Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

All about grains. Malting, smoking, grinding and other preparations.
Which grains are hot, which are not.

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raketemensch
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Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by raketemensch »

I recently rediscovered my love of oats. In my early days of making UJ I had thrown some rolled oats into a couple of batches and noticed a difference, but once I went AG the difference is so stark. I could just sit and huff a barrel of fermenting oats all day long.

I stumbled onto this tonight, and even though it’s brewing-oriented, it obviously has som good info for us as well:

http://scottjanish.com/case-brewing-oats/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I will have to do some experimenting on my own with this info, especially on the mouth feel front. I also recently discovered a couple of 100% oat whiskeys, but l’m waiting until an empty apartment gets rented before I order one.

With the help of enzymes, I think a 100% experiment is in my near future too.

What about y’all? Any big oat fans oat there?
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by still_stirrin »

I like oats.

It adds texture and a softness to the beer and spirits. But, I prefer to keep the oats as an adjunct. I prefer the base malt as barley malt Even corn I tend to balance with barley malt. I believe it accentuates the grain flavor of the spirit, whereas corn tends to bring up the residual sweetness. But oats definitely add a signature, of sorts. I find that the finish is so much smoother when I’ve used oats in the grainbill.

Incidently, I like to use Quaker Quick Oats in the mash along with the barley malt. It mashes quite easily with the barley.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

I agree with both of you :ebiggrin: . I love oats. I once ran a 100% oat ujssm, double run, and took of between 88%-92%. Still one of my most favorite vodsky to date. I fell in love with oats again after that.

I have a new recipe I'm going to be trying, as soon as the weather breaks. Single Malt COB :). Basically, equal parts of home Corn Malt, Oat Malt, and Barley Malt. All cooked and converted with enzymes. I will let you know when it comes around :).

Also, don't be afraid to toast some oats, and get the Mallaird reaction going. I toasted some of that raw, un cooked rolled oats, and added it to a bourbon bill. Even 2-4 lbs in 70 lb will make a huge notice. Too me, that bourbon came out tasting like toasted marshmallows, campside.

Oats! The underground adjunct! :lol:
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by raketemensch »

Hmmmm, I’ll have to try toasting them, that sounds awesome.

What I’ve been doing is:

5lbs rolled oats
5lbs 6-row
40lbs corn meal

It’s easy ratios, and perfectly fits a 32-gallon Brute.

I’m using enzymes, so the barley is getting cooked along with everything else, wasting the DP but adding flavor. My wife ordered 50lbs of organic rolled oats through her co-op, so I’ve been stealing a bit here and there. I’ll have to dig up a cheaper source soon.
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Post by HDNB »

my goto recipe is 60 %corn 30% barley and 10% oats with an addition of 20% of that weight in 2 row for flavour. enzymes for conversion.
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Post by raketemensch »

Where are y'all sourcing your oats? I've been using some crazy expensive ones just because they're here, but is a 50lb bag of Producer's Pride Whole Oats or Rolled Oats a viable alternative?
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Post by Swedish Pride »

yep, a kilo or two of oats in every mash these days, even single malt gets some oats
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Post by raketemensch »

I discovered that the place I get my corn flour will sell me 500lbs of oat flour for $120, which is just about the same cost as the PP, per pound — already ground, and fresh. I need some bigger fermenters and one of those 26 gallon boilers.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by fizzix »

Had a homebrew Oatmeal Lager on tap at my (licensed to dispense) homebrew shop and it was seductive and extremely full-bodied.
Unfortunately no one was able to tell me oat percentage, but think of two 16-ounce beers as being a "meal" and designated driver required.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by Shine0n »

I've always look at the steam rolled oats at ts but never picked any up, dont know why but I sure will now as some of the heavy hitters around say yae to them.

One of my favorite beers is an oatmeal Stout, it felt like the flavor would linger in you mouth till the next sip (gulp)

Definitely on the list with the new bourbon!
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Post by WIski »

Not that the oat train needs any more passengers but I will add I am a big fan of the results they give. Most of my grain bills contain 5 to 10 percent oats. I love the flavor and texture they bring to the final product. I use the steam rolled from the feed mill and run it through the coffee grinder before the ferment. Good luck....... :eugeek:
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Post by firewater69 »

I love me some oats, my go to bill is 43% corn, 43% 2 row and 14% crimped oats. I just did a strip on an ag vodka for the wife that was 70% oats and 30 % wheat malt, i had a taste of the hearts and it's very promising with amazing mouthfeel, I'm leaving some flavor in this vodka-ish drink.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by zapata »

Seems a good place to ask.
Hulls on or hulls off? For either direct usage or for malting? I've read some say the hull is grassy or straw like in flavor, also read some say that hulled oats are better but dont germinate very reliably for malting.

I have to admit I dont have a horse and have never really looked at any oat besides oatmeal. But local farmers are selling stuff that looks like this:
Oats.jpg
Looks like it has hulls, which I guess I would expect for feed oats, yeah? Malt it, mash it, or pay a bit more to not deal with hulls?
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Post by bilgriss »

If you want to lauter, hulls on. Otherwise, off is great.
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Post by Copperhead road »

From feed/farming supplies, great bird food lol

Tis what I use for my oat whiskey recipe I got off a friend AKA swedish pride.
this oat whiskey will put hair on your chest :lolno: :lolno: :lolno:

just grist them through my pilot roller mill. :thumbup:
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by Buccaneer Bob »

zapata wrote:Seems a good place to ask.
Hulls on or hulls off? For either direct usage or for malting? I've read some say the hull is grassy or straw like in flavor, also read some say that hulled oats are better but dont germinate very reliably for malting.

I have to admit I dont have a horse and have never really looked at any oat besides oatmeal. But local farmers are selling stuff that looks like this:
Oats.jpg
Looks like it has hulls, which I guess I would expect for feed oats, yeah? Malt it, mash it, or pay a bit more to not deal with hulls?
Just a heads-up, they sort grains by quality.

The best stuff becomes human food. And right around the "human food" grade is what I call "germination grade": seed that could either be planted or malted.

Next is the feed-grade stuff, and that could either be small grains with iffy germination qualities or stuff that's mildewed, either in the field or in storage.

Animals will pretty happily munch the mildewed stuff, but it will taste "off", and it will have a very low germination rate, like 0-20% germination.

So the grain you have pictured looks mildewed (note the grayish tint). You would probably not have much luck malting it, maybe 20% germination at best.

But worse, if you try to malt it, the whole lot will get funkier than all-get-out, unless you soak it in a 5-gallon bucket of water with maybe 1/4 cup of bleach in it for about 20 minutes and then rinse it thoroughly.

Then the mildew taste won't get worse, but it won't get much better, either.

Better to start with "human food" grade or "germination grade" grain if you're after flavor.

The good stuff should look more like this.

Image

Depending on the type of grain, you want to look for gold, beige, or khaki color with zero grayish hue.

Anyway, you would have a lot better luck with something like this than you would with the grayish, mildewed stuff.

Just something I learned when malting barley and wheat.

Cheers.
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Post by zapata »

Awesome, thanks Bob!
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by gsugg »

We have a feed grade horse oats available in NC that is excellent. Look like the seed grade and germinate great for malting. Horses and mule love the leftovers too. Cost is $11 for a 50lb bag. Kind of hard to beat.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by badflash »

Malting oats can be tricky, but I found a neat trick that seems to avoid the bacterial pitfalls that will totally screw it up. I soak in a bucket for 12 hours with an aquarium bubbler so the grain doesn't drown. I mix in 1/3 cup of regular unscented bleach with 4 gallons of water for the soak. Discard anything that floats.

After the soak I put them in poly weave feed sacks and lay them on a slanted shelf to drain. Every 12 hours I turn the sacks over and add another sack on top. The top sack provides just the right mount of water for the lower sacks. Each time you turn the bags you will be amazed at how hot they get. When I am ready to add bag #4 I harvest the bottom bag and put it in an unvented air tight brew bucket for a day. This suffocates the grain and allows the enzymes to mature. If you ever smell a rancid butter smell, things have gone wrong.

I turn the feed sacks inside out and hang it on the fence for the chickens who eagerly clean the bags. They can be washed and re-used.

I grind my oat wet, but there is no reason you can't dry it.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by gsugg »

badflash - I should have mentioned as well. I get rye, oats, wheat, and barley from the same source. With all these, I soak for about an hour in same mild bleach you use. Scoop floating, rinse, then soak for about 8 hours or more depending on grain. I then put it on a tobacco sheet (used to pack 200 plus pounds of tobacco at the time so pretty large), layer about an inch thick in the shade. Keep damp and roll it around to keep air to it.

But back to the main question; oats are good in any proportion. My favorite is bentstick's 1/3 wheat, rye, and oats with 40% of each malted. In tried and true.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by Jimy Dee »

Folks, I hope this post is in order in this thread - yesterday I bought a large 25kg (circa 50 lbs) bag of oatmeal with a view to doing 30 to 40% malted barley and the remainder oatmeal to see what oats are like. If it is too strong I can always use it for mixing. The oatmeal is the type for making porridge as a breakfast. I got the bag that hotels buy. I understand this product is pregelatinised so conversion is not really an issue. Anyone have any hints or tricks when using oatmeal? JD.
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Post by greggn »

> Anyone have any hints or tricks when using oatmeal?


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Post by Jimy Dee »

Have it. If I go all enzymes should I give the malt barley a miss? Any benefit to adding the malt barley?
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Post by badflash »

Not for malting, but maybe for flavor. Oats have plenty of hull, so no problem mashing.
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by raketemensch »

Jimy Dee wrote:Have it. If I go all enzymes should I give the malt barley a miss? Any benefit to adding the malt barley?
Wow, great stuff in this thread, the malting tricks are awesome. Everything I'd read about malting my own had scared me away from it. IS the flavor profile different when malted vs using enzymes?
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Re: Oats! Professions of love and some interesting reading.

Post by DAD300 »

The flavor profile is different when malted vs using enzymes. Not better or worse, just different.
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