Plan on attempting a cereal mash with whole oats and every published "expert" on the subject has different guidelines. The techniques vary from holding the gelatinization temp anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, some recommend adding 10% crushed malt, others say 20%, others ignore this step. Boil time is similarly all over the board. Some sources just say "cook it". Anyone have experience with whole oats and care to pass on their successful tips?
I did a cereal mash with steel-cut oats once, which are probably not too different from whole oats. I added a good amount (at least 20%) of malt, held it at mashing temps for a while, then boiled it. It's been a while but I don't remember any issues.
What exactly is the purpose with cereal mashing oats? What does it add that flaked quick oats would not?
Nothing. Thought I had flaked oats in stock but when I started measuring out the receipe it was "flaked wheat" . . . so I'm cereal mashing some regular ole (unmalted) oats.
My approach with uncooked, unflaked, non-diastatic grain has been to cook, then add to mash. Some approaches have you add some enzymatic grains, hold a mash to allow the enzymes to act on the grain, bring it to a boil for a time, and then add to the main mash. I have never understood why this first approach mattered. I feel an experiment coming on.
To clarify my last sentence, I never understood why the first step in the second approach mattered. Why should a little pre-conversion, if it takes place at all, matter, when you are throwing it back into the main mash. Can it really have an impact on what happens in the boil?
My understanding is that the point is just to thin it out a bit so it doesn't scorch etc. I agree in most situations it doesn't seem necessary, but this isn't something I've done a lot of.
Looked up my brewing notes. It looks as though I put 2.5 quarts of water into a pan, added 9 ounces of (crushed) pale malt and 9 ounces of steel-cut oats (this was a 2.5 gallon batch), and brought to 112°F. I let it rest for 20 minutes then (while stirring) heated to 155°F, where I let it rest for another 20 minutes. (While raising the temperature to 155°F I observed a marked decrease in cloudiness, which I attributed to the action of the enzymes from the malt.) Then I raised it to boiling (again, stirring the whole time), simmered for 10 minutes, and then added to my main mash. As I said, everything worked fine.
The rest at 158-160 hydrolyzes the starches, i.e. some conversion happens. This makes the decoctions easier to stir when boiling. I have done many cereal mashes with corn meal, always do the 158F rest.
I've only done it once. Boiled the cereal until cooked. Added to the mash the next morning. Worked great.
I have done it both ways, maybe a couple times each. I have no basis for saying one was better than the other, in terms of beer quality, but I felt the brew days went a little smoother when the steps were isolated like this.
I’m a newb when it comes to cereal mashing but what exactly is the advantage? Flaked oats and flaked corn are already geletanized and ready for mashing and aren’t crazy expensive or anything.
There are lots of reasons to use ungelatinized grains. For me, steel-cut oats taste way better than flaked oats, and although I'm not sure that comes through in the beer, I generally like to use the best-tasting ingredients possible. Another reason would be to replicate a historical recipe. English brewers commonly used flaked maize, but Scottish brewers often used corn grits, which I believe require a cereal mash.
Thanks for sharing the different techniques. I suppose the consensus is there is no consensus and the different methods tend to all be satisfactory. If we have any organic-chem types lurking I would be interested in why adding diastatic power to a cereal mash is even a player.
I mentioned my understanding above. I know a couple of guys who use a pressure cooker. They don't add malt, as no scorching will occur, and stirring is not possible. The heat gelatinizes the starches. The enzymes are denatured before the geletinization temps.
