# Mashing Quick Oat's



## SJW (20/8/04)

I picked up all the ingredients for my Oatmeal Stout yesterday and i ended up getting a little extra grain than i first intended. So now i got 1.5kg's of Marris Otter + 1kg of Vienna + 500g of Quick oats and about 1 kg of other goodies. Now my problem is this much grain is a little too much for my mash esky so i was thinking could i heat up the 500g of Quick Oat while i am heating up the mash water, or even boil for 1/2 hour, to get all the starch out of them, and just use the water from that (steep) to add to the remaining grain bill?
As this is my first time using Oat's i dont quite have the capacity for 4+ kg's. At least this would save adding the 500g of oats to the mash and as far as i can see should do the same job as adding the Quick oats to the mash.
What are your thoughts? <_<


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## Justin (20/8/04)

Ok, if I follow this right, you want to boil the oats, get the liqour off them and then add this back into the mash at the START of the mash so that the starches will be converted by the enzymes from the other base malts? 

How is this different (volume wise) to just adding the oats to the mash? Make sure the oats are added to the mash, not steeped then added straight to the kettle, I don't think this is what you've said above but I just thought I'd make certain as quick oats as far as I know don't have any diastatic power (ie. enzymes) and therefore need a base malt to convert them.

What ratio of grain to water are you using? I normally do 3L/kg but for a big grain bill I'll drop that to 2.5L/kg to make a bit of extra room. If your planning a 3L/kg mash you could drop down to 2.5L/kg to make it all fit.
Also, at the end of the day an extra 500g of grain doesn't make a big difference volume wise.

Good luck with it. I brewed an oatmeal stout on Wed night, fermenting vigourously 1hr after pitching and was climbing out of the fermenter this morning. Messy bastard!

Cheers, Justin.


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## jayse (20/8/04)

SJW said:


> i dont quite have the capacity for 4+ kg's.
> 
> What are your thoughts? <_<


 Hi SJW,
Iam with justin, try and use less water if your mashing quite thin and you may fit it all in.
Otherwise calculate the recipe for less grain so you can fit it all in.
(HEY what did i say use less grain?>yes it is me saying this) :blink: 

good luck with it, My advice is to think 'inside' the square, ie use common brewing techniquies.
Boiling the oats is a common practice but all of the oats would be added to the mash not just the water from them.
Iam not sure at all about doing it the way you have suggested, iam sure it would be quite acceptable but not the best way to go about doing it.

Have fun with it and enjoy the oatmeal stout,
Jayse


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## GMK (20/8/04)

i usually use 2ltrs per kg for mashing - but u can drop this down to 1 ltr or 1.5ltr if it fits...


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## jayse (20/8/04)

GMK said:


> i usually use 2ltrs per kg for mashing - but u can drop this down to 1 ltr or 1.5ltr if it fits...


 :blink: :blink: :blink: :unsure:  
down to one litre for the mash? :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: 

Please explain.  :unsure: :blink: :blink: :blink: 


:huh: jayse


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## SJW (20/8/04)

Thanks boys. I just thought by boiling them separate and getting all the stach out of the oats before i mash them would save some space when mashing by not needing to add the oats. But i will take KEN's advise and wind back the water a bit.


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## deebee (20/8/04)

SJW,

Have you considered doing one mash in your esky and another smaller one in a pot on the stove or in the oven?

I don't have a lot of mashing experience but I am having trouble picturing 1:1 water grain ratio.


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## Justin (20/8/04)

THICK! Holy googley moogelies! That would be one thick mash and my arm would get very tired indeed trying to stir that baby. I haven't heard of anyone going as low as 1:1, I did a 2.5:1 on Wednesday night and thought that was thick as. Not particularly keen to go that thick again if I don't have to. I like the consistency of 3:1, certainly make doughing in a lot, lot easier as the dough balls that try to form break up and get wetted alot easier.

Anyway, choice is yours.

Justin


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## THE DRUNK ARAB (20/8/04)

SJW, do not use a 1:1 water to grain ratio. The grain will absorb all of this water and you will extract nothing and all the goodness stays trapped in the wet grain mash. You need to go 2litres/kg at the very least, 2.5 would be better. And I agree with deebee. If you can't mash all the grain in a single container then use a pot or bucket(foodsafe). You want to extract all the goodness you can.
My 2c worth.

Bad advise there by GMK, send him off to the brewers sin bin .

C&B
TDA


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## GMK (20/8/04)

go with 1.5:1 then....

promash has defaults for thick, med and thin
thin = 3ltrs
med = 2ltrs
thick = not sure but think it is 1.2:1 cant check it at work...

i underlet at 2ltrs per kg - no probs - never seen a dough ball yet...


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## SJW (20/8/04)

YEP, Good advise boys, two mash's if ness.
This brings me to my next question.
All the drama about mash capacity is due to the fact that i mash in a 20 litre esky with the ol copper manifold that fits neatly in the bottom with the hacksaw cuts in it, as described in the Palmer book. This is the way to go for fly sparging but as i am doing batch sparging now could i just mash all the grain in my big 55 litre esky and still use the little manifold?
Or even make a BAZOOKA type setup for the large esky. My understanding of batch sparging is it does not matter how the liquid drains from the grain just as long as it does.
What are your thoughts


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## Justin (20/8/04)

What are you worried about? 20L is a perfectly fine volume for grain bills for batches 25-30L in size. My esky/beverage cooler is 19L capacity and it's fine, sure sometimes it's close to the top but it hasn't been an issue. I did a 1051 Oatmeal stout for a batch size of 27L on Wed night with no worries. If your tun is set up with the manifold then use it. But your manifold will be fine for batch sparging.

FWIW, I use just a bazooka type screen about 20-25cm long in the bottom of mine and my efficiency is regularly 80-85%, personally I think efficiency comes more down to crush than manifold design.

Just my opinions, Justin


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## SJW (20/8/04)

I will be mashing 4.2kg's of grain for this Oatmeal stout, and from previous experience 4kg's has been close to max. I just like to leave a little extra head space incase my strike temp is not quite spot on, then i can top up to hit my mash temp. All the same i might make up a BAZOOKA type screen and use the 55 litre esky.


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## dicko (20/8/04)

Hi SJW,
I may as well put my two bobs worth in.

If it is convenient to mash in the big esky then do it.

You could then either batch sparge, fly sparge or even use the no sparge method that Jayse and a few others use.

When GMK refers to Promash defaults, these figures are used for decoction or stepped mashes and as I believe not for a single mash.

If you think about it, you will note that if the grain absorbes one litre of water per kilo then it will stand to reason that when the mash is finished and you open the tap to recirculate then "nothing" will run out.

With fly sparging the method you choose needs to prevent "channelling" of the hot liquer (water) through the grain bed and this usually involves ensuring that the sparge water is applied gently and evenly to the top of the grain.

The batch and no sparge methods all work OK as long as each batch is mixed or stirred thoroughly and left to stand for ten to fifteen minutes prior to draining.
Mash tuns that are too small are a pain in the rear section and if you can use the bigger esky then I think you will find that you wont go back unless you want to do a partial.

As I said, just my two bobs worth!!!!

Cheers


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## Murray (20/8/04)

Like Dicko said, do what is convenient. I've mashed 6kg in my 20L mash tun, a bit of extra care is needed but it turned out well. If you have a bigger mashing volume available that would be best.

As for quick oats, for my most recent oatmeal stout I did a separate cereal mash. This turned out really well, sparging was a breeze.


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## sosman (20/8/04)

SJW said:


> Thanks boys. I just thought by boiling them separate and getting all the stach out of the oats before i mash them would save some space when mashing by not needing to add the oats.


 Aside from the other advice - if you boil quick oats you will end up with porridge. I don't know about you but separating the liquid from the solid is problematic for me IIRC.


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