Brewing Master

Question:

Maybe I’m not understanding things…  I thought the heat was the major factor in conversion.  The "bag of light…" is cracked grain mixed with oatmeal.  The dark malts are grains.  Maybe I’m not clear on the terminology yet…  I thought partial mash was steeping grains and then adding extract.  Actually, I thought the oatmeal was there more for body and flavor than for sugars.

Steeping grains and adding extract is doing an extract kit with steeping grains… my first 3 extract beers all had steeping grains. A partial mash is just that, actually mashing, lautering and sparging only some of your grains, and the rest is extract. It’s the halfway point between extract and all-grain… I skipped it, never did a partial-mash… Here’s a good link for info: http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/information/inst_parmash.html

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Here’s a good link for info: http://www.annapolishomebrew.com/information/inst_parmash.html

Very helpful….  a great description. Ed

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anybody have a good recipe for Oatmeal stout for an extract brewer? Thanks Cant really do an oatmeal stout as an extract… you need to mash the grains… best you’re gonna do is a partial mash, mashing the oatmeal. No real way to do it all extract, incase you’ve got your heart set on extract only. I think Mike recently mentioned that Williams Brewing now carries an oatmeal extract product that you can use without mashing.  It’s essentially like malt extract in that it’s already been mashed for you, and then canned as a syrup.  He’ll probably chime in with more information.

Yep.  www.williamsbrewing.com He even has a recipe on the site. Cheers, Mike

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A partial mash is just that, actually mashing, lautering and sparging only some of your grains, and the rest is extract. It’s the halfway point between extract and all-grain… I skipped it, never did a partial-mash…

The thing with partial mashes, as I understood it, you didn’t exactly need that much extra equipment to do a partial mash. As far as I know, you can do a partial mash with a large grain bag (which eliminates the need to lauter) and a colliander for sparging. This leaves only a grain mill if you don’t have one to get. It’s not the same as all-grain brewing, but I’ve heard it makes for a big improvement. If I were going to make an oatmeal stout, this would be the method I would use.

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 As far as I know, you can do a partial mash with a large grain bag (which eliminates the need to lauter) and a colander for sparging.

You should be aware that more than one pound or so in a bag is a real drag on efficiency.  I got a nasty reminder of that fact last night. — Dan Listermann Check out our E-tail site at www.listermann.com Free shipping for orders greater than $35 and East of the Mighty Miss. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – A partial mash is just that, actually mashing, lautering and sparging only some of your grains, and the rest is extract. It’s the halfway point between extract and all-grain… I skipped it, never did a partial-mash… The thing with partial mashes, as I understood it, you didn’t exactly need that much extra equipment to do a partial mash.This leaves only a grain mill if you don’t have one to get. It’s not the same as all-grain brewing, but I’ve heard it makes for a big improvement. If I were going to make an oatmeal stout, this would be the method I would use.

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As far as I know, you can do a partial mash with a large grain bag (which eliminates the need to lauter) and a colander for sparging. You should be aware that more than one pound or so in a bag is a real drag on efficiency.  I got a nasty reminder of that fact last night.

Hmm, probably true, and I’ve heard people avoiding grain bags alltogether, which makes sense. The "colander partial mash" method seems to have its limit at, say, 2 and a half pounds of grain (based on the St. Pat’s kits) and obviously is less efficient. This would be enough for a touch of oatmeal flavor in a stout (1 lb oats with a pound of some malt for enough enzymes), though it would have limits. Some people say to avoid this method altogether, though, which makes me curious what the typical efficiency ratings people get with this trick…

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The one I decided on is from Listermann.  A pail of LME, a bag of light malt and oatmeal, and a bag of a mix of dark malts.  I should be starting it on Sunday (fingers crossed.)  After searching, the easiest I could find was this one…  It’ll be my 3rd partial mash.  Dan was really quick to answer questions before I ordered. How do you convert the starch in the oatmeal?  Is the "bag of light malt" grains or DME?  Are you partial mashing using the light malt if they are grains?  I’m assuming the "bag of a mix of dark malts" are grains, but that they don’t have active enzymes. John.

Maybe I’m not understanding things…  I thought the heat was the major factor in conversion.  The "bag of light…" is cracked grain mixed with oatmeal.  The dark malts are grains.  Maybe I’m not clear on the terminology yet…  I thought partial mash was steeping grains and then adding extract.  Actually, I thought the oatmeal was there more for body and flavor than for sugars. Educate me… Ed

Response:

The one I decided on is from Listermann.  A pail of LME, a bag of light malt and oatmeal, and a bag of a mix of dark malts.  I should be starting it on Sunday (fingers crossed.)  After searching, the easiest I could find was this one…  It’ll be my 3rd partial mash.  Dan was really quick to answer questions before I ordered. How do you convert the starch in the oatmeal?  Is the "bag of light malt" grains or DME?  Are you partial mashing using the light malt if they are grains?  I’m assuming the "bag of a mix of dark malts" are grains, but that they don’t have active enzymes.

The kit comes with two bags of grain.  One has the various dark malts and the other is a blend of flaked oatmeal and pale malt.  The idea is to steep the bags in 150 F water to convert the oatmeal to sugars with the enzymes in the pale malt. — Dan Listermann Check out our E-tail site at www.listermann.com Free shipping for orders greater than $35 and East of the Mighty Miss. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***            *** Head Administrator, Monty Python’s Flying Talker ***

Response:

The one I decided on is from Listermann.  A pail of LME, a bag of light malt and oatmeal, and a bag of a mix of dark malts.  I should be starting it on Sunday (fingers crossed.)  After searching, the easiest I could find was this one…  It’ll be my 3rd partial mash.  Dan was really quick to answer questions before I ordered.

How do you convert the starch in the oatmeal?  Is the "bag of light malt" grains or DME?  Are you partial mashing using the light malt if they are grains?  I’m assuming the "bag of a mix of dark malts" are grains, but that they don’t have active enzymes. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***            *** Head Administrator, Monty Python’s Flying Talker ***

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Anybody have a good recipe for Oatmeal stout for an extract brewer? Thanks Cant really do an oatmeal stout as an extract… you need to mash the grains… best you’re gonna do is a partial mash, mashing the oatmeal. No real way to do it all extract, incase you’ve got your heart set on extract only.

I think Mike recently mentioned that Williams Brewing now carries an oatmeal extract product that you can use without mashing.  It’s essentially like malt extract in that it’s already been mashed for you, and then canned as a syrup.  He’ll probably chime in with more information. John. —                            *** John P. Kolesar ***            *** Head Administrator, Monty Python’s Flying Talker ***

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You might try this one out. I’ve made it and it’s quite a nice brew. http://www.ebrew.com/beer/dark_ales.htm#EOS

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anybody have a good recipe for Oatmeal stout for an extract brewer? Thanks Cant really do an oatmeal stout as an extract… you need to mash the grains… best you’re gonna do is a partial mash, mashing the oatmeal. No real way to do it all extract, incase you’ve got your heart set on extract only.

Response:

The one I decided on is from Listermann.  A pail of LME, a bag of light malt and oatmeal, and a bag of a mix of dark malts.  I should be starting it on Sunday (fingers crossed.)  After searching, the easiest I could find was this one…  It’ll be my 3rd partial mash.  Dan was really quick to answer questions before I ordered. I should add, it was shipped almost immediately.  I got it 2 or 3 days after I ordered it.   http://www.listermann.com/Store/Details.asp?ID=948 I’m looking forward to this one (as is my mother in law). Ed – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Anybody have a good recipe for Oatmeal stout for an extract brewer? Thanks Cant really do an oatmeal stout as an extract… you need to mash the grains… best you’re gonna do is a partial mash, mashing the oatmeal. No real way to do it all extract, incase you’ve got your heart set on extract only.

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Anybody have a good recipe for Oatmeal stout for an extract brewer? Thanks

Response:

Anybody have a good recipe for Oatmeal stout for an extract brewer? Thanks

Cant really do an oatmeal stout as an extract… you need to mash the grains… best you’re gonna do is a partial mash, mashing the oatmeal. No real way to do it all extract, incase you’ve got your heart set on extract only.

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Looking for a great extract based oatmeal sout recipe. Any suggestions?

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: Looking for a great extract based oatmeal sout recipe. Any suggestions? Yep. Fire up your world wide web browser and point it at Cats Meow. http://alpha.rollanet.org/cm3/CatsMeow3.html Boo-coo recipes, including several for oatmeal stout. Cheers! —Mark   Brewery info server for homebrewers: <URL:http://alpha.rollanet.org/

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: Looking for a great extract based oatmeal sout recipe. Any suggestions? Toast the oatmeal in your oven before you use it, otherwise it soaks up all your wort.. — I told Visa I’d balance my budget in 7 years, but they just laughed.

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: Looking for a great extract based oatmeal sout recipe. Any suggestions? Toast the oatmeal in your oven before you use it, otherwise it soaks up all your wort..

Perhaps someone could comment on how and if toasting the oatmeal affects the flavor of the finished beer.  The one oatmeal stout that I made was fantastic, but it really lacked that great oatmeal flavor that some of the commercial varieties have (Sam Smith, Breckenridge,…) I told Visa I’d balance my budget in 7 years, but they just laughed.

Great .sig! — Nathaniel Scott "Teddy" Winstead       | http://www.cs.tulane.edu/www/Winstead Fanatical Homebrewer & CS Grad Student |

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