Clogged sparge in my future?

Dear Collective,

New here and my first post. Please be kind.

I'm brewing an American Oatmeal Brown Ale. At the moment, I partial mash with a small cooler, 9 quarts. I understand oatmeal flakes can clog a sparge and shouldn't be more than 5-10% of the grist. Here are the grains:

0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt
0.50 lb Oats, Flaked
0.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK
0.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt

Clearly the oats will be much more than 10%, but does that matter when the mash is so small? Is 1/2 lb of flaked oats too much? (the rest of the malt is 6.6 lbs of Briess Golden LME).

Also, will the 2 row pale malt and the others be able to contribute enough enzymes to convert the oat starches?

Any help appreciated!

welcome!
I think you are confusing wheat (no husk) for oats.
What kind of grain filter (bag, screen?) are you using-- just curious-- i do not think it will matter.

Thanks for the reply.

See the attached picture. It's a plastic mesh with relatively large holes (it's not like a metal screen). The photo shows the slotted tube in which the plastic mesh goes, with a spare mesh on the side to show it in better detail.

I've had this little guy get stuck before (with the grains for a partial mash Imperial Stout). As you can imagine, it was a hassle getting the extract out (had to scoop it out) and I didn't get the gravity I was going for.

I understand oats can be difficult to work with because of the great quantity of proteins and starches they contain. They can seriously gum things up. So I want to get a feel for what I can expect, particularly considering I'm using 1/2 a pound.

And I also want to know about the conversion. Will the other grains provide enough to convert the oat starches?

A

sorry, i dont understand your screen method. Where did it come from? It is very easy to use a grain bag or paint bag and mash in there... then you wont getva stuck mash. search here for easy partial mash stove-top // brew in a bag.

hopefully someone else can answer your other questions.
oh-- 0.5# of oatmeal is normal. it is a small percentage when you count the liquid extract

I use a cooler to do my mashes, just like the "big boys". The difference is that I use a smaller cooler with smaller amounts of grain. But the set up is the same. The plastic tube you see in the picture runs the length of the bottom of the cooler to collect the the extract from the mash. I used to do bags, but moved away from that.

Relative to the total amount of extract, the oatmeal is indeed a smaller percentage. But since it's going to be in the mash with with the other grains, which only comprise a few pounds, the percentage is much higher. Hence the concern about the stuck sparge.

A

Here's a pic I hope will show it better.

http://www.heartshomebrew.com/html/images/mash.jpg

IMHO...I think the slats (holes) are too big and not enough...think about this...the larger the (hole) as you say...the more "siphoning" effect it will have...hence more tendencies to get stuck. Think "flow dynamics" (props to Palmer). With more, smaller slats, there is more of an even drainage...if you get what I'm sayin...I've never personally used oats, but from the amount of oatmeal I eat, I know how it can "dough" up...and could see how this could potentially be an issue.

Looks pretty tho...

I also think you could use more 2row for the enzymes. Maybe 1-2# more? I'm just guessing - I didn't actually look at the diastatic math.

Well, "pretty" was the main reason I bought it! You know, "form before function".

But seriously, folks, you have a good point. The plastic mesh probably slows things down a bit, but I do get a pretty good flow.

The mini-masher was just a transition move to get better extract out of the grains (the whole point of partial mashing, no?). But I decided this morning that I'm definitely moving to all-grain this year, probably for my next batch if not the next. Now I have to research a good, but "fiscally responsible" set up...

I'm keeping the mini-masher around, though. For the sake of expediency, I may not always do all-grain and it does do a pretty good job (better than steeping, if you ask me).

Palmer and others warn about the use of oats. That's why I'm trying to strike that balance between actually getting something out of them and clogging the heck out of the sparge.

I meant to say this: don't fear the oats. Yes, they can occasionally cause problems, but you'll probably be fine. They're not instant sparge-stickers.

If you want to be really careful, you could leave the oats out when you mash in, and then add them to the top of the mash.

kanzimonson said:

I also think you could use more 2row for the enzymes. Maybe 1-2# more? I'm just guessing - I didn't actually look at the diastatic math.

Click to expand...

I've thought about this. I'm using Beer Smith (new at that too) and trying to staying within the American Brown Ale guidelines. As it is, the recipe is on the upper edge of OG. Not that I have to stick to that, but it's a better learning experience to try to, you know what I mean?

On that note, any substitution recommendations? If something had to be reduced, what would that be? Or do I just shoot up the OG with another lb of 2-row?

kanzimonson said:

If you want to be really careful, you could leave the oats out when you mash in, and then add them to the top of the mash.

Click to expand...

Won't that affect their conversion?

I mean add the oats after you dough-in. I don't think you'll have a problem mashing the oats for only 59 minutes instead of 60.

As for adding more grain, if you want to keep the same OG, why not reduce the amount of extract you'll be adding to the kettle? Or make a bigger batch?

kanzimonson said:

As for adding more grain, if you want to keep the same OG, why not reduce the amount of extract you'll be adding to the kettle? Or make a bigger batch?

Click to expand...

That's a thought. I could dilute it.

Well, I brewed the recipe this weekend and had no issues with a stuck sparge. I batch sparged, so the remixing helped.

Now let's see how it comes out. As of this morning, the fermentation was going fine.

Thanks all for the responses.