Flaked oats?

I'm making a Hoegaarden clone that calls for flaked oats, but I can't find them anywhere. I'm making today, so is it okay to substitute rolled oats? What difference would it make to leave them out altogether? Taste or just color?

grnich said:

I'm making a Hoegaarden clone that calls for flaked oats, but I can't find them anywhere. I'm making today, so is it okay to substitute rolled oats? What difference would it make to leave them out altogether? Taste or just color?

Click to expand...

I think rolled oats are fine. My LHBS had flaked oats, I was planning on just picking up some quaker oats (I believe you want the quick cook kind) but when I handed the store my grain bill they put the oats in the bag...

Don't use instant. Quick or regular, cooked per directions, then add to the mash.

Flaked oats are pre-cooked & partially converted.

Thanks, too late for my batch. But I put in regular rolled oats and everything seemed to go okay. 1/4 pound probably wouldn't screw much up anyway. :crosses fingers:

A little late for your brew, but someome just posted a link to BYO on oats and I think it applies here.

http://byo.com/feature/305.html

Rolled oats are available in the supermarket. It is best to buy the "quick cook" or "one minute" oats. These are identical to the traditional breakfast oats (which require longer cooking time), but the "quick oats" are cut into finer pieces. The resulting increased surface area allows the starches to dissolve more readily into the water. Special flaked oats, similar to the supermarket "quick cook" oats, are available in homebrew supply stores.

Thanks, iloman. I used regular, but next time I'll be sure to use the quick kind.

If you're using quick oats, won't they "cook" in the mash just fine? Why would you cook ahead of time?

poley said:

If you're using quick oats, won't they "cook" in the mash just fine? Why would you cook ahead of time?

Click to expand...

because you have to boil the oats for a while to break up the cell walls....you don't boil the mash (I hope).

snailsongs said:

because you have to boil the oats for a while to break up the cell walls....you don't boil the mash (I hope).

Click to expand...

Quaker Quick oats don't need to be cereal mashed (cooked). You can add them to the mash as is. Same can be said for the flaked product at the LHBS.

Yep I've done several oatmeal stouts, just throw the quick oats in the mash (with some rice hulls!). Make sure to get quick oats that don't have any salt added (sodium at 0g on the back).

conpewter said:

Yep I've done several oatmeal stouts, just throw the quick oats in the mash (with some rice hulls!). Make sure to get quick oats that don't have any salt added (sodium at 0g on the back).

Click to expand...

+1. Quaker Quick Oats here too. I went ahead and passed them through my grain mill to ensure they were as fine as possible. Sam's club sells this box for $6.87 which works out to $0.77/lb after sales tax in IL (1% on food). Good luck finding them cheaper anywhere unless you're taking 55lb sacks! Also, my box states 0mg sodium (just checked) so this one won't screw up your water profile as Conpewter pointed out is a possibility.

quick question... what do you guys do when using flaked oats in regards to water amount used. I'm asking because we started off with about 2.5 gallons (assumig about .5 gallon absorption with the oats) but ultimately ended up with about a gallon to a gallon and a half of wort, the oat absorbing the rest...attempting to wring out the oats proved useless. So do you compensate by using more water, or just assume that the wort is now concentrated and adding the additional 3 gallons will be fine, leaving us with about a 4 - 4.5 gallon wort????

Breakdown:

typical wort: 2.25G boiled to about 2G + adding about 3G = 5Gallons

wort with oats: 2.5G boiled to about 1 - 1.5G + adding 3G only = 4 -4.5G of wort

I mash in and sparge with my normal 1.25 q per pound of grist. Never bothered with water volume adjustments for flaked products. *shrug*

mmb said:

I mash in and sparge with my normal 1.25 q per pound of grist. Never bothered with water volume adjustments for flaked products. *shrug*

Click to expand...

+1. I assume 0.12 gallons water loss per pound of grain regardless of what kind of grain it is.