Hi everyone,
I am planning on playing around with a few different grains in my next brew. I am an extract brewer who steeps grains so are there any special procedures to use if I am using flaked oats or do I just steep as if it were crystal malt etc?
Thanks in advance for your help.
If you want to be absolutely spot on with the correct way to handle things, yes you need to mash the oats with a little pale malt to ensure they’ll convert.
Basically think of it as a controlled steep at 15-something Fahrenheit (aka 155F) with some crushed 2-row and a few quarts of water.
This may be a stupid question but do the oats need to be crushed before steeping?
Nope…no flaked grains need to be (or should be) crushed before steeping or mashing.
I understand that they don’t need to be but is there a specific reason they should not be crushed?
Only that they get real gummy and will kinda mess up your mash/steep. Other than that, I don’t think it would be detrimental to the beer.
Hmm, I’ve always run them through the mill when I used them just because. Maybe I’ll just dump them in without grinding next time and see if it makes a difference.