green fairy thing seem like drinking cool-aid :shock:
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer.
hornedrhodent
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Post by hornedrhodent »

Uncle Remus wrote:I've never malted oats. Rye was a piece of cake. I malted several pounds and distilled it with no ill effects.

I think a lot of this stuff is simply old wives tales.

Those old wives knew a thing or two - IIRC ergot had some medicinal uses particularly with childbirth - probably not in the same dosage as dodgy bakers using ergotised rye to bake the village's bread.

IMO it's a lost art and modern medicine is a lot safer but there are probably thousands of chemicals in substances such as ergot which could have medicinal properties. I'll bet the drug companies know about a lot of them but rye is much more expensive than oil.
wuudie
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Re: Malting Oats

Post by wuudie »

Hey everyone- long time listener first time posting.
I've been doing rye for a while- no problem- if you ever do get the ERGOT- you will know- the grain turns a deep black and a funky growths come out of the grain-
Just pull the effected grains- use a teaspoon to get the grains around it and no problems.
Dnderhead
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Re: Malting Oats

Post by Dnderhead »

infected grain can be separated out ,as it will float.
grain that floats is likely not to be good any way .others like we called "false" will also float.(halls with nothing in them)
K830106
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Re: Malting Oats

Post by K830106 »

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