# Ancient grains



## shacked (18/6/16)

My wife rarely lets me go supermarket shopping anymore as I usually come back with a whole bunch of fermentibles and generally very few groceries. 

I picked up some 'Ancient Grains' today and want to brew with them. It looks to be 95% oat, 4% rye and 1% millet and quinoa, so perhaps more of a gimmick than a brewing adventure. 

Has anyone brewed with this before? 

I was thinking of making a lighter style blonde or bitter with the box plus some base malt (2-row for the blonde or Maris for the bitter) to see what happens. Was going to cook the mix down to a mush and then add to the mash. Easy on the hops and a clean ale yeast like 001 or Nottingham. 

Any thoughts or ideas on this?


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## mtb (18/6/16)

do you plan to malt these grains first? My (limited) understanding of grain prep is that you need to malt/kiln them before using to brew. Wiser minds than mine can weigh in on that though.


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## Ducatiboy stu (18/6/16)

shacked said:


> My wife rarely lets me go supermarket shopping anymore as I usually come back with a whole bunch of fermentibles and generally very few groceries.


...and lots of stainless " kitchen utensils " as well....


I think your wife has managed to work you out


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## Weizguy (18/6/16)

mtb, the grains are probably/ most likely rolled and therefore pre-gelatinised, so the starches are already to be broken down into maltose and glucose.

One thing is, I'd check the best before date, just in case they ARE ancient grains.
IMHO, you could have done this with cheap, generic rolled oats and a handful of other grains (or omit the other grains, as unlikely you'll taste any of them).

All those oats? I'd make a Wit... or Oaty-meal Stout.


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## Ducatiboy stu (18/6/16)

The Rye wont make SFA difference...


Oats are really only good for stouts and the like, they end up being a bit oily so will kill head retention if you go a bit nuts with it


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## sp0rk (18/6/16)

Pretty sure these are for the paleo freaks


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## Ducatiboy stu (18/6/16)

Beer is Paleo....


Yeah, I know it hurts to say that

But back OT

That grain mix would lend itself to Oatmeal Stout :icon_drool2:


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## shacked (18/6/16)

Righto, I was going to make an oatmeal stout in another brew. 

OR 

I might eat the old grains for my (apparently now classified as paleo) breakfast and make a rye oatmeal stout with plain oats. I've also got about 10kg of rye lying around.


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## Ducatiboy stu (18/6/16)

shacked said:


> . I've also got about 10kg of rye lying around.



................well......That changes things.....


Is it rye as in raw grain ?


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## shacked (18/6/16)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> ................well......That changes things.....
> 
> 
> Is it rye as in raw grain ?


Nah, malted from gladfield


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## Ducatiboy stu (18/6/16)

10kg should last about 20yrs


If you have never used Rye before, I suggest taking lessons in swearing if you are going to mash with it


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## shacked (19/6/16)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> 10kg should last about 20yrs
> 
> 
> If you have never used Rye before, I suggest taking lessons in swearing if you are going to mash with it


Did a rye export stout last weekend with about 25% rye (2kg) and it was fine. I do BIAB and reserved some water for a sparge (sparge in a bucket). I've also done rye IPAs and saisons with 20-25% and never had any issues - other than caking on the element.


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## Ducatiboy stu (19/6/16)

yes, well BIAB is a bit different to a regular mash B)


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## mash head (19/6/16)

mtb said:


> do you plan to malt these grains first? My (limited) understanding of grain prep is that you need to malt/kiln them before using to brew. Wiser minds than mine can weigh in on that though.


Not much problem as long as the base malt has enough deg lintner to convert the starches of the un malted grain/ adjunct.


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## sp0rk (19/6/16)

Ducatiboy stu said:


> Beer is Paleo....


Barley ain't paleo
http://paleoporn.net/q/is-barley-paleo/


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## Ducatiboy stu (19/6/16)

sp0rk said:


> Barley ain't paleo
> http://paleoporn.net/q/is-barley-paleo/


Give it some more time and it will be paleo


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## Ducatiboy stu (19/6/16)

Paleo is bullshit anyway

Give me the lemon and water diet anyday


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## Black Devil Dog (19/6/16)

shacked said:


> Any thoughts or ideas on this?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Get a bowl out of the cupboard, pour some of the grains into it, then get some milk out of the fridge and pour over the grains.

Get a spoon out of the utensil drawer and eat the combined grains and milk for breakfast.

Hope this helps.


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## Ducatiboy stu (19/6/16)

Black Devil Dog said:


> Get a bowl out of the cupboard, pour some of the grains into it, then get some milk out of the fridge and pour over the grains.
> 
> Get a spoon out of the utensil drawer and eat the combined grains and milk for breakfast.
> 
> Hope this helps.


Thats sounds pretty complicated actually


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## Black Devil Dog (19/6/16)

Yeah, I might make a YouTube video tutorial.


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## shacked (19/6/16)

Black Devil Dog said:


> Get a bowl out of the cupboard, pour some of the grains into it, then get some milk out of the fridge and pour over the grains.
> 
> Get a spoon out of the utensil drawer and eat the combined grains and milk for breakfast.
> 
> Hope this helps.


Ahhh so that's how you make a milk stout...


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## Ducatiboy stu (19/6/16)

Stout. The Ultimate breakfast


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## shacked (19/6/16)

I did a breakfast imperial stout with oats and coffee. Turned out great but not so great on school days.

If I did it again, I'd add some smoked malt for a bacony kinda thing


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