Oats: how much is too much?

That much oats is going to make a GIANT mess IMO...similar to straining breakfast oatmeal through your bag. I have gone 25% of the grain bill before (BIAB as well) and didn't like dealing with the mess and issues with absorption and trying to sparge enough to get a full volume boil. I also got a really low conversion efficiency compared to usual. I now go with 15% as my personal max to negate most of those issues. My beers may not be as oaty as some like, but I'm happy not having the headache.

 

Are you sure all 50% is comprised of flaked oats? There's also oat malt (my fav being the Thomas Fawcett oat malt, but also golden naked oats). I've also got my first batch fermenting now using oat milk http://www.alesoftheriverwards.com/2017/06/oat-milk-neipa.html?m=1

 

“…and reminded me a bit of Tired Hands with all the oats.” For the past couple of years Tired Hands has been brewing with oat malt (Thomas Fawcett).

@DrMindbender states: “That much oats is going to make a GIANT mess IMO...similar to straining breakfast oatmeal through your bag.” Are you referring to flaked oats with this statement?

Cheers!

 

Im not sure about OH, but I know tired hands does 30% Thomas Fawcett oat malt in their milkshake series and I'm sure in some of their IPAs as well.

I just did a 30% oat malt, 10% flaked oat, all citra NEIPA that I'm happy with. Although with all the citra, not sure how much oat I'm really able to taste. Mouthfeel is great though

 

Yes...I'm referencing flaked. Should have mentioned that. Cheers Jack!

 

Two things to consider here:

1) when you're working with that much unhusked grain, you're going to need something to prevent a stuck sparge. Rice hulls work wonders.

2) With that much adjunct, you're going to have to be conscious of the diastatic power of your base malt. It's going to need to be high or else you're not going to get complete conversion and you'll get poor efficiency.

 

IMO, that's all you're going to get out of oats. Better mouthfeel because of an increase in beta-glucan content of the wort. Most adjuncts really don't "taste" like anything, but they do have benefits as far as body and mouthfeel go.

 

Neither of the two items you list are an issue when brewing with Oat Malt.

Cheers!

 

I did something like 20% rolled oats and 10-15% flaked wheat in my last NEIPA. Worked out well, I think, but I'll probably tinker with the recipe next time to dial it in.

Arizona Wilderness did one a while back that was 100% oat malt. Can't say I was a huge fan, but it was definitely beer!

 

Oat Malt is not an adjunct.

Cheers!

 

Indeed. Didn't think that the OP was, though, was he?

 

The OP posted:

“I just recently had, and loved, Other Half's Dream in Green, Very much NE style IPA, and reminded me a bit of Tired Hands with all the oats. According to Other Half, it is more than 50% oats!”

In my first post to this thread I detailed that Tired Hands has been brewing with Oat Malt for the past couple of years – they use Thomas Fawcett Oat Malt.

Cheers!

 

Indeed, but rolled oats certainly are. I'm unsure of why you are pointing this out. Did I contradict myself somewhere along the line or give the OP misinformation?

 

I posted for two reasons:

• When a person states "oat" that does not mean they are only referring to flaked oats.
• In my above reply to you I repeated my post discussing that Tired Hands uses Oat Malt when brewing their beers.

Cheers!

 

Don't know if he changed it, but I read this:

 

And I also read his original post as well.

The only specific mention of rolled oats was his question at the end: "malted vs rolled?"

Elsewhere when he asked about "50% oats" he did not specify which type of oat.

Cheers!

 

No real concrete reason. I met Jean from tired hands at the half acre hidden gem release and he told me 30% fawcett oats. So I've had that stuck in my head...

Over the last 2 or 3 batches, I've used a lot of specialty malt (flaked oats/wheat/rye, malted oats, oat milk, white wheat, honey malt, rye malt, dex malt, etc...). For my next batch I'm going to do all 2row with no specialities and keep the hop/yeast treatment the same to see what all those "extras" are really adding to the beer.