Oatmeal Stout Question

[WVbeer]

Hello,
Ive been extract brewing for about 8 months now. I recently tried to make an outmeal stout (not quite ready). After brewing, I read posts in other forums that said that it is necessary to mash oats in an all-grain or partial mash brew in order to do it right, and leave it les likely to be infected. I was under the impression that the unfermentables in teh oatmeal is what gives the desired effect, so then it should not matter if it is mashed or not. I added a pound in a grain bag, steeped with my specialties, and then boild the oats for a while before removing and adding extract.
any thoughts? Id appreciate any incite.
Thanks!

[Smoothy]

Hello WVbeer,
Without getting wordy, I've done two extract oatmeal stouts as of late
with excellent results. Refer youself to the B.Y.O.B. magizine and do a search for oatmeal stout. They published a very informative article about the style and it came complete with allgrain and extract/grain recipes.
Iwould use alight extract though.rather than the amber they reccomend
Let us know how your first attempt turned out
Brew Strong

[J.Brew]

There are a few different forms of oats and how to treat each variety differs. Oates in all forms will contribute what some consider to be an oily or slick and smooth mouth feel due to their high lipid content. They are comparable to wheat in their protein content and have a rich and distinct flavor in my experience. They also have a tendency to mellow some of the bite of roasted grains which is part of the reason they lend themselves well to stout.
Oat will deliver these attributes to a beer in all forms, even after it is mashed and I believe whoever stated that they were somehow related to the "unfermentables" was slightly mistaken. Fermentability simply refers to the forms of sugar contributed by a mashed grain to the wort.
To my knowledge, all forms of oat need to be dealt with in some way Steeping alone would just contribute large amounts of starch to the beer, that would make your wort a hazy mess, and unless thats what your looking for they should be further modified.
Rolled oats and steel cut oats are not malted and should be boiled or cereal mashed in order to break down protein matrixes and allow the starches to be accessible (gelatinized). They should then be mashed with base grain.
Flaked oats and instant oats are already gelatinized (cooked) and can simply be mashed with base grain.
Oat malt has enough diastatic power (self converting enzymes) and can be mashed alone or with base grain.

Cheers!

[WVbeer]

Thanks for the info! I believe the ones I used were flaked oats (from Williams Brewing). We'll see how this batch turns out, having not modified them. Will the oats still contribute the smooth mouthfeel and mellowing of the raosted grains they way I did it? by steeping and boiling?

Does BYO have an online Database? I started my subscription right after the oatmeal stout one.

[Bugeater]

Does BYO have an online Database? I started my subscription right after the oatmeal stout one.

Head on over to http://www.byo.com/

You can get limited access to complete articles and recipes there as well as a complete index so you know what back issues they want to sell you.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[J.Brew]

Will the oats still contribute the smooth mouthfeel and mellowing of the roasted grains they way I did it? by steeping and boiling?

I believe so although it may be a bit limited due to simple contact/exposure time of grain to wort, and the accessibility of the oats contributing lipids and protiens. Let us know how it turns out.

[brewjester]

Hey there WV, I've been there. I steeped in a grain bag 1# flaked oats and in another did crystal 80, flaked barley, black patent, and steeped for 35 minutes at 154 F. Then rinsed them with hot water. The point is that the beer came out excellent and your don't have to mash if your not ready. Also look up Denny Conn's batch sparge cooler. It's the easiest way to learn how to partial-mash and then jump to all-grain when your ready. Hope this helps a little.
Cheers!
Jester

[WVbeer]

THanks for the info! I'll check it out! I actually jsut started drinking them, and it came out pretty good. very tasty, but not as smooth as I'd hoped. Still, it is a very good beer.

THanks everyone for your advice!