Well I've learned some more about trying to brew with homegrown oats, so heres an update to my previous post, Brewing with Oats.
Unfortunately, it seems that there is a lot of processing I'd have to do to get the oats ready for brewing. They didn't crack in the grain mill I used, they just kind of smashed into fuzzy sticky oat fragments. I think I'd have to cook them or thoroughly dry them before cracking, then cook them again to get some gelatinization going so that I could get some sugar out in the boil / mash. Not...
So my friend Brian (Linknlog) is quite the farmer, and this year he has a whole field of oats. I'm not exactly sure what he's going to use them for, but I couldn't resist asking for a sample to try and add a little bit of homegrown Allegany County goodness to my next beer. I know it's summertime, and typically oats are used in the dark, thick beers that you chew on while sitting next to the fireplace about mid-January, but I figured why not try to add some creamy smoothness to a more easy drinking, lighter beer, like a...
