Oatmeal ale

[drchris83]

I'm planning on doing an ale with a half pound of oatmeal in it, half of which I toasted to medium brown color and let sit for a week. My plan was to pre-gelatinize them and add them after the maltose rest to get mostly dextrines out of them. Thoughts?

 

[kingwood-kid]

Like any other flaked grain, they're already gelatinized. I suppose you could add them at 158 or mashout and see how many dextrines you get, but the reason people add oats is for the beta-glucans (aka, soluble fiber). They add unfermentable body, and won't be broken down at the full range of standard mash temps. Just include them with the rest of your mash. If you want more body, skip the rests and mash around 156.

 

[drchris83]

Great tips, thanks! The beta glucanes are something I really didn't think about. Wouldn't they make for a pretty sticky mash though? And how would you go about including oats in a multiple step mash?

 

[kingwood-kid]

For half a pound, the stickiness won't be a problem. If you're using large amounts (2lbs+) of anything unhusked like flakes, rye or wheat, you can add rice hulls. A higher mashout temp or a thinner mash also help, but again, not an issue for you here. Oatmeal stouts usually contain about a pound of oats, and no special precautions are needed. You can do a beta-glucan rest around 105F, but that would take away the point of using the oats. Assuming you want to preserve the beta-glucans, you can add the oats in at any temp over 130 or so. Let the amylases in the malt get at the starches in the oats like they do for the rest of the grain bill.

 

[drchris83]

So basically, I could achieve similar results by simply omitting the beta glucane rest in beers without any oats?

 

[kingwood-kid]

Probably somewhat similar. I don't know how much of the beta-glucan is actually destroyed during the rest. Unless you have a very specific purpose in mind, I see little reason to do any rest other than the main saccharification rest. Mostly because I'm lazy. If you want a beer with more mouthfeel, a single infusion at 156ish will give you the best results.

 

[drchris83]

I guess the main reason I do this is because regional brewing tradition does not know single-step infusion mashes. Also, I feel multiple step mashing allows better control of enzyme activity.

 

[drchris83]

Update: since my normal MLT (a device usually used for pasteurizing large amounts of jam) didn't work, I ended up doong a multiple step decoction mash, the decoctions being boiled on the stovetop. It's fernenting away right now.

 

[drchris83]

Follow-up: it's cold crashing right now, had a sample tonight. Wish there hadn't been this general equipment malfunction, because that is one tasty brew which I'm probably never gonna be able to reproduce. The floral notes of Hallertauer Tradition late addition compliment the malty smoothness of the grist vers well.