First Partial Mash Recipe

[maynardtl8]

Hi, everybody! Still a fairly new brewer here, but I do have a few extract brews under my belt. Ive been playing around making some of my own recipes, one of which is an Oatmeal Amber Ale I thought up. My attraction to this idea is mostly around the thick and malty body im trying to create here, along with a spicy fruity hop accent. When I researched a little more ive found that oats really should be mashed instead of steeped. So I said sure, I can try my hand at a partial mash. I could really use your input for adjusting my grain bill accordingly though.

So far I have it at:

1 lb. Briess 2-row pale malt (base)
1 lb. flaked oats
1 lb. Caramel/crystal 40L

Single-step infusion mash 45 mins @ 158*F

And then 6 lbs amber LME to pick up the rest of the fermentables giving me an OG of 1.056 and 13.2 SRM which both sound pretty good to me. Heres my question: Is the 1 lb. of 2-row enough to provide the enzymes for both the oats and the crystal or should I throw another lb in? Do I even really need the crystal 40L in the mash or should I just steep separately? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pie_Man]

You should estimate the diastatic power of the partial mash. Here's an explanation: http://beersmith.com/blog/2010/01/04/diastatic-power-and-mashing-your-beer/
I didn't do the math, but you probably need more base malt. I would also mash the crystal, but either method is technically acceptable.

You didn't ask, but if it were me, I would use a light dme and add more crystal, and more base malt to the mash. That will give you more control over your beer. The amber dme is pale with crystal, but you may not know the exact amount of crystal.

 

[maynardtl8]

Would mashing the crystal really make a difference though? I thought when the malt gets crystallized it leaves only non-convertable long chain sugars behind. I was really only including the base malt to help convert the oats.

 

[Pie_Man]

Would mashing the crystal really make a difference though? I thought when the malt gets crystallized it leaves only non-convertable long chain sugars behind. I was really only including the base malt to help convert the oats.

No, it doesn't make a difference. As mentioned, either method (steeping or mashing) is acceptable for crystal malt. From a process perspective, it seems easier to me to mash everything at once rather than mash and steep the crystal malt separately and then combining the two. That said, either method is fine, so you do what works for you.

 

[chickypad]

Would mashing the crystal really make a difference though? I thought when the malt gets crystallized it leaves only non-convertable long chain sugars behind. I was really only including the base malt to help convert the oats.

You actually do get some increased yield from mashing crystal with a base malt. Nilo ran a nice experiment on it in this thread. On page 11 he summarizes, basically you can get about 20% more PPG mashing vs. steeping and the sugars that you do get (especially with lighter crystal malts) are a bit more fermentable than steeping alone. For the typical small percentages of crystal malt in any given recipe probably not a huge difference in outcome, but it's an interesting finding.