Reminds me of this.
http://www.tweakaudio.com/Cd tweaks.html
Your test needs a condition wherein you do not know if your both glasses are from the same bottle (ie reporting a difference where there is none.)
hey, i was doubtful too--how on earth can five oat flakes make that much of a difference? but then i'm not so doubtful i can't sacrifice a couple of bottles in the name of beer science. when i read this thread and posts from all the well meaning yet ill informed debbie downers, i kind of expected the worst and hoped for the best. besides, it's just beer, for crying out loud!
i should point out that it is such a drastic difference, a blind test would be ridiculous. you'd have to have a completely obliterated sense of smell and taste due to a severe sinus infection and eating a bunch of habaneros to be unable to discern between the two. if you're a reader of these forums, i'm willing to hazard the assumption that you know what your beer tastes like.
however, time will tell whether or not this difference will diminish as the other non-oat batch ages. i would be interested in tasting some in a few months...uh, if it lasts that long.
all i know is right now, one week after bottling, the oat-adulterated brew tasted much more flavorful, with definite mouthfeel and a thicker head. there is no sourness apparent.
i'm thinking the comparison to adding a potato in stew actually made a little sense, because i detected hardly any of the esters i was expecting from an underripe wiezen and were blatantly obvious in the control batch. if you know munich yeast, you know what i'm talking about.
seriously, it was like drinking two completely different beers...which i guess was the case, technically speaking.
let's review:
by my count so far, there are three people in this thread that have added a small amount of oats to their beer at bottling and reported a positive, detectable flavor change. this doesn't include the few others that said they'd be willing to give it a shot and report back but haven't done so yet.
the number of people that have actually done this and reported negative results so far:
zero.
the number of people people that are choosing to play armchair brewer and refrain from the experiment yet think their opinions will somehow hold weight: well, you know who you are. i honestly hope you can bring that number up to at least one so your fears can be validated.
i leave it to everyone to make their own decisions. meanwhile, i'm going to keep on relaxing, not worrying and thoroughly enjoying my oaty home brew!
cheers, oldschool!