Using Flaked Barley in an Extract Brew

[A1sportsdad]

So far I have only done extract brews. Quite a few, all 5 gallon, and they have all turned out well, but my stouts, porters and brown ales all lack any kind of head retention. I know that flaked barley should improve that and give it a bit more body as well.

I assume if I am gonna try to do this I will need to add a mashing step for the flakes barley. Anybody know what temp to mash at? I assume 155 F. How long? An hour? Any idea how much flakes barley for a 5 gallon stout?

Thanks
Tom

 

[Robert65]

You can't just mash the flakes, they have no enzymes. You'll need base malt as well, to supply the enzymes to convert the starches in the raw barley.

 

[A1sportsdad]

You can't just mash the flakes, they have no enzymes. You'll need base malt as well, to supply the enzymes to convert the starches in the raw barley.

Hmm. Well I’m not looking for anymore base malt. I’ll get all that through the LME or DME in the kit. I’m only looking for the protein chains from the unmalted barley from the flaked barley. That’s why I was thinking I could mash the flaked barley alone as the rest comes in through the extracts. It would get added in during the boil.

 

[A1sportsdad]

You can't just mash the flakes, they have no enzymes. You'll need base malt as well, to supply the enzymes to convert the starches in the raw barley.

Found a few things on-line that are right along with what you had stated. Looks like I will need to add some malt with it. Can I just use some of the extract in the kit in the mash so I don’t end up with a higher OG. This is one of the threads I found on-line.

“You would need to do a mini-mash. That's not hard to do, and it doesn't really need to be as accurate as a full mash. 1lb 2-row, 1lb flaked, 3 quarts water. Keep it between 145-160 for about 30 minutes and you should be good. Maybe 45 mins to be sure.

The problem is that flaked barley is unmalted. The malting process gives barley the enzymes it needs to convert its own starches to sugars during the mash. With unmalted barley, it has no enzymes to convert its own starches. Those starches are not digestible by brewers yeast, so they will be present in the finished beer. The biggest downsides to having an abundance of starch in your beer is a) it will be very hazy and sometimes astringent and b) wild yeast and bacteria (Brett, lacto, Pedio, etc.) can all eat starches. So you have an increased risk of infection, even in the bottle, since it's still fermentable to wild yeasts.”

 

[Calder]

Unless you add some grain with enzymes (base malt), you will not be mashing. You will just steep the flakes, and get some starch, which will make the beer cloudy, but it is a dark beer, so may not matter.

0.5 lbs of Flaked Barley (or wheat or oats, etc), and 0.5 lbs crushed 2-row (or Pale malt, Pilsner, etc). Add to 2 quarts of 165 F water. Temp will drop to about 155 F (you want to be somewhere between 148 and 155 F). Mash for about 20 minutes, then drain the grains (use a straining bag, I find paint straining bags work well). You can either just try squeezing the grains to get more liquid from them, or preferably sparge with 170 F water to get some more goodness from them.

This will give you the body and head you are seeking, and will add approximately 25 gravity points to the brew (or ~ 5 gravity points per gallon, or equivalent to 3/4 lb of LME or 0.6 lbs of DME).

 

[A1sportsdad]

Unless you add some grain with enzymes (base malt), you will not be mashing. You will just steep the flakes, and get some starch, which will make the beer cloudy, but it is a dark beer, so may not matter.

0.5 lbs of Flaked Barley (or wheat or oats, etc), and 0.5 lbs crushed 2-row (or Pale malt, Pilsner, etc). Add to 2 quarts of 165 F water. Temp will drop to about 155 F (you want to be somewhere between 148 and 155 F). Mash for about 20 minutes, then drain the grains (use a straining bag, I find paint straining bags work well). You can either just try squeezing the grains to get more liquid from them, or preferably sparge with 170 F water to get some more goodness from them.

This will give you the body and head you are seeking, and will add approximately 25 gravity points to the brew (or ~ 5 gravity points per gallon, or equivalent to 3/4 lb of LME or 0.6 lbs of DME).

So if I don’t want to affect the OG, can I just use part of the extract that would go into the boil after?

 

[Calder]

5 gravity points per gallon is roughly 0.5% abv. You can ignore it. But if you really want to end up with the original called out gravity, yes, you can replace some of the malt with the mash.

 

[A1sportsdad]

Not sure if I’m just imagining it, but does bottle aging help the head as well. I always wait 2 weeks after bottling and was getting little head, but it was carbonated. Now that it’s been more like 4 weeks, I seem to have a nice head on my Nut Brown when I pour it.

 

[SmallScaleOperator]

So if I don’t want to affect the OG, can I just use part of the extract that would go into the boil after?

No, your malt extract does not have any enzymes in it. They were all denatured in the process of condensing it. You can use an online calculator to determine the amount of malt extract you would need to subtract from your recipe to arrive at your desired OG.
This is a good way to start understanding how your ingredients contribute to your recipe and finished product.