Cereal Mash For Rolled Oats?

[MrC]

I've done a bit of Googling and the jury still seems to be out on this topic.  I'm thinking about brewing a small Oatmeal Stout and I'm planning on using Haraways Rolled Oats for approx 10-15% of grain bill.  I've used small amounts of rolled oats in the past but never enough to be concerned about this topic.

 

A lot of oatmeal stout recipes call for flaked oats which from what I've read, the starches are gelatinised during production.  I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to whether the starches in rolled oats are gelatinised, not gelatinised or partially gelatinised.

 

Do rolled oats need a cereal mash or can they just be thrown into the mash?

and if rolled oats do benefit from a cereal mash, what method gives the best results?

 

Any other thoughts or experiences...

 

[Chris Banks]

This is what I use - http://www.libertybrewing.co.nz/content/thomas-fawcett-oat-malt

[bart]

I have always just chucked them in to the mash, however for an oatmeal stout (the only time I use rolled oats) I toast the oats on a tray in the oven until they're a medium brown. I imagine that this process would change some of the starches, although I'm not enough of a biochemist to know exactly how... the toasted oats definitely seem less 'gluggy' than uncooked ones though.

[JoKing]

I'd make porridge out of them first before you add it to the mash... works extremely well. Either that, or use Oat malt.

[Richard Jack]

I make a porridge and also do what the whisky guys call premalting - chuck a small handful of grist in with the porridge when you do the ceral mash. *shrug* works for me.

[MrC]

Thanks for the comments guys. I probably will brew with oat malt someday but I want to try rolled oats also as a comparison.

From the Haraways web site:
"Harraways oats are steel cut oats (the oat grain is cut into 2 or 3 pieces) and are then heated and rolled. Scotch oats are cut and finely rolled, to produce a quick cooking smooth creamy porridge whereas wholegrain oats are thicker and take longer to cook."

I guess whether or not they are gelatinised would depend on the "heated and rolled" part of the process. It sounds to me like some kind of cereal mash is in order and that the scotch oats would be a better choice than the standard wholegrain rolled oats.

I found a good link here too:
http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/article/indices/11-beer-styl...

I summary, it recommends cooking the porridge for 45+ mins and adding a beta-glucan rest if you are concerned about the mash being too sticky. Given that JoKing has recommended boiling as well it sounds like it's the way to go.

Now I just need to figure out whether to toast the oats first and whether toasting them wet makes a difference...

[Mark]

I've read (somewhere) that quick oats are gelatinised and fine to use in the mash, but traditional require a cereal mash. Having said that, I've always struggled to get my gravity down when I've used loads of oats, but that may have nothing to do with not doing a proper cereal mash.