First partial mash went a bit....well....

I've been making ciders recently and finally decided to give real beer a go. Of course I only had half the components on hand that I actually needed, so this could be a complete failure. I had some LME and a tube of quaker oats sitting around that I threw together. It's not really an English Bitter, but thats the closest style I can think of. If anyone knows better, I shall gladly partake of that wisdom.

I mashed the Oats in a converted Gatorade cooler with 1 gallon at 160 degrees for 30 minutes then sparged with another gallon at the same temp. Added LME and boiled for 30min. Cooled to 80F and moved to primary. Pitched a full packet of notty (already proofed in warm water). I had bubbles in about 10 minutes and it looks finished as of 76 hrs later. I'll check it tomorrow to see how it's doing.

Wish me luck!

OG 1.055 @ 80F


--- Experimental "Whitehall & Oats" ---

2.5 Gal

Amber LME 3 lbs, 8 oz
Rolled Oats 1 lbs, 4 oz
Amarillo Pellets .25 oz @ 30 mins
Amarillo Pellets .5 oz @ 20 mins
Amarillo Pellets .25 oz @ 5 mins
Nottingham Ale Yeast

 

I believe that mashing oats won't do much as they do not have diastatic power, meaning that the enzyme required to turn the released starches into sugar is not present. Thus you are essentially just steeping the flaked/rolled oats. This will likely just cloudy up your beer and add some starchy off-tastes.

In order to mash rolled oats you'd need a base malt such as 2-row malted barley in the grist. I recently inquired about the same thing and looked around, as I planned to 'mash' flaked wheat, but quickly found that it wouldn't do much.

Still though, the beer won't be bad by any means. It'll just be cloudy and starchy.

Edit - for your future brews, here's a list of base malts required for the mashing process: http://ebrew.com/beer/base_malts.htm

 

agreed. it will be beer, and it'll probably have a characteristic oatmeal flavor/smell to it, and starch haze from the unconverted oatmeal.

Also you typically mash with around 1.5 quarts per pound of grain, so 1 gallon for a pound of oatmeal is really thin and not advised.

I'd recommend www.howtobrew.com for a good 'starter course' in beer brewing, which includes some tidbits like what grains can't convert their own starch to sugar.

 

It ended up turning out pretty decent. It was hazy and a bit oatmeally, but went over well with the tasters. We killed the 2.5 gallon batch in under an hour as we were grilling out.

Overall the beer was very aromatic, but not as bitter or hoppy as I expected. Somewhere between an american crap beer and a good IPA. As refreshing as it was, I think I'll keep experimenting with the recipe.

 

Yeah... Get you some amylace and do a cereal mash next time.. Maybe even a good cold crash or long secondary to let the oatmeal drop out a little more.. Did one a long time ago and before I drank a whole pint I had a 8th inch layer on the bottom and that was after a month primary.. Great mouth feel thoe...