Oat Sage Beer. aka RDWHAHB

[RockSlice]

Had a small experiment turn amazing.

Did a small (1/2 gallon) batch of oatmeal sage beer, just to see how it would turn out.
Used:
1 lb oats, 1/2 of which I lightly roasted (not oat malt)
sage (didn't measure - just to taste)
cry havoc yeast

Started off really poorly. Wort was cloudy as can be, practically clumping up, and yeast wasn't doing anything. (probably because there was no malt, so little to no fermentable sugars)

After 3 days, I added 1/4 cup honey, and the results showed within a day. The yeast had taken off, and the beer had settled a lot. It was still cloudy, but the sediment had settled out, so it was a smooth cloudy.

Tried it today, after 2 weeks, and while it's nothing like a "normal" beer, it's still definitely a beer, and completely delicious. It also seems pretty strong, but I didn't take any gravity measurements, so that could be my imagination.

It's now on my list of recipes to make a full 5gal batch of.
Here's what I'll be using:
5 lb rolled oats, roasted
5 lb rolled oats, unroasted
1 lb 2-row malt (LHBS doesn't have oat malt)
sage (to taste - I'll update with actual amount)
Cry Havoc Yeast
1 cup honey, added to primary

This will probably be started in 2-3 weeks. Anyone see any major issues with the recipe, or can explain what the honey did?

 

[daksin]

The honey was your only fermentable, before adding it you had nothing to ferment. The oats need to be mashed with a base grain to contribute any sugars (and roasting may have eliminated even that possibility, but I don't actually know). There's no malt in your recipe, so it's not a beer, but I'd be hard pressed to call it a mead. You essentially have starchy sage water with honey added and then fermented out.

Your big batch looks better, but you'll need a pound of base malt per pound of oats (unroasted) to convert the starches. The roasted oats may not contribute anything but starch, but I don't know, as they're not using their own enzymes to convert.

 

[RockSlice]

That was basically what I was thinking, but there was a fairly major change with the addition of honey, more than can be explained by the addition of mead.

Can honey convert starches at all? Or do you think I just got lucky with some random contamination that could digest it?

BTW, just measured, and the small batch has a FG of 1.014, which is way lower than I'd expect if the starches had remained starches.

 

[Hopelesst]

The honey wouldn't have converted any of the sugars, no. The gravity could be that low because much of the proteins fell out of solution. The honey could be almost completely fermented out. To get a more fermentables out of the oats next time try adding some six row. You can get away with less than the 1:1 ratio that way.

Anyway! How did this turn out? And how much sage did you end up using? When did you add the sage in? I'm working on a sage saison recipie and I'm trying to find people with some sage experience.

Thanks, and enjoy the brew!

 

[RockSlice]

As I've discovered since posting, raw honey actually does have alpha-amylase in it (google "honey amylase"). Most of the brands in the grocery store are processed, though, denaturing the amylase. Which is probably why the second attempt did absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, I didn't record what brand I used the first time.

I haven't yet done a full batch, partly as the first batch deteriorated shortly after I posted, losing body and flavor. Probably due to the complex sugars finally breaking down and fermenting. If you're trying this, it probably needs being brought up high enough to denature the amylase when it tastes good, to stop the process.

For the half-gallon, I think I ended up using 3-4 tablespoons. I added it into the boil, as you would hops, and kept tasting after each small addition until it tasted "right".

Another tip I have is to filter it, probably after the denaturing. The proteins separated, but didn't condense into a paste like regular beer, just a thick cloud at the bottom, which was easy to disturb.

As far as sage goes, fresh sage and dried sage will be wildly different in terms of strength. Just keep tasting it until you're happy. Sage is a natural anti-biotic, like hops, so no need to be any more careful than normal there. It really isn't a different process from hops, just a different flavor.

 

[Hopelesst]

Do you taste any bittering from the sage, or just herbal flavor? I'm trying to actually get about half of my bittering from early addition sage and half from saaz.

I think i'll make some teas soon

 

[RockSlice]

Sage is a pretty bitter herb. But it will depend upon the particular type of sage you use, and how fresh it is.