Is there a difference between the flaked oats sold at my LHBS vs. what is sold at the grocery store? If so, will I be able to tell the difference in my beer?
Not much difference and if I am honest I don’t think they’re very useful either way.
I’ve used Quaker oats for several years with good results. I enter them in BeerSmith using the same specs as flaked oats. You need to avoid steel cut oats though unless you feel like doing a cereal mash.
Agreed.
Why?
I’ve made 50% oat beers before, lackluster. I’ve tasted several 100% oat beers before, lackluster. Anyone who thinks they add great body, head retention, flavor, etc. is mistaken. Try it and you’ll find out. Sure, if they are toasted, they’ll taste toasty. But if not… they’re just more of a pain to deal with in the mash, more than any value added to the finished beer. I’d rather use any of a plethora of other brewing ingredients. If you want body and head, try wheat or rye malt. Easier, and more effective. Don’t forget a handful or three of rice hulls, if you are so inclined to help prevent a stuck mash. Denny might not need any rice hulls, but everybody else does. ;D
IIt seems the primary reason to use them is for increased foam and mouthfeel. In my use of them I haven’t found either to be the case.
It might be a matter of perception, but I think my oatmeal stout has a different mouthfeel vs. a stout sans oats. Maybe I have in my mind that the extracted lipids and beta glucans must be adding something. Also, John Palmer thinks they add something so I’ll go along with him.
John thinks lots of crazy things…
I only use them if they’re toasted.
I use oats sparingly but when I do I’ve always used grocery store instant oats–and usually store brand. I brew with them so infrequently that it’s easier to grab a few ounces out of a container in the pantry than run out to the homebrew shop for a more expensive pound of what seems to be the same thing.
I don’t feel that my beers with grocery store oats taste or feel different than the same beers using flaked oats from brewing suppliers.
I detect oats as this weird silky/jello like mouthfeel that Im not a fan of
i am really not a fan of golden naked oats, used a pound of them once and the beer just had this massive overbearing strange grainy taste. that was the only unknown factor in that brew. tried the innis & gunn lager which has golden naked oats in it, caught the same flavour i hated. it was something like astringent/harsh grain.
it kind of put me off oats, and made me realize why oat-malt beers were the cheapest category of beers in the middle ages.
Those are very different than flaked oats. More like a crystal malt.