flaked oats (in extract beer)

[Hoochin'Fool]

If I'm trying to convert an all-grain recipe where oats (flaked-oats seem to be most commonly called for) are part of the mash-bill, should I substitute already-malted oats (Briess blonde RoastOat malt, for example), do a mini-mash with enough base malt to convert the flaked-oats, or just go with steeping the flaked-oats?

 

[bracconiere]

should I substitute already-malted oats

before i read your post, i didn't think of it. but tuning in i realize, i'm just obi-wan, and you're darth vader!

that sounds like what i'd do, now that you said it! (i would do a small steep with it first, just so the enzymes are concentrated, then dump the 'mash' water in the boil kettle, and dunk the oat bag a couples times to rinse it off...)

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

If I'm trying to convert an all-grain recipe where oats (flaked-oats seem to be most commonly called for) are part of the mash-bill, should I substitute already-malted oats (Briess blonde RoastOat malt, for example), do a mini-mash with enough base malt to convert the flaked-oats, or just go with steeping the flaked-oats?

Steeping specialty malts that 'need' to be mashed will extract the flavors, colors, and a small amount of starches. Some people are OK with that small additional amount of starches in the final beer.

There are crystal oat malts (e.g. Simpsons Golden Naked Oats) that do not need to be mashed.

If you decide to do a small (under 2 lb grains) mash, there's a preheated oven technique that can be used to help stabilize the mash temperature.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I have never used Briess Blonde RoastOat Malt before. Looking at the product sheet, they do not list a diastatic power value. This is often a sign that a malt does not have enough to support conversion. I would think that a 6 SRM malt would still have diastatic power, but I am not sure. There may not be any advantage to using these over flaked oats other than a little more color and flavor.

In theory, you should not just steep flaked grains as that will add unconverted starches to the final beer. The word on the street is that these starches will contribute haze (which is not always a bad thing these days) and lead to shorted shelf life (maybe not a big deal for homebrewers).

I put out a 3 part video series on this topic. The first video was on brewing a partial mash version of the Brave Noise Pale Ale recipe (I used flaked oats and malted wheat in the partial mash). The second video was a discussion on steeping vs mashing. In the third video I compared the partial mash version of the Brave Noise Pale Ale with one where I steeped flaked oats and flaked wheat.

It has been a little while, but as I recall I liked the steeped version a bit better. Given that this was a fairly low ABV beer (in the 4% range) the batch with steeped flaked grains had a bit more body and mouthfeel (even though it was a little lower OG and ABV than the partial mash version). My take away was that I would not be against steeping some flaked oats or flaked wheat...even if part of my brain still says this is 'wrong.'

Here is that 3rd video:

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Thanks Cascades, nice video, appreciate the side-by-side test with flaked oats steeped, and mini-mashed. (I'm gonna just stick with steeped flaked oats, I think)

 

[dmtaylor]

Steeping flaked oats just adds starch to your wort, and should be mashed with a proper base malt. Plain oats have pretty close to zero flavor.

Steeping Briess Blonde RoastedOat malt can probably be done in small quantity of say 5% as a specialty flavor ingredient, but indeed they have no diastatic power so ideally they too should be mashed, especially if using more than that amount.