Does Quaker quick oats yield convertible starches?

[cheier]

As the title says... do the oats provide convertible starches? In beersmith, the flaked oats have a dry yield of 80%, essentially making them similar in convertible starches to other base malts.

The main reason I ask is that I'm putting together a witbier recipe in beersmith, and the recipe I found called for flaked oats (about 1#). When I did the addition, the software knocked my gravity out of style. Essentially, instead of a 1.050 OG, it moved it up to 1.056, where as the top of the style guidelines is 1.052. The OG that the recipe called for was also supposed to be 1.050.

Is there any specs somewhere on the quaker quick oats that I can use to dial in the ingredient to more accurately represent its actual characteristics?

I know, I can be a bit anal about it, but I like trying to make sure things are as right on paper as possible before I put it into practice. My last batch was spot on after hours of modifying beersmith ingredients based on the maltsters grain analysis.

 

[jescholler]

Quick oats have a potential of 33 points per pound per gallon (source: recipator.com) and will be converted into fermentable sugars assuming you aren't going crazy with other adjuncts. That is close to the potential of a regular base malt, so as far as gravity goes, you can treat them the same.

 

[Yooper]

And they must be mashed with basemalt!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Mashed with basmati? What?

Oh. Basemalt.

 

[cheier]

Good to know. Thanks. I'll still play with the recipe as is and see how the gravity ends up. I was planning on mashing with the rest and throwing through the malt mill with the rest of them.

 

[northernlad]

Mashed with basmati? What?

Oh. Basemalt.

No, she said mashed while listening to Basement Jaxx

 

[asdtexas]

Quick oats need to come up to their gelatanization temperature in order to get proper and efficient conversion. The actual temp escapes me but it is north of 160F. My solution is to measure out a pound (for example) but use more water than on the box and microwave up to about 200F. Then, I add to the mash for 60 minutes since they need malted barley to assist in conversion. Do this and your efficiency and extraction will be just fine.

The Brewing Network has a good show on Adjuncts and this will also help

 

[Denny]

Quick oats are pregelatinized.

 

[malkore]

Yeah, the quick oats have already been cooked once (like instant oatmeal).

I didn't do a cereal mash or anything with some quick oats and got the right OG for my system's usual efficiency, so I have to agree you shouldn't need to do anything special with quick oats.

(Oddly enough, I threw mine into a wheat beer, and its pretty good)

 

[Yooper]

Quick oats are pregelatinized.

As usual, Denny is right.

If you're not using flaked or quick oats, and are using regular oats, they should be cooked. A cereal mash is easy to do, and works week. In my opinion, dealing with Quick Oats is just so easy so that's my preference. Quick Oats just go into the mash.

 

[cheier]

Just finished brewing my witbier. Looks like the oats did make a decent contribution to the overall gravity and beersmith hit the nail on the head. I just ran the oats through the malt mill with the rest of my grains and mashed it all in. Down side is I was 3 degrees short of my mash temps (which had nothing to do with the oats), so I guess I might be finishing a bit dry. Either way, looks like I will have to play around with the recipe next time to lower the OG a bit. I'll see how it tastes in a few weeks.

 

[asdtexas]

I don't think this is correct.

Instant Oaks are pre-gelatanized. Quick Oats are not.

You can toss Quick Oats in but the would benefit from a quick cooking. I can reference this if you want

 

[Yooper]

I don't think this is correct.

Instant Oaks are pre-gelatanized. Quick Oats are not.

You can toss Quick Oats in but the would benefit from a quick cooking. I can reference this if you want

Please do!

 

[asdtexas]

Palmer speaks about this on the Adjunct Podcast but here is the excerpt from online edition

Oatmeal 1 L Oats are wonderful in a porter or stout. Oatmeal lends a smooth, silky mouthfeel and a creaminess to a stout that must be tasted to be understood. Oats are available whole, steel-cut (i.e. grits), rolled, and flaked. Rolled and flaked oats have had their starches gelatinized (made soluble) by heat and pressure, and are most readily available as "Instant Oatmeal" in the grocery store. Whole oats and "Old Fashioned Rolled Oats" have not had the degree of gelatinization that Instant have had and must be cooked before adding to the mash. "Quick" oatmeal has had a degree of gelatinization but does benefit from being cooked before adding to the mash. Cook according to the directions on the box (but add more water) to ensure that the starches will be fully utilized. Use 0.5-1.5 lb. per 5 gal batch. Oats need to be mashed with barley malt (and its enzymes) for conversion.