Golden naked oats in extra special bitter? Thoughts?

[surgical_ass]

Going to do a special bitter this weekend. Looking at putting 6% GNO in the mash. Will also use 9.5% crystal wheat. Thoughts?

 

[m00ps]

Go for it. Golden Naked oats are deeelishous. Their nutty fruit character will go well with english yeast

 

[surgical_ass]

Go for it. Golden Naked oats are deeelishous. Their nutty fruit character will go well with english yeast

Yea it seems like it would be perfect. I'm hoping the 6% Will be enough to show up a little in flavor

 

[HopNutz]

Are they instant oats?

 

[slym2none]

Some have said GNO are not even oats. IDK, the pic looks different from what regular malts look like, but IDK. Whole oats seem to be thinner...

This specialty grain lends a sweet berry-nut flavor. Use at a rate of 4-15% of the total grist to deliver a deep golden hue with light caramel flavors as well as a creamy, satin finish and a fantastic "shaving cream" foam. Exotic ingredient for subtle nutty difference. Try this as a "secret" ingredient in literally any beer style! Proven to go especially well in Pale Ales, IPAs, Bitters, Brown Ales, or Stouts - you'll love it!

I am planning on using some (around 7% myself) in my next beer, an IPA. I am most intrigued by the term "shaving cream foam" as it relates to the beer's head.

 

[NatureOfTheYeast]

I was always under the impression that GNO were malted oats that were treated the same way as a crystal malt. This is a pic from the Northern Brewer website. I have this malt at my LHBS and this is what they really look like. Long and thin like rice, with a reddish-brown tint:

I can't speak for their character in an ESB, but I used them in a stout, and the character didn't come through as strongly as I wanted them to. You might want to use a bit more than you planned for, but otherwise, treat them like a crystal malt with berry and cookie flavors.

 

[surgical_ass]

Some have said GNO are not even oats. IDK, the pic looks different from what regular malts look like, but IDK. Whole oats seem to be thinner...

I am planning on using some (around 7% myself) in my next beer, an IPA. I am most intrigued by the term "shaving cream foam" as it relates to the beer's head.

I got my order in today and tried some. I got some toastyness from them they are close to the size of a sunflower seed and kinda had that same texture when I ate it. It was a tasty grain but I didn't get a big flavor such as berry as reported but there was a smoothness to it. Very interesting. I'm going to go with 6% in this batch. I too am looking forward to the shaving cream foam thing too.

 

[chickypad]

I got my order in today and tried some. I got some toastyness from them they are close to the size of a sunflower seed and kinda had that same texture when I ate it. It was a tasty grain but I didn't get a big flavor such as berry as reported but there was a smoothness to it. Very interesting. I'm going to go with 6% in this batch. I too am looking forward to the shaving cream foam thing too.

That's been my experience as well. They taste a little peanuty to me, and seem to add some toasted nuttiness to the final product, but I've never tasted the berry that they supposedly have. I like 'em though!

 

[surgical_ass]

That's been my experience as well. They taste a little peanuty to me, and seem to add some toasted nuttiness to the final product, but I've never tasted the berry that they supposedly have. I like 'em though!

Yea I can see the peanutish taste too. I'm using Glen eagle floor malted mo and crystal wheat. I'm hoping that it will play well with those two grains. I can see the "secret ingredient" thing come into play with it. Any experience with crystal wheat? It's my 1st time with it as well.

 

[chickypad]

I've not used crystal wheat but figure it's probably similar in character to other medium crystals. I made an APA with MO base, 7% GNO and 4% crystal 40 that was really nice, sounds similar to what you're planning. I think that's the only pale I've made with them, but they are great in brown ales as well.

 

[slym2none]

I was always under the impression that GNO were malted oats that were treated the same way as a crystal malt. This is a pic from the Northern Brewer website. I have this malt at my LHBS and this is what they really look like. Long and thin like rice, with a reddish-brown tint:

.

Thanks for the info! I am never above learning something.

I got my order in today and tried some. I got some toastyness from them they are close to the size of a sunflower seed and kinda had that same texture when I ate it. It was a tasty grain but I didn't get a big flavor such as berry as reported but there was a smoothness to it. Very interesting. I'm going to go with 6% in this batch. I too am looking forward to the shaving cream foam thing too.

I am using it with Golden Promise in a DIPA, so I think they will provide a good malt backbone to my hoppy brew.

 

[surgical_ass]

Here is the recipe that was brewed today. I wound up milling the gno 3 times to get a crush to satisfy me. Very small grain. Pre hop wort tasted great. Great toastyness to it. I think it's going to be a good beer.

Gno esb
Strong Bitter
All Grain (3.00 gal) ABV: 5.87 %
OG: 1.059 SG FG: 1.014 SG
IBUs: 35.7 IBUs Color: 10.8 SRM
By:
Ingredients

5 lb 0.1 oz - Pale Malt, Maris Otter
Mash addition (77.0%) - 4.0 SRM

10.4 oz - Wheat Malt, crystal
Mash addition (10.0%) - 54.0 SRM

6.4 oz - Golden naked oats
Mash addition (6.2%) - 15.0 SRM

3.0 oz - Acid malt
Mash addition (2.9%) - 1.8 SRM

4.0 oz - Corn Sugar (Dextrose)
Mash addition (3.9%) - 0.0 SRM

0.55 oz - Challenger
Boil 60 min (24.2 IBUs)

0.40 oz - Goldings, East Kent
Boil 15 min (5.8 IBUs)

0.30 oz - Goldings, East Kent
Boil 5 min (1.8 IBUs)

0.45 oz - Challenger
Boil 5 min (3.9 IBUs)

0.30 oz - Goldings, East Kent
Steep 0 min (0.0 IBUs)

1 pkg - London Ale III
Wyeast Labs #1318

70% effiency
Mash at 154 for 75 min
75 min boil
68* fermentation for 21 days

 

[chickypad]

At 54 SRM I assume that is actually crystal wheat and not dark wheat malt which should be in the 7-9 range? Either way, looks good!

 

[AK7007]

GNO are my favorite crystal malt, to the point that I put them into my morning hot cereal. I have a best bitter on tap right now with a touch of golden naked oats, and I'm loving the way that it came out:
Method: BIAB
Style: Best Bitter
Boil Time: 75 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.035 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 80% (brew house)
Original Gravity: 1.044 Final Gravity: 1.012 ABV (standard): 4.27% IBU (tinseth): 35.29 SRM (morey): 11
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
6 lb Maris Otter 36 3.5 69.8%
2 lb Bonlander Munich 36 10 23.3%
5 oz Golden Naked Oats 33 10 3.6%
3 oz Crystal 40L 34 40 2.2%
1.75 oz Chocolate Wheat 31 413 1%
8.6 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use IBU
27 g Goldings Pellet 4.5 First Wort 10.29
25 g Willamette Pellet 4.5 First Wort 9.53
7 g Horizon Pellet 12.5 Boil 60 min 12.24
15 g Goldings Pellet 4.5 Whirlpool 1.62
15 g Willamette Pellet 4.5 Whirlpool 1.62

Yeast: Wy1318

Water:
Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 HCO3-
150 25 75 150 175 225

 

[slym2none]

I wound up milling the gno 3 times to get a crush to satisfy me. Very small grain. Pre hop wort tasted great. Great toastyness to it. I think it's going to be a good beer.

Gno esb
Strong Bitter
All Grain (3.00 gal) ABV: 5.87 %
OG: 1.059 SG FG: 1.014 SG
IBUs: 35.7 IBUs Color: 10.8 SRM
By:
Ingredients

5 lb 0.1 oz - Pale Malt, Maris Otter
Mash addition (77.0%) - 4.0 SRM

10.4 oz - Wheat Malt, Dark
Mash addition (10.0%) - 54.0 SRM

6.4 oz - Golden naked oats
Mash addition (6.2%) - 15.0 SRM

3.0 oz - Acid malt
Mash addition (2.9%) - 1.8 SRM

4.0 oz - Corn Sugar (Dextrose)
Mash addition (3.9%) - 0.0 SRM

0.55 oz - Challenger
Boil 60 min (24.2 IBUs)

0.40 oz - Goldings, East Kent
Boil 15 min (5.8 IBUs)

0.30 oz - Goldings, East Kent
Boil 5 min (1.8 IBUs)

0.45 oz - Challenger
Boil 5 min (3.9 IBUs)

0.30 oz - Goldings, East Kent
Steep 0 min (0.0 IBUs)

1 pkg - London Ale III
Wyeast Labs #1318

70% effiency
Mash at 154 for 75 min
75 min boil
68* fermentation for 21 days

Maybe that's why my efficiency was off last night... the GNO might have needed a better crush. Hmm...

GNO are my favorite crystal malt, to the point that I put them into my morning hot cereal. I have a best bitter on tap right now with a touch of golden naked oats, and I'm loving the way that it came out:
Method: BIAB
Style: Best Bitter
Boil Time: 75 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.035 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 80% (brew house)
Original Gravity: 1.044 Final Gravity: 1.012 ABV (standard): 4.27% IBU (tinseth): 35.29 SRM (morey): 11
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
6 lb Maris Otter 36 3.5 69.8%
2 lb Bonlander Munich 36 10 23.3%
5 oz Golden Naked Oats 33 10 3.6%
3 oz Crystal 40L 34 40 2.2%
1.75 oz Chocolate Wheat 31 413 1%
8.6 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use IBU
27 g Goldings Pellet 4.5 First Wort 10.29
25 g Willamette Pellet 4.5 First Wort 9.53
7 g Horizon Pellet 12.5 Boil 60 min 12.24
15 g Goldings Pellet 4.5 Whirlpool 1.62
15 g Willamette Pellet 4.5 Whirlpool 1.62

Yeast: Wy1318

Water:
Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 HCO3-
150 25 75 150 175 225

Are you getting the touted "shaving cream foam" from your beers?

 

[surgical_ass]

Maybe that's why my efficiency was off last night... the GNO might have needed a better crush. Hmm...



Are you getting the touted "shaving cream foam" from your beers?

this is my 1st time with the gno so time will tell. I'm hoping the 6.2% Will be enough for it to come through. What % did you end up using?

 

[AK7007]

The head on this beer is thick, but I don't think it's just down to using golden naked oats. Probably a decent contribution from the munich there as well.

As far as crush goes for the oats - I wouldn't worry too much. They are a crystal malt. If you are doing a decent length mash, you're likely to steep out all the goodness as long as you have cracked them.

 

[surgical_ass]

At 54 SRM I assume that is actually crystal wheat and not dark wheat malt which should be in the 7-9 range? Either way, looks good!

Yes, it was fawcett crystal wheat.

 

[slym2none]

this is my 1st time with the gno so time will tell. I'm hoping the 6.2% Will be enough for it to come through. What % did you end up using?

Strangely enough, my percentage was 6.7%, very close to yours.

Good luck, keep us posted!

 

[surgical_ass]

GNO are my favorite crystal malt, to the point that I put them into my morning hot cereal. I have a best bitter on tap right now with a touch of golden naked oats, and I'm loving the way that it came out:
Method: BIAB
Style: Best Bitter
Boil Time: 75 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.035 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 80% (brew house)
Original Gravity: 1.044 Final Gravity: 1.012 ABV (standard): 4.27% IBU (tinseth): 35.29 SRM (morey): 11
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
6 lb Maris Otter 36 3.5 69.8%
2 lb Bonlander Munich 36 10 23.3%
5 oz Golden Naked Oats 33 10 3.6%
3 oz Crystal 40L 34 40 2.2%
1.75 oz Chocolate Wheat 31 413 1%
8.6 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use IBU
27 g Goldings Pellet 4.5 First Wort 10.29
25 g Willamette Pellet 4.5 First Wort 9.53
7 g Horizon Pellet 12.5 Boil 60 min 12.24
15 g Goldings Pellet 4.5 Whirlpool 1.62
15 g Willamette Pellet 4.5 Whirlpool 1.62

Yeast: Wy1318

Water:
Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 HCO3-
150 25 75 150 175 225

Was just reviewing the post and noticed your water profile. Was wondering if the higher cl is helping to make your malt come through. Also, are you happy with the so4 level? Seems like it could bring too much bitterness to the style. I guess the higher cl ratio would help to balance this. I am happy with my recipe I would like to see the malt pop a little more tho. My current cl/so4 is at 110/53. My na is at 28. All numbers definatley lower than yours but it may be what I am missing.... Thanks!

 

[AK7007]

Was just reviewing the post and noticed your water profile. Was wondering if the higher cl is helping to make your malt come through. Also, are you happy with the so4 level? Seems like it could bring too much bitterness to the style. I guess the higher cl ratio would help to balance this. I am happy with my recipe I would like to see the malt pop a little more tho. My current cl/so4 is at 110/53. My na is at 28. All numbers definatley lower than yours but it may be what I am missing.... Thanks!

I like the sulfate/chloride level in this beer, the bitterness was not too strong. Having a high Mg, Na, and Bicarb was basically because I'm tired of building from 100% RO or distilled. My water is hard and metallic (30 Ca, 75 Mg, 80 Na, and 375 Bicarb, but very little Sulfate or Chloride) - I try to find ways to cut it as little as possible, though the Mg concentration is such that I always need to dilute it by at least 2/3. I got some of my Cl from NaCl instead of CaCl2 because I already had a ton of calcium from gypsum. The final product had just a hint of metallic hardness, which I liked for the style but would not want in other styles. (For example, in IPAs I have to build my water from scratch)

Bottom line: I enjoy the sulfate/chloride ratios here and think they enhance the hop/malt flavors, but would not go to any lengths to replicate the Mg, Na, or Bicarb levels that I use, they are just a factor of me not wanting to build entirely from deionized water.

 

[ViciousFishes]

Absolutely yes! I put 2% in my Shark's Tooth Extra Special Biter and lends a wonderful, creamy mouthfeel.

 

[Bickerbrau]

I've used GNO over the years in English style ales and bitters. As I seem to be losing my sense of smell I can't properly address the aroma aspect but I can tell you that in a golden or lighter brew you will get a strong blueberry flavor. The GNO also give a creamy or velvety head and finish. I've generally used a 1/2 lb. per 5 gal. batch (5% +/- of the grain bill) and found it to be one of the few "pleasant" surprises in my 15 years of homebrewing. That being said, I'm not sure how it would work in an overly hoppy beer...