Why is my beer better when bottled with oats?

[oldschool]

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

 

[JMSetzler]

I haven't heard of this practice, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist I have brewed with oats before but never put them directly in the bottles.

 

[oldschool]

yep i put 5 oats per bottle but only in two of them...wish i would have done many more

 

[mew]

Interesting. The addition of oats adds relatively long-chain carbohydrates, a bit of protein, a few lipids, and perhaps a tiny tiny amount of flavor. This would be perceived by the taster as fuller in the mouthfeel and could have the effect of "taking the edge off" a harsh beer. One could achieve a similar effect by using a higher mash temperature or a less-attenuative yeast.

 

[Clayton]

how do you steralize the oats ? sounds like a good way to spoil a batch

 

[oldschool]

First of all i didn't mash with the oats...simply added 5 dried oats like quaker, to two of my bottles when i capped them because i didn't know what the outcome would be. and i didn't sanitize anything..not only are they dried, but the 6.0%+/- alc took care of any contamination. so the oats arn't adding any carbs or protein to speak of.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

The effect may be psychosomatic. Do a blind tasting with some friends who have a solid grasp of beer styles.

Adding oats at bottling time really sounds like a poor practice. If you want to add the slick mouthfeel and slight flavor of oats to a brew, you need to add the oats during the mash, not during conditioning.

 

[oldschool]

I agree that it is poor practice, but i do not agree that the taste is due to the placebo effect. It obviously took away the dry after taste of the beer. Is dryness due to the type of yeast? or otherwise

 

[Brewsmith]

I still don't know how you can be sure that the oats did anything. Can you taste the bottled version with oats side by side the same beer un-oated? I'll bet it has more to do with the beer just conditioning.

 

[BrewOnBoard]

Interesting.......

I'll pop a few in some bottles in one of my next brews and do the blind taste test thing.

BoB

PS I don't worry about infection as much as everyone else. Before I knew about infection I used to stick my finger into the head of every single bottle to "pop"the foam and aid in filling. Never had a bottle infection and that was back in college, when my fingers were definitely not clean.:cross:

 

[dontman]

i didn't sanitize anything..not only are they dried, but the 6.0%+/- alc took care of any contamination.

Can't be too sure here. The souring bacteria of a beer such as a Berliner Weisse is generally introduced post fermentation, and the source of the bacteria is sometimes raw grain because it is such a nutrient rich environment for the little buggers.

As far as flavor changes from 5 little flakes of oats, meh, but yea or nay I do like the addition of oats to certain styles, stouts in particular.

 

[oldschool]

I don't have scientific data backing up me saying that the oats did anything, only my taster and my friends..and yes they were side by side on the way to town last saturday evening. we were both really amazed at the difference...it was extremely noticable! try it..what can it hurt? ruining one beer?

 

[oldschool]

even if the oat thing isn't safe...the beer was very not spoiled and tasted great. i will probably try it agin to see if i have the same results.

 

[saq]

You are probably going to end up with bottle bombs doing this. Lactobacillus will be all over a raw unsanitized grain of oat, and probably other stuff too. Over time they will ferment out additional sugars leftover and make the bottles explode, its a bit of a mess to clean up and after a while it is going to dramatically alter (towards being a very sour beer) the flavor of the beer. I would stop this practice completely without hesitation.

If you like the flavor the oat is giving you, you should experiment with putting oat in your recipes, they can give certain beer styles a particularly interesting twist ie porter/stout/etc.

 

[Bobby_M]

+1 sag. You might have perceived a slight increase in carbonation due to a little lacto activity.

 

[BigEd]

I agree that it is poor practice, but i do not agree that the taste is due to the placebo effect. It obviously took away the dry after taste of the beer. Is dryness due to the type of yeast? or otherwise

Chalk it up to the placebo effect or pure coincidence but the only thing you are adding to your beer by dumping in 5 oat flakes in the bottle is potential trouble. Fully agree with Yuri here in that it is certainly poor practice. First, all grains harbor lots of bacteria. They aren't harmful but they can inoculate an infection causing at best off flavors and at worst bottle bombs. Second, oats or any other unmalted grain is basically a collection of starches, proteins, lipids and assorted other minor ingredients. You don't want the proteins and lipids in your beer and unless the starches are converted to fermentable sugars they are only going to sit there and do nothing with the possilbe exception of clouding your beer. Third, there isn't enough on anything in the mass of five oat flakes to do much good assuming any of the potential bad things do happen.

If the process pleases you and you like the beer then go ahead an continue the practice but if you are looking for validation or any logical reason to do it I have none.

 

[oldschool]

Well I think i'll take the advise you all have given me and not do it again. But i may try mashing oats in my next porter. thanks for the input.

happy brewing!

 

[BigEd]

But i may try mashing oats in my next porter. thanks for the input.

happy brewing!

Now that's a good idea.

 

[cimirie]

You are probably going to end up with bottle bombs doing this. Lactobacillus will be all over a raw unsanitized grain of oat, and probably other stuff too. Over time they will ferment out additional sugars leftover and make the bottles explode, its a bit of a mess to clean up and after a while it is going to dramatically alter (towards being a very sour beer) the flavor of the beer. I would stop this practice completely without hesitation.

If you like the flavor the oat is giving you, you should experiment with putting oat in your recipes, they can give certain beer styles a particularly interesting twist ie porter/stout/etc.

Not that I'm in favor of adding anything at bottling, but the lacto scare "shouldn't" be something I'd worry about. Naturally occuring strains of Lactobacillus has an alcohol tolerance somewhere around 3% (Wyeast has a blend that goes to 8%, but it's engineered that way). So as long as your brew is stronger than that, you shouldn't have a problem with lacto bottle bombs.

 

[oldschool]

cimirie, how is your fat tire clone? I have that in my primary right now. what what your OG? mine was 1.056. maybe a "little" on the high side but it'll do.

 

[cimirie]

oldschool - to be honest, I don't have much to share with you. My LBHS didn't have or know what caraRed was (my recipe called for it) so I substituted flaked wheat for it (it was a fairly sizable portion of my grainbill). When I got home and found that caraRed was a crystal malt, I got upset and didn't care about recording my numbers (OK, so I was pouting).

Having said all that, it tasted pretty good at bottling time. If I remember correctly, my recipe laid out the OG somewhere in the low to mid 50s, so your 56 sounds about where I was aiming. Once I taste it after conditioning, I'll let you know!

 

[oldschool]

so you are strictly all grain? how long have u been at it? I have yet to make that step but hope to pretty soon. i guess i'm a little intimidated and dreading forkin out the cash for the extra equipment. can u post a pic of your setup?

 

[BrewOnBoard]

Well I think i'll take the advise you all have given me and not do it again. But i may try mashing oats in my next porter. thanks for the input.

happy brewing!

oldschool,

Don't let the masses shout you down. You tried something new and you got a good result. Great! This is how things get invented. You also introduced your results to the masses, and since it's against the known theory, you received push-back and skepticism. Even better! Now reproduce the experiment, and hopefully some of your peers will reproduce the experiment (I will) and we will see if the results are consistently repeatable. It's inspiration meets science! Go for it!:rockin:

You're not talking about making a 50million gigawatt Tesla coil that is going to destroy the planet here. Even the bottle bomb theory is being debated for its legitimacy and in your first experiment you didn't experience Hiroshema-beer did you? Even if you discover that 5 oat flakes = Hiroshema-beer then you've learned something. If oats are that powerful perhaps we'll all start carbing our bottles by adding one flake and save messing with corn sugar.

Go do it again man! Run with scissors while you're at it.

BrewOnBoard

 

[oldschool]

That was some of the most optimistic information i've heard. and yes you are right i didn't have either one of the bottles explode nor did it seem to be more carbed than the others. are you saying you are open minded enough to try it yourself?

 

[cimirie]

Seriously, take the plunge. I didn't really get it when ppl told me to do it and how much better it was. So, I'm not gonna try to explain it to you. Dont' think about it, just do it. As to the cash... Sure you're gonna spend some money on the 10 gallon MLT, but you don't have to do everything all at once.

I brew with a buddy of mine, and he's got a kick-ass setup with a 12 gallon boil pot and all the trimmings. I'll brew with him once a month. But at home, I don't have the space or the equipment he has. BUT, I have a 10 gal MLT (coleman cooler with a stainless steel braid) and i use my 5 gallon boil pot. I make 4 gallon batches but add 1 gallon right before pitching the yeast so I'm really only collecting and boiling 4 gallons down to 3. Right now, this works for me (as long as I don't do any really big beers).

Long story short, I can do batches dirt-cheap and the only extra cost I've incurred is the $50 for making my MLT. I've started washing my yeast so I'm spending on average for a 4 gallon batch $15-18. You'll make up the cost of the setup over time. But really, it's just more fun making it from scratch.

 

[BrewOnBoard]

That was some of the most optimistic information i've heard. and yes you are right i didn't have either one of the bottles explode nor did it seem to be more carbed than the others. are you saying you are open minded enough to try it yourself?

Heck yeah, why not? Innovation is a good thing. Besides what have I got to loose? I'm not nearly as superstitious about infection. I've brewed dozens of 15gal batches in the past and you wouldn't believe the stuff I did to them at bottling time. Heck, I didn't even know brewing was supposed to be sanitary. I'd overfill a bottle, drink off the top couple oz and then cap it... the list goes on.

The only 2 beers that went bad on me were 1) a bottle that the mechanical washer failed to remove the slug from. and 2) a bottle that the mechanical washer somehow failed to remove a cigarette butt from. BTW, that was the last time I brewed for a friend and lent him my bottles!

I'll put in 4 bottles or so and have someone else swap the beers around so I don't know which is which so that I can do blind tasting.

BoB

 

[oldschool]

what does he use for a boil kettle? I've seen a bunch of guys that use aluminum kegs(which i'm totally opposed to doing) and where is the best/cheapest place to get your malts?

 

[cimirie]

he's got a stainless boil kettle. I know there's a stigma attached to aluminum boil kettles, but I've met enough award-winning homebrewers who only use aluminum, that I've seen the light. I'd rather use stainless I think, but keggles are cheaper and are just as effective. Now if you're against it for moral reasons (as in who actually owns the keg), that's a different debate.

As far as malts go, my local homebrew store has OK prices. Austin Homebrew online is cheaper, but when you add shipping in they come out to roughly the same price unless I ship multiple batches. Look around at your local homebrew stores. grains usually run between 1.25 and 2.00 per pound. Some of the real specialized ones (roasted barley or special B) can be more than that, but not usually.

 

[oldschool]

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?

 

[oldschool]

he's got a stainless boil kettle. I know there's a stigma attached to aluminum boil kettles, but I've met enough award-winning homebrewers who only use aluminum, that I've seen the light. I'd rather use stainless I think, but keggles are cheaper and are just as effective. Now if you're against it for moral reasons (as in who actually owns the keg), that's a different debate.

I've read multiple things about cooking in Al not pertaining to beer. but I'm thinking i may have one fab'd up at a local sheet metal shop, or at least have one quoted. my closest homebrew store is an hour away so i'm probably better off just ordering them. the reason i got interested in this is the lower cost of good beer but now i like it for other reasons. so i'm always looking for the best price.