Why is my beer better when bottled with oats?

[BrewOnBoard]

If you end up doing this, send me a pm to let me know your findings. you said that you made 15 gallon batches...what do you use to cook them off? where do you get your malts?

That was when I used to do my brewing at a place that had all the gear and equipment on premises. We just showed up, used their fancy steam-jacketed copper boil kettles and their ingredients, paid our fee and come back 2-4 weeks later to bottle our already kegged beer.

I've very recently returned to the world of brewing (on my sailboat this time) and without all the fancy equipment. It's a little more trying this time around, but more rewarding.

BoB

 

[oldschool]

hmm. it does sound a little more difficult. D you live on your boat?

 

[BrewOnBoard]

hmm. it does sound a little more difficult. D you live on your boat?

Yup. I live aboard with my boat-hottie and my cat. The folks here have been great at helping me streamline my equipment and process so that it doesn't take up the whole boat. I'm still refining my process for sure. I feel like quite the noob despite the fact that I've brewed several dozen batches before that turned out fantastic. I never realized how much the owner did behind the scenes.

BoB

 

[Clayton]

kegs arnt aluminum.

and yeah experimenting is great
but dont forget there already has been alot of experimenting done, dont turn your back on the known wisdom after you understand the fundamentals then you can push the boundrys.
we have science and microbiology we know what and why and how these things work.
adding and oat or 5 or 10 or a grain of wheat or a kernal of corn or a hafe eatting candy bar thats been in your back pock all day is simply adding a food source that is covered in microbes to your beer that will most assuredly shorted the shelf life of your beer.
how crappy would it be to find an old bottle of homebrew a real gem and crack it open only to find out you have malt vinegar.

 

[Synovia]

kegs arnt aluminum.
\

Except for the ones that are. They're not common, but they're out there.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/my-keg-stainless-steel-aluminum-89311/

 

[LordHedgie]

I'm amazed that I appear to be the first to point this out, but dried oatmeal flakes are very, well, absorbent. It's quite possible there is something they're absorbing out of the beer. Just a theory, but the only real one I've heard so far. I'm really not sure the lipids/etc from five flakes are going to add anything.

As far as all the comments about mashing oatmeal instead of adding it at the end, I would say those are two completely separate processes that act in completely different ways, so don't try to substitute one for the other.

 

[oldschool]

i like hedgie's response. and my thought was that it was somewhat absorbent. and i may add that this porter was not aged and had a not aged taste without the oats. no matter what they say about infection risks i have not noticed any in three weeks at 70 degrees.

 

[saq]

Infections take longer than 3 weeks when infectuous populations start out at such small levels. Keep one for a few months and then open it up and tell us.

Lactobacillus, Pediococous, Acetobacter etc are all very slow and those are just common ones that like to live in beer. There are a lot more different nasties that can get in that will take longer to ruin your beer and turn it into vinegar.

Brewing, bottling, and aging beer is something that has been done for a long long long time, if this were something that was a good idea everyone would know about it because someone probably tried it at a brewery in London or Germany 600-800 years ago and it ruined beer because its a massive vector for infection. Things that DID promote longer shelf life and stabilized flavors in beer are things that spread VERY rapidly in the industry. When hops were discovered to do good things to beer and especially longer shelf life nearly the entire brewing world adopted this very rapidly (relatively speaking).

Even modernly speaking, there are brewing scientists who do research all the time for different things both natural and more synthetic to help improve brewing and beer in different ways. Brewing beer isn't a mystery, its science and things like infections and sanitation are fundamental. Adding raw oats is an unsanitary practice that WILL ruin your beer over enough time.

 

[HenryHill]

If 5 was good, think of how good 15 would be.

 

[p4ck37p1mp]

Infections take longer than 3 weeks when infectuous populations start out at such small levels. Keep one for a few months and then open it up and tell us.

Lactobacillus, Pediococous, Acetobacter etc are all very slow and those are just common ones that like to live in beer. There are a lot more different nasties that can get in that will take longer to ruin your beer and turn it into vinegar.

Brewing, bottling, and aging beer is something that has been done for a long long long time, if this were something that was a good idea everyone would know about it because someone probably tried it at a brewery in London or Germany 600-800 years ago and it ruined beer because its a massive vector for infection. Things that DID promote longer shelf life and stabilized flavors in beer are things that spread VERY rapidly in the industry. When hops were discovered to do good things to beer and especially longer shelf life nearly the entire brewing world adopted this very rapidly (relatively speaking).

Even modernly speaking, there are brewing scientists who do research all the time for different things both natural and more synthetic to help improve brewing and beer in different ways. Brewing beer isn't a mystery, its science and things like infections and sanitation are fundamental. Adding raw oats is an unsanitary practice that WILL ruin your beer over enough time.

Not to mention one that can kill you and others, botulinus.

 

[cimirie]

p4ck-

Please tell me you're joking... Pretty please??? After all the posts on this site and the PR campaign of homebrewers the world over that homebrew hasn't caused, doesn't cause, and never will cause botulism, are you trying to scare people?

 

[p4ck37p1mp]

Technically unfermented it could.

 

[BrewOnBoard]

Not to mention one that can kill you and others, botulinus.

I assume you mean Clostridium botulinum (the bacteria that produces botulinum toxin, which is the toxin responsible for the sometimes fatal syndrome known as botulism.) when yous say "botulinus".

Please don't spread rumors like this around unless you have a microbiology background, or at least some basic research to back up your claim. Clostridium botulinum will not grow in beer. If it did hundreds of hombebrewers would die every year. Besides, you are implying that you can contaminate your beer with Clostridium botulinum by adding oats. Do you think oats (which are edible you know) are covered in Clostridium botulinum or their spores?

BrewOnBoard

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I agree with what most people are saying in that adding raw oats will lead to contamination along the way. However, what is the harm in experimenting with a couple bottles out of a batch? I understand they can make bottle bombs but so can sloppy math with priming sugar. Peoples reactions to this thread are too strong.

Even if some think this is just a placebo effect that does not mean that it has no significance. If the placebo effect had no significance advertising would cease to exist. Nobody seems to dispute the placebo effect when beer seems to taste better because it's presented in a fancy glass with an elaborate back story about how the beer was brewed using the freshest and most choice ingredients since the beginning of time. We all have our voodoo practices that we think make the beer taste better without scientific studies to prove it. Experiment as you like, it's your beer and it's not going to make you physically sick.

 

[bensyverson]

It could be that the oats are giving the yeast something complex to work on while the bottles carbonate. They may break it down partially and leave some interesting flavors behind. If you really like the flavor, why not steep some oats during your boils, or better yet, do a mini mash?

 

[Scut_Monkey]

If you very adamant about adding the oats at bottling time you could try boiling them for a few minutes with your priming sugar. I realize this would degrade the oats to some point.

 

[Brewsmith]

I think the point that is being missed here is that many experienced brewers are just trying to steer newer brewers away from a practice that is almost guaranteed to make bad beer.

We all know that sanitation is one of the fundamentals of brewing. The brewers against adding raw, flaked oats at bottling, myself included, are just trying to point out that this flies in the face of all good sanitary practices.

As a homebrewer you are free to brew any way you'd like and nobody is going to call the beer police on any other brewer. I like to consider myself a more experienced brewer around here. All I can do is share knowledge that I have gained through reading, brewing experience, knowledge on this forum, podcasts, and lessons learned the hard way. We are all free to use or not use any of this knowledge. We are not against experimentation. We are in the persuit of all of us making better beer.

 

[oldschool]

Acording to charlie papazian, there is not anything that can grow in large enough quantities in beer to make you sick...ever.

 

[oldschool]

someone said that there are beer scientists doing research all the time. where and who is doing this research?

 

[Scut_Monkey]

I think the point that is being missed here is that many experienced brewers are just trying to steer newer brewers away from a practice that is almost guaranteed to make bad beer.

We all know that sanitation is one of the fundamentals of brewing. The brewers against adding raw, flaked oats at bottling, myself included, are just trying to point out that this flies in the face of all good sanitary practices.

I agree with you that brewers with more knowledge should throw their education out to those of use that could benefit from it. Also, I completely agree that adding raw oats will introduce foreign organisms and set you up for an infection. However, after the contamination concerns are addressed, some people are completely disregarding that there is any validity to the idea that oats added at bottling could improve flavor. Experimentation is one of the great things of being a homebrewer and when you are new to brewing you are very easily influenced by what others say and very likely to give up experimental efforts because of this. So..... being helpful and providing knowledge and insight is great but I hate to see ideas get shot down for being different.

P.S. I'm NOT trying to be a pain in the a$$ or a weiner face.

 

[Brewsmith]

Experimentation is one of the great things of being a homebrewer and when you are new to brewing you are very easily influenced by what others say and very likely to give up experimental efforts because of this.

They are also likely to give up when the beer turns out like crap.

Experimentation - good

Bad brewing practices - well...

 

[Scut_Monkey]

They are also likely to give up when the beer turns out like crap.

Experimentation - good

Bad brewing practices - well...

I guess that's true as well.

 

[BrewOnBoard]

They are also likely to give up when the beer turns out like crap.

Experimentation - good

Bad brewing practices - well...

I really agree with you here. I also encourage experimentation, by experienced and noobs alike. I think what I haven't agreed with about this thread is the all or nothing nature of the suggestions. "Never do this it will ruin your beer" etc.

I very much appreciate the more experienced folks giving their opinions and sharing their experience, but I think advice along the lines of "I believe it will ruin your beer because of A,B and C so I advise against it, but if you want to do it with a few bottles to prove it to yourself then go ahead." would be better received.

If a brewer does this to a whole batch and ruins it, then that's a tragedy, but I don't see any harm in people writing off a beer or two in the name of experimentation. If they end up with infected beer geysers then they will have more respect for the opinions of the experienced based on first hand experience.

Some of us never outgrew that stage of having to learn things "the hard way".

Here's to a lively debate:

BrewOnBoard

 

[glockentalk]

I'm definitely going to try this. Might go home today, open a couple of bottles, and pop in a few flakes. One of things I love about this hobby is that it lets me develop my inner mad scientist.

 

[zman]

Okay, I'm just getting in to this wonderful hobby. Got my first batch of brew done (porter w/ wy london ale) a few weeks ago. I had heard a guy say that people will put a few flaked oats in their bottles when they cap them. So i tried it on two of them. they turned out a lot better tasting than the bottles without oats. It took some of the dry aftertaste and coffee flavor out and just overall made them more mellow. What is the oats doing to my beer and why doesn't it taste as well without them? thanks

What kind of oats are you using? Quick Oats?

 

[oldschool]

Yes, quick oats...quaker to be exact!

 

[zman]

Yes, quick oats...quaker to be exact!

just drop them in raw, dry and uncooked?

 

[riromero]

I'm always up for a good experiment. If it's as easy as dropping 5 oatmeal flakes
into a single, marked bottle, I'll do it on my next batch just to see if I can tell the difference. Blind taste test or whatever. If it doesn't work, this will at least help put the rumor to rest.

 

[SkiSoloII]

Would doing a simple bake at say 200 degrees F kill most of what ales (pun intended) the oats issues?

 

[zman]

Would doing a simple bake at say 200 degrees F kill most of what ales (pun intended) the oats issues?

what about sticking them in the nuker?