The case for brewing "everything" with flaked oats added

[Silver_Is_Money]

Scot Janish published an article titled "A Case for Brewing With Oats", in which he presents evidence of benefit for (among other things):

1) Noticeable improvement in beer stability over time, against a multiplicity of issues leading to stale beer.
2) Noticeable reduction in "off flavors", again countering several of the major contributors.
3) Improved yeast growth.
4) Improved viscosity and mouthfeel.

The greatest negative appeared to me to be a quantifiable reduction in head retention. This followed by the potential for a stuck mash.

In light of the broad spectrum of oats potential benefits, and given that oats in and of themselves do little to alter a beers flavor, can a case be made for adding some flaked oats to every beer recipe regardless of style in order to reap the benefits? Could those of us not willing to (or perhaps more properly, not fully process equipment capable of) achieve (achieving) these benefits via the LoDO route, achieve them instead via adding flaked oats?

http://scottjanish.com/case-brewing-oats/

 

[RPh_Guy]

3) Improved yeast growth.

Is this because oats have zinc?

Oats would not help with hot side aeration, therefore you won't have the lodo grain flavor.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Is this because oats have zinc?

Oats would not help with hot side aeration, therefore you won't have the lodo grain flavor.

The zinc can only be seen as a plus, but yeast benefit primarily from the fatty acids and lipids present within oats.

I agree that all of the potential as well as real benefits of LoDO will not be mimicked by oats, but at least some of them appear to be, and this avenue of research accordingly needs more follow-up. I have a Kölsch on deck that will receive 1 lb. of flaked oats as part of a 13 lb. grist.

 

[Lefou]

This should clarify a couple things.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jib.178

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

This should clarify a couple things.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jib.178

Well, that certainly paints an overall ugly picture of oats. But did you notice that no mash pH adjustment was attempted, and mash pH's approaching and even exceeding 6 pH were measured for the beers containing oats. What would have been the case if all worts were adjusted to roughly a 5.4 mash pH?

And did you notice the continual reference to negative effects from oat husks? Flaked oats have no husks present.

Scott Janish lists references to the various papers and publications from which he derived a very different picture.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

In light of the broad spectrum of oats potential benefits, and given that oats in and of themselves do little to alter a beers flavor, can a case be made for adding some flaked oats [...] in order to reap the benefits?

What are your thoughts on how to adjust ingredients and processes to use this approach?

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

What are your thoughts on how to adjust ingredients and processes to use this approach?

If the goal is to wind up with right close to the same OG as for a previously brewed recipe, then for every 1 lb. of flaked oats to be added, remove 0.85 lbs. of base malt from the recipe. But pay attention to remaining diastatic power.

If there is concern for a stuck mash, add one or two cups full of rice hulls along with every 1 Lb. of flaked oats.

I mash in a cooler fitted with a bag, and in my last Stout I added 2 lbs. of flaked oats and zero rice hulls, and it vorlaufed, but quite noticeably on the slow side. It had me worried a couple times.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Just as a comment, I seem to be quite sensitive to oats in a beer - it can come across as distractingly porridge-like to me, particularly when the beer is young, but the porridgeness does seem to condition out with time. I think that's more just a peculiarity of my tastebuds rather than a general thing, but it does make me a bit wary of using oats in my own beers.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Just as a comment, I seem to be quite sensitive to oats in a beer - it can come across as distractingly porridge-like to me, particularly when the beer is young, but the porridgeness does seem to condition out with time. I think that's more just a peculiarity of my tastebuds rather than a general thing, but it does make me a bit wary of using oats in my own beers.

Fair enough reasoning. Do they disturb you even if held to 5% of the grist weight?

 

[AkTom]

@Silver_Is_Money and above posters, you are true gentlemen, gentlewomen, or whatever you are. I applaud your civility and discussion talents. You should all be in Congress.
Now back to your regularly scheduled post.
I’ll have to try this when it’s warmer. Currently -4f. Too cold for this d man to be watching my propane.
Thanks for the info.
Tom

 

[Benman37]

If the goal is to wind up with right close to the same OG as for a previously brewed recipe, then for every 1 lb. of flaked oats to be added, remove 0.85 lbs. of base malt from the recipe. But pay attention to remaining diastatic power.

If there is concern for a stuck mash, add one or two cups full of rice hulls along with every 1 Lb. of flaked oats.

I mash in a cooler fitted with a bag, and in my last Stout I added 2 lbs. of flaked oats and zero rice hulls, and it vorlaufed, but quite noticeably on the slow side. It had me worried a couple times.

I just finished an IPA with 13.5lbs of grist and 1lb of oats for a 5-gallon batch. I did 1lb of base malt, plus the 1lb of oats in a separate "mini-mash" and did a rest at 115F for 20 minutes. I read somewhere that the enzymes in the base malt at that low temperature will break down the gum in the oats, so no rice hulls needed and no stuck mash. I just added the mini-mash to the rest of it during the regular mash-in and had no issues or slowdowns.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Fair enough reasoning. Do they disturb you even if held to 5% of the grist weight?

I've not done the titration - it's one of those things on the to-do list but not a particularly high priority. It certainly seems to hit me on beers that aren't intended to be particularly oaty - when Goat's Milk was made Champion Beer of Britain they were obviously rushing it out without conditioning it properly and I really got it then, although far less so before and since. That's a 3.8% golden ale, so one would assume they've not gone that big on oats.

But when I get the porridge, I really get it, so I'd imagine I would pick it up at 5% if the beer wasn't conditioned fully.

 

[dmtaylor]

I have tried several beers made entirely of oat malt or with a lot of flaked oats. None of these beers ever excited me or seemed much different to me than all barley beers.

Rye, on the other hand, I have used a lot, for similar sorts of benefits that they add body and head retention. Rye is what's really underutilized and underappreciated, and totally misunderstood. It is NOT spicy at all. It can be slipped into any recipe in a small amount like 10-20% for the benefits of body and head retention, to those who want that. Heck.... I have even medaled in competition with an "oatmeal" stout that used no oatmeal at all, but just rye and wheat! Heh.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Looks like there may be an interesting HomeBrewConn 2019 presentation related to brewing with oats.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Looks like there may be an interesting HomeBrewConn 2019 presentation related to brewing with oats.

More on this: https://www.homebrewcon.org/session/#140?session-title=brewing-with-oats