Do I Need To Cook Rolled Oats Before Mashing?

[juzz1981]

Hi,

I am using Rolled Oats as a substitute to Flaked Barley for a Stout as they are basically the same from what I believe, my question is, do i need to cook the oats first? or throw straight in the mash?

If they need to be cooked, is there a specific method for this?

Thanks

 

[DUANNE]

it depends on the oats .the instant oats dont need cooking and the traditional ones do. that being said i cook mine to mush before using in the mash regardless of wich type just to be sure and have never had any dramas before.

 

[felten]

Are rolled oats pre-gelatinised? either way, oats gelatinise in the mashing range so you should be fine.

 

[beerbog]

Hi,

I am using Rolled Oats as a substitute to Flaked Barley for a Stout as they are basically the same from what I believe, my question is, do i need to cook the oats first? or throw straight in the mash?

If they need to be cooked, is there a specific method for this?

Thanks

I have just been wondering the same thing as I'm about to make an oatmeal stout and have never used oats before. Are oats bought in the supermarket ok, as long as they are rolled or flaked? :beerbang:

 

[winkle]

I have just been wondering the same thing as I'm about to make an oatmeal stout and have never used oats before. Are oats bought in the supermarket ok, as long as they are rolled or flaked? :beerbang:

'Quick' or 'Instant' Oats are fine to go into the mash as they are, but I'd err on the side of caution and boil the standard oats for the suggested time then dump them in at the start of mashing.

 

[Bribie G]

Bear in mind that rolled, quick, instant oats whatever are not actually oatmeal, they are just a sub. Genuine oatmeal is a grainy flour, a bit like semolina or ground rice in consistency only made from oats. I don't know if it's actually available in Australia, it was certainly popular in Scotland and the NE of England when I was a lad for porridge making. Since then the industrial steamed rolled variety of oat has all but obliterated genuine oatmeal.
If doing an oatmeal stout, if you can find oatmeal anywhere, you would need to precook it, I remember Mam used to stir the stuff for about 20 minutes and many housewives had double - walled pans just for cooking oatmeal in.

 

[juzz1981]

Bear in mind that rolled, quick, instant oats whatever are not actually oatmeal, they are just a sub. Genuine oatmeal is a grainy flour, a bit like semolina or ground rice in consistency only made from oats. I don't know if it's actually available in Australia, it was certainly popular in Scotland and the NE of England when I was a lad for porridge making. Since then the industrial steamed rolled variety of oat has all but obliterated genuine oatmeal.
If doing an oatmeal stout, if you can find oatmeal anywhere, you would need to precook it, I remember Mam used to stir the stuff for about 20 minutes and many housewives had double - walled pans just for cooking oatmeal in.

So quick oats or standard oats should be ok...

Here is the recipe I am going to try... any comments/advice would be great ... though I think this should be OK.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 25.00 L
Boil Size: 30.95 L
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 49.7 EBC
Estimated IBU: 34.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.25 kg Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 68.42 %
0.50 kg Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC) Grain 10.53 %
0.35 kg JW Chocolate Malt (492.5 EBC) Grain 7.37 %
0.35 kg Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC) Grain 7.37 %
0.30 kg JW Roasted Barley (591.0 EBC) Grain 6.32 %
60.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 30.4 IBU
15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 American Ale 1056 Top Cropped Slurry, (cos i have it handy)


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 4.75 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 12.39 L of water at 74.4 C 67.8 C

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

As far as I know any thing that has been rolled needs to be steamed first so should be fine to add to the mash as is.
GB

 

[bradsbrew]

I have never precooked any rolled oats I have used in beers such as english bitters, aussie dark ales, dry,sweet and oatmeal stouts. I am not saying this is ideal practice but........it works for me and efficiency is all relative.

Cheers

Edit= And yes I could have fed my children for a year with the quantity of oats used.

 

[mckenry]

Bear in mind that rolled, quick, instant oats whatever are not actually oatmeal, they are just a sub. Genuine oatmeal is a grainy flour, a bit like semolina or ground rice in consistency only made from oats. I don't know if it's actually available in Australia, it was certainly popular in Scotland and the NE of England when I was a lad for porridge making. Since then the industrial steamed rolled variety of oat has all but obliterated genuine oatmeal.
If doing an oatmeal stout, if you can find oatmeal anywhere, you would need to precook it, I remember Mam used to stir the stuff for about 20 minutes and many housewives had double - walled pans just for cooking oatmeal in.

Hi BribieG,
Would you mind explaining this a bit more please? I use the home brand, plain, Rolled Oats or instant Oats from Coles or WW. The ingredients says 100% Oats on either rolled or instant. As far as I can tell, the instant Oats are broken up rolled oats. So, as I want to put oats in some of my beers, I always thought this was AOK and being pre-geletinised, made it even easier.
So why do you mention Oatmeal? The OP wants oats as far as I can tell?
I am not flaming you, nor having a go at you, nor taking the piss - it's very hard to write this after a few and not make it sound nasty.
regards,
mckenry

 

[2duck]

I have used rolled oats a few times to make oatmeal stouts. I have not used 'quick' or 'instant' varieties and have not pre-boiled them. I have been very happy with the results I have got.

My suggestion would be that you try toasting them. I have done it both ways and in my opinion the toasted oats make better beer. I laid the oats in a baking dish and put them in a 180 oven for 30 minutes - keeping a careful eye to avoid burning.

Good luck!

 

[MHB]

Brewing is full of two edged answers! The same things about Oats that make it contribute such a lovely smooth even creamy texture to beer can make it a bitch to lauter.
We have all seen the ads on telly for Uncle Tobies telling us of the wonders of B-Glucan, that's the part of oats that make porridge stick together, rather than just be soggy grain mush.
As mentioned above the starch in Oats gelatinises in the mashing temperature range (52-64⁰C) but that's only part of the answer.
For the main mashing enzymes to get at the starch the starch has first to be freed from the Glucan matrix and exposed to water so it can unravel (swell), what is called Gelatinisation. There are two ways to free up the starch, boiling and enzymically, fortunately there is an enzyme made for the job, it's called B-Glucanase and has its peak temperature activity at around 40⁰C.
If you are mashing and don't use pre-gelatinised Oats (i.e. Quick Oats) you would be well advise to either 1/ Gelatinise the Oats by the conventional porridge making method or 2/ mash in at 40⁰C and allow the B-Glucanase to have its way.

I would always mash in at 40⁰C if there was anything over a couple of percent Oats in the grist, even if they were pre-gelatinised getting the Glucan soluble will make a huge difference come lautering time.

MHB

 

[Bribie G]

Hi BribieG,
Would you mind explaining this a bit more please? I use the home brand, plain, Rolled Oats or instant Oats from Coles or WW. The ingredients says 100% Oats on either rolled or instant. As far as I can tell, the instant Oats are broken up rolled oats. So, as I want to put oats in some of my beers, I always thought this was AOK and being pre-geletinised, made it even easier.
So why do you mention Oatmeal? The OP wants oats as far as I can tell?
I am not flaming you, nor having a go at you, nor taking the piss - it's very hard to write this after a few and not make it sound nasty.
regards,
mckenry

No offence taken, the reason I mentioned 'historical' oats is that Oatmeal Stout actually died out in the early to mid 20th Century, and got revived only fairly frequently and is now widely brewed, including by me, using ALDI instant oats so if you are a 'recreationist' - for example CAP, Cream Ales, strong UK milds, Bulimba Draught and so on, you would be looking for ingredients that matched the historical ingredients as near as possible. That's why I mentioned oatmeal which is a ground up oat, not steam rolled so needs a boil. Good point you made about the quick oats, they are indeed chopped up finer that the regular porridge stuff and are steam rolled as well, so would be gelatinised. These would be ideal for the OP - and MHB's post is an eye opener, I'll definitely do his 40 degree method next time as part of a stepped infusion mash. :icon_cheers: I was at the dentist yesterday and reading a health/lifestyle magazine in the waiting room and it was raving on about the health benefits of B-Glucan and I thought "now that sounds like something I've read about re brewing".

 

[drtomc]

Speaking of mashes with 40C B-glucan rests, do BAIBers escalator mash? There are a few mentions in the enormous BIAB sticky, which is now too long to actually read.

T.

 

[Bribie G]

:icon_offtopic:
I step mash all the time. Originally I just doughed in, wrapped up the urn, left for 60 or 90 mins and then hoisted the bag, drained and boiled
I still basically do this for UK ales, IPAs etc but at the end of the mash raise the bag off the element, give it a 10 min surge, lower the bag and stir and get around 78 degrees for a mashout, then raise fully, drain and boil.

Recently I have done a few stepped mashes using the mash/ raise bag, and heat to next stage method, ending up with the mashout and it works great.

 

[juzz1981]

So quick oats or standard oats should be ok...

Here is the recipe I am going to try... any comments/advice would be great ... though I think this should be OK.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 25.00 L
Boil Size: 30.95 L
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG
Estimated Color: 49.7 EBC
Estimated IBU: 34.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.25 kg Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 68.42 %
0.50 kg Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC) Grain 10.53 %
0.35 kg JW Chocolate Malt (492.5 EBC) Grain 7.37 %
0.35 kg Oats, Flaked (2.0 EBC) Grain 7.37 %
0.30 kg JW Roasted Barley (591.0 EBC) Grain 6.32 %
60.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 30.4 IBU
15.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 American Ale 1056 Top Cropped Slurry, (cos i have it handy)


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 4.75 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 12.39 L of water at 74.4 C 67.8 C

Anyone got any comments about this recipe?
About to do it .. waiting on HLT to heat

 

[Bribie G]

BB Ale malt is incredibly diastatic, I reckon it could convert the Pope to Judaism - when doing oatmeal stout I just chuck in the whole 750 bag from ALDI. Also being a stout I'd consider upping the RB to 500g. I regularly use 800g and bradsbrew uses a kilo most times, but he's a crazy ******* :icon_drunk:

 

[juzz1981]

BB Ale malt is incredibly diastatic, I reckon it could convert the Pope to Judaism - when doing oatmeal stout I just chuck in the whole 750 bag from ALDI. Also being a stout I'd consider upping the RB to 500g. I regularly use 800g and bradsbrew uses a kilo most times, but he's a crazy ******* :icon_drunk:

Thanks Bribie

I have amended my recipe to suit

Anybody else have any adjustments?

 

[MHB]

Actually Galaxy is incredibly high in B-Glucanase and is the best choice for high adjunct beers (you still have to use it at 40^oC or it just gets denatured). BB pale and Galaxy are high in Alpha and Beta Amylase but not outside the normal range for modern malt, in fact there are several higher Australian base malts.

MHB

 

[kymba]

...raving on about the health benefits of B-Glucan and I thought "now that sounds like something I've read about re brewing

:icon_offtopic: **epiphany** 'breakfast beer'!...oats and barley and maybe some wheat for breakfast!?!?!...but get this...taken in liquid form

step mash at 40 for the oaty b-glucan goodness, then mash high with barley & wheat for the 'protein drink for breakfast' crowd. ferment at 18-20 degrees with harvested CPA yeast for some banana. Add some US hops late for fruitness

just gotta get some creamy thickness in there though, like kilkenny? that sh!t is way thick

surely marketing can come up with some way to sell it to the kiddies

anyway, 3 stubbies on the way to work should do it for me

please post recipe's forthwith