Rasberry Oatmeal Stout

[jimmiec]

One problem with raspberries is the seeds. They are hard to settle out. I think the next ferment with raspberries I'll be using a mesh bag. I keg so just one or so seed will clog the liquid out.

[brewinhard]

Cold crashing for a few days will help with that. And of course being ever so careful during racking. Raspberry puree is also an option to not have to worry about seeds. I am of the belief that it is really hard to get too much real fruit flavor in a beer!

[DonMoleon]

Not sure if you said in your OP, and I know you posted about this beer in the temp control thread, but are you going extract or all grain? If you are brewing with oatmeal, you really want to be doing at least a partial mash go get the goodness out of them. If you are planning on doing extract and just steeping the oats, they will mostly just contribute starch and will go largely un-noticed in your final beer.

I'm really glad that you brought this up. My recipe directions tell me just to steep the oats without mashing at all. All the other recipes I have seen however say that I should mash the oats. Any advice on how to do a simple partial mash for the oats would be a big help. Keep in mind that I've never brewed, let alone mashed before, so the more details you can provide the better...

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Not sure if you said in your OP, and I know you posted about this beer in the temp control thread, but are you going extract or all grain? If you are brewing with oatmeal, you really want to be doing at least a partial mash go get the goodness out of them. If you are planning on doing extract and just steeping the oats, they will mostly just contribute starch and will go largely un-noticed in your final beer.

I'm really glad that you brought this up. My recipe directions tell me just to steep the oats without mashing at all. All the other recipes I have seen however say that I should mash the oats. Any advice on how to do a simple partial mash for the oats would be a big help. Keep in mind that I've never brewed, let alone mashed before, so the more details you can provide the better...

If you use quick oats, they do not have to be mashed.

[DonMoleon]

Unfortunately the package just says "Oats" on it I believe (it came in a pre-made ingredients kit).

Any easy way to distinguish normal oats from quick oats?

Can I just substitute them with rasberries 'n cream instant oats and make this whole process easier?

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Unfortunately the package just says "Oats" on it I believe (it came in a pre-made ingredients kit).

Any easy way to distinguish normal oats from quick oats?

Can I just substitute them with rasberries 'n cream instant oats and make this whole process easier?

Sort of. Quick oats are the oats in the instant oats. I never buy oats at the LHBS. I buy Quaker Instant oats in the big can.

[spiderwrangler]

If you use quick oats, they do not have to be mashed.

If you want to get fermentable sugars out of the oats, they will still need to go through a mash in order for the starches to be broken down into sugars. Flaked or instant oats don't need to be cereal mashed (cooked to expose starch), but will be contributing mainly starch if you just steep. It isn't going to be bad, and the oats certainly will contribute something to the mouthfeel of the beer, but if you do a partial mash with some base malt, you'll be providing the enzymes to break down the starch in your oats.

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

If you use quick oats, they do not have to be mashed.[/quote
If you want to get fermentable sugars out of the oats, they will still need to go through a mash in order for the starches to be broken down into sugars. Flaked or instant oats don't need to be cereal mashed (cooked to expose starch), but will be contributing mainly starch if you just steep. It isn't going to be bad, and the oats certainly will contribute something to the mouthfeel of the beer, but if you do a partial mash with some base malt, you'll be providing the enzymes to break down the starch in your oats.

I agree. But for a new brewer, steeping allows them to learn the ingredients.

Eventually you will want to do a partial mash. For now, steeping is fine.

The most important thing is to have fun.