Using rolled oats instead of flaked barley

[Maxt]

Oats are good for mouth feel but in high levels can lead to an astringent taste in the beer and may affect head rentention.Not an expert

Stout.JPG

Oats do not lead to astringency.

 

[NewtownClown]

I use 500 grams in my Oatmeal Stout, toasted in the oven first, adds great flavour.
Never, ever have had problems with head retention or astringency

 

[super_simian]

the difference between stockfeed and food grade is totally astounding... when a farmer plants barley or any crop they prey it goes food grade or hops grade (for barley) they dont just grow it. it has to have outstanding conditions.... no disease no mould and the right protein count..... stock feed grade is the absolute bottom of the barrel! would you eat dog food coz ive worked in abattoirs and i can tell you what that is too and it aint human consumption.....



aint my 2c worth its fact...

Buy a vowel punctuation mark? Or indeed a capital letter?

 

[jdooley]

Oats are a head killer in my experience. Flaked barley really improves head retention, so I think it is great in Stouts. I would get Flaked barley from your local homebrew shop and don't worry about the Oats.

 

[Edak]

Interesting, oats don't kill head for me, but we all experience different effects.

 

[NewtownClown]

Perhaps the difference lies in the way they are utilised?
All the texts I have read indicate flaked oats will improve head retention, mouthfeel and body; as has been my experience.
I have only ever used pregelatinised rolled oats (in order to eliminate the need for a protein rest).

 

[mabrungard]

Oats do not lead to astringency.

I haven't used oats at a high percentage, but Michael Lewis (brewing professor emeritus at UC Davis) wrote in his book on Stout that his experience with oats IS that they tend to produce an unpleasant astringency in beer when used at elevated percentage. I don't recall what percentage he used, but it was probably over 5%. He was not complimentary to oat use in brewing. I still find its pleasing at a percent or two.

I conducted a lot of trials with flaked barley in pale beers. It is a huge body and head builder at only small percentages. The problem is that it also has a very grainy taste that is quite notable in a pale beer. While we can get away with flaked barley in a roasty stout due to the marriage of those flavors, it doesn't work in less roasty beers. I find that flaked wheat is a better way to boost body and head in paler beers.

 

[Ballaratguy]

the difference between stockfeed and food grade is totally astounding... when a farmer plants barley or any crop they prey it goes food grade or hops grade (for barley) they dont just grow it. it has to have outstanding conditions.... no disease no mould and the right protein count..... stock feed grade is the absolute bottom of the barrel! would you eat dog food coz ive worked in abattoirs and i can tell you what that is too and it aint human consumption.....



aint my 2c worth its fact...

Sorry but I disagree with this. Usually the Reason barley (or any grain) to be down graded can be from many reasons
When a bin of grain is presented by toe grower a sample is taken and analysed for quality. What they look for is
1. The size of the grain
2. The moisture content
3. Damaged grain
4. Rubbish
Causes can include
I. Usually undersized grain can come-
Lack of water (for the grain to fill)
Being harvested too early
Being harvested too late
Disease
The wrong size screen installed in the harvester
The brand of the barley
2. Moisture content
Wet grain (harvested too soon after rain)
Harvested too late (too dry)
3. Damaged grain
Harvested too early in the day (cereal crops need heat for the heads holding the grain to snap off the stalk cleanly)
Wrong screen
Harvesting speed too slow or too fast
Grain too dry
Lack of maintenance of the harvester
4. Rubbish
Wrong screen
Speed
Crop on the ground
(Rubbish usually consists of too much chaff (the grass and outer husks of the grain) within the grain
So as you can see there are many reasons for grain to be down graded
No I’m not a farmer but have been exposed to grain production for over 40 years
Would I eat stockfeed?
Why the hell not?
Using stock feed for brewing?
Well don’t we boil the wort to sterilise before fermenting?

 

[MHB]

You are missing the one quality that really differentiates Malting Barley from any other sort, Protein!
Even if everything else is perfect, if protein is too high it wont go to malting.
Buyers pay a premium for low protein malt, I remember back in the millennium drought, lots of the Aussie malt was coming through way smaller and a lot trashier than usual, took some very careful milling, it think it got to the stage where protein was about the only spec being met. But that's the one you cant ignore.
Americans using 6-row have to dilute the protein with other starch (rice, maize... both degermed) that's why they developed cereal cooking.
Mark

 

[Garryg]

You are missing the one quality that really differentiates Malting Barley from any other sort, Protein!
Even if everything else is perfect, if protein is too high it wont go to malting.
Buyers pay a premium for low protein malt, I remember back in the millennium drought, lots of the Aussie malt was coming through way smaller and a lot trashier than usual, took some very careful milling, it think it got to the stage where protein was about the only spec being met. But that's the one you cant ignore.
Americans using 6-row have to dilute the protein with other starch (rice, maize... both degermed) that's why they developed cereal cooking.
Mark

Farmers get paid a premium for Barley that grades Malting 1 or 2 the rest is just used a Feed grade (Stockfeed)

 

[MHB]

Or even Malting 3.
This is a couple of years old but gives a pretty good idea of the specifications.
Lots of factors add up to make good malting barley, not just those listed by Ballaratguy. Point is just using feed barley is a really bad idea, could you eat it - sure, brew with it (after malting) - yes but you will get second best beer.
Mark

Love the fact that there is a specification for snails
M