Useless oats!

I'm new at brewing, and I just discovered that my rolled oats are useless if I don't mash them. I'm only an extract/steep brewer at the moment. I'd be willing to try partial mash with this batch if it's possible. Is Crystal 50-60L considered a 2 row? If so, can I use it to partial mash with? I have 1lb of crystal 50-60 and 1/2 lb of oats... Are these amounts doable? Here's my grain list in case something else will work;

1lb Crystal 50-60L
1lb Extra special pale
1/2lb Lt. Roasted Barley
1/4lb Organic Chocolate
1/2lb rolled oats

Any advice is appreciated, Thanks!

Crystal is most certainly not a base-malt and doesn't even require mashing... however, rolled oats/wheat/rye/etc do very much require mashing.

You need to get yourself some 2-row for a partial mash, or at least a base-grain (i.e. has mash enzymes) like vienna or munich

Well, I had a feeling of that... I have no way of getting the grains I need in time. I suppose I'll leave the oats out. Unless there is some other way to incorporate them, but as I read I don't think there is. I don't want haze or starch, so I suppose I shouldn't steep them. If my yeast starter wasn't already chugging away, I'd put this batch on the shelf untill I could ship in the grains. Since my starter is ready (and active) I'll just brew without the oats.. I'm hoping it won't matter all that much.

It sounds like you need to get a better understanding on base malts, specialty grains, and adjuncts before you really dive much further into all-grain brewing. It's just like any hobby....you wouldn't go skydiving the first time without going tandem right. You need to learn everything that applies to YOU and your hobby before jumping.

I'm not actually doing all grain at all. I'm doing extract/steep brewing, and I thought I could steep all of the grains (including the oats). The above mentioned list of grains is not my entire recipe. It's only the grain bill.. I'm also using 6lbs dark lme. I'm new at brewing in general, and I got the impression that my recipe was extract/steep. I'm starting to think it was meant to be a Partial Mash. I do agree that I need to learn about malts, grains, etc. I just didn't think it would be today! So, with all of this being said, CAN I just steep these grains (excluding the oats) and still get a decent brew? Here's the actual recipe;

5 gal.
2.5 gal boil
6lb Dark LME (15 mins)
1lb Crystal 50-60L
1lb Extra special pale
1/2lb Lt. Roasted Barley
1/4lb Organic Chocolate
1/2lb rolled oats
1oz UK Fuggle (60 min)
1/2oz Northern Brewer (30 min)
1/2 to 3/4C Dark, fat free cocoa powder (10 min)
WLP002 English Ale Yeast
OG 1.049
FG 1.012

Ok....perhaps I am mispeaking, but when I did extract brewing back in the day, I would use flaked oats as a steeping grain....NOT for its extract potential since I wasn't mashing, but for its body enhancing characteristics for my stouts and porters. I assume that rolled oats will have the same affect, so don't toss 'em....just dont expect any fermentable sugars to come from it.

Steeping oats is not ideal but that doesn't stop it from being a common practice that many brewers are o.k. with. What it contributes when steeped is a subject of debate. In this case, you're talking about a half pound. You're fine.

I've never seen it but I think extra special pale sounds like it may need to be mashed. If so you could do a cereal mash with the oats and mix with the pale for a mini mash. The rest of the grains could be steeped separately.

mcaple1 said:

Ok....perhaps I am mispeaking, but when I did extract brewing back in the day, I would use flaked oats as a steeping grain....NOT for its extract potential since I wasn't mashing, but for its body enhancing characteristics for my stouts and porters. I assume that rolled oats will have the same affect, so don't toss 'em....just dont expect any fermentable sugars to come from it.

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back in the early 90's I also used rolled oats in my extract days, but I boiled them like a cereal mash and used the liquid(and ate the oatmeal for breakfast). What a horrible mess it always was but my favorite beer was oatmeal stout. Why I did that or where I got that idea I have no clue, but I must have read it somewhere.

Stauffbier said:

5 gal.
2.5 gal boil
6lb Dark LME (15 mins)
1lb Crystal 50-60L
1lb Extra special pale
1/2lb Lt. Roasted Barley
1/4lb Organic Chocolate
1/2lb rolled oats
1oz UK Fuggle (60 min)
1/2oz Northern Brewer (30 min)
1/2 to 3/4C Dark, fat free cocoa powder (10 min)
WLP002 English Ale Yeast
OG 1.049
FG 1.012

Click to expand...

I suspect the Extra Special Pale Malt (I assume it is a grain), is either 2-row or a Pale Malt, that you can use to convert the oats.

You have 3.25 lbs of grain (I assume the Organic Chocolate is a grain and not actual chocolate). Add the grains to 1 gallon of water at 160 F. Stir well. The temperature should drop to 150 F. Maintain the temperature between 150 to 155 F for 45 minutes. Raise the temperature to 170 F and remove the grains. Rinse the grains with more 170 F water to get as much of the sugars out as possible, then brew.

You can use a 5 gallon paint bag to hold the grain (available from a hardware store), and it will make it easy to get the grain out of the pot.

Calder said:

I suspect the Extra Special Pale Malt (I assume it is a grain), is either 2-row or a Pale Malt, that you can use to convert the oats.

You have 3.25 lbs of grain (I assume the Organic Chocolate is a grain and not actual chocolate). Add the grains to 1 gallon of water at 160 F. Stir well. The temperature should drop to 150 F. Maintain the temperature between 150 to 155 F for 45 minutes. Raise the temperature to 170 F and remove the grains. Rinse the grains with more 170 F water to get as much of the sugars out as possible, then brew.

You can use a 5 gallon paint bag to hold the grain (available from a hardware store), and it will make it easy to get the grain out of the pot.

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Thanks! This is great news. I'm on my way to the hardware store! If they don't have the bags can I use steeping socks that come with extract kits?

mcaple1 said:

Ok....perhaps I am mispeaking, but when I did extract brewing back in the day, I would use flaked oats as a steeping grain....NOT for its extract potential since I wasn't mashing, but for its body enhancing characteristics for my stouts and porters. I assume that rolled oats will have the same affect, so don't toss 'em....just dont expect any fermentable sugars to come from it.

Click to expand...

I've done the same in the past. I don't think you could hurt your beer by adding the oats so why not?

Just got back from the hardware store with my 5 gal paint bag strainer. Since I will be doing a partial mash of my grains do I need to cut back on LME to keep my OG in check?

Stauffbier said:

Just got back from the hardware store with my 5 gal paint bag strainer. Since I will be doing a partial mash of my grains do I need to cut back on LME to keep my OG in check?

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No. You're not adding anything to the recipe, so you won't get a higher OG.

I never heard of extra special pale- what is that?

I got it at Midwest. After looking I realize it's Extra Special Malt not pale...

Stauffbier said:

I got it at Midwest. After looking I realize it's Extra Special Malt not pale...

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I had to look it up to see what it was! It's a crystal malt. It's not a base malt, so you won't get conversion out of it.

Yeah, I just realized that and I looked it up, too. So I just partial mashed for nothing. I have a lot to learn. I hope it doesn't ruin this batch. My grains are very well steeped I suppose...

You should be fine, you will gain some body from the use of the oats, just no fermentable sugars (which would have been minimal at a 1/2lb anyway). Now you have tried the partial mash technique, and it was just a bit more complex than steeping. skill learned!

Although specialty malts like Crystal-60 do not convert like 2-row pale which we are talking about diastic power of the malt, it does contribute to the overall starch content even when partial mashing with just those types, but correct it will not change the OG significatly. but still its not an invitation to add large amounts or not take care in the precentages

Just finished up. This brew has an intense, smokey malt flavor and aroma.. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

good luck, it should be great! now you know how to partial mash! my buddy only does partials and he likes results as well as buying grain is cheaper than buying all extract, that as well as you can use other base malts like vienna which are less easy to find in extract form.

Stauffbier said:

Yeah, I just realized that and I looked it up, too. So I just partial mashed for nothing. I have a lot to learn. I hope it doesn't ruin this batch. My grains are very well steeped I suppose...

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Now that you have gone through the motions of a partial mash (not as scary a concept anymore is it?) and have the paint strainer bag, it is time to research "brew in a bag" or BIAB as you are just a few grains away from going all grain.

If you do go all grain it opens up a whole new range of brews as you have more choices of malts to mix and blend. Just don't go wild until you have the basics down and know how the malts fit together to make good beer.

I checked gravity on this last night. After 6 days it's at 1.020, and it tastes pretty darn good. I can't wait for this one!