Thursday August 19, 2010 posted by: BeerNard in Brewing Techniques

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 pretending to be a cooking expert at all, I'm pretty sure there are too many variables in these multiple processes for me to get lucky and do it right, so I'm just going to give up. Besides, there are quakers that have done the work for me, and who wants to reinvent the wheel?

As far as recipes with oats go, I previously thought they were typically used only in dark beers like stouts or porters. I assumed this was because they add a thick and creamy texture and cloud up the beer, and you wouldn't want this to overpower the subtle flavors in a lighter, less rich brew.

In reality, oats have been used in Belgian Witbiers since they were first brewed, in the Flemish region of Belgium a few hundred years ago, most likely by men in brown robes and hoods to give themselves something that would take their mind off of not talking. Oats have a similar taste to wheat, and the Belgian white actually gets its name from its hazy, almost white appearance, so they should be a perfect fit.

After finding this out, I'm excited to brew one of these. It's really the perfect summer beer, and the one I've brewed before, "Blue sun belgian witbier", was one of my best homebrews and I've been dying to try it again. I'm hoping that a packet of oatmeal steeped with the grains will make it even better.