Torrified Oats vs. Flaked Oats

[Crafty Jack]

Hello all, quick question regarding the different types of oats. I’m brewing up a NEIPA soon, to be specific it’s a clone of Brewdog’s Hazy Jane. The recipe calls for Flaked Oats, and the grains I’ve received are ‘Flaked Torrified Oats’. Are these correct and a suitable substitute?

I’ll be honest I was expecting something more resembling Quaker Porridge Oats. Will these still serve their purpose, or am I better going to the supermarket and using rolled oats? Cheers

 

[prog99]

Hazy jane uses malted oats according to the official recipe I have which is different to the diy dog recipe that is just plain rolled oats.

 

[foxbat]

Hello all, quick question regarding the different types of oats. I’m brewing up a NEIPA soon, to be specific it’s a clone of Brewdog’s Hazy Jane. The recipe calls for Flaked Oats, and the grains I’ve received are ‘Flaked Torrified Oats’. Are these correct and a suitable substitute?

I’ll be honest I was expecting something more resembling Quaker Porridge Oats. Will these still serve their purpose, or am I better going to the supermarket and using rolled oats? Cheers

They're fine to use and are exactly what you want. Add to the mash with your other grains. Torrification is a heating process that makes the sugars available to the mash. If they weren't torrified you'd have to cook them yourself before using in the mash.

 

[Sadfield]

To correct a few points. Torrification (Toasting) is heating process that makes the starches in grain available by breaking molecular bond in the starch, gelatinising them and making them gummy. This happens at different temperatures in different grains. Barley, Wheat, Rye, Oats all gelatinise at mash temperatures so don't need to be torrified or pre-cooked, although this does speed up extraction in the mash if it has been done before hand. Rice, corn and other grains gelatinise at a higher temperature than our normal mash range and require pre-cooking.

The exploded, spongy nature of popcorn is the result of torrification of corn.

This is what has been done to @Crafty Jack oats, followed by milling to create Flaked Torrified Oats. Sometimes Torrified oats are rolled after and look like squashed sugarpuffs (sugar coated torrified wheat) .

Rolled oats, porridge oats are oats that have been rolled only and get gelatinising when heated in a liquid. And why they can gum up your mash.

 

[phildo79]

I've used rolled oats (Tesco own brand etc.) in quite a few brews and there is a serious amount of trub created. Like double the normal amount. It also transfers to the bottles, no matter how carefully I tried to clear the brew. The last brew I made, I used torrified flaked oats. The trub was just a normal amount this time. I racked to a corny keg and poured a sample last night. No sign of the dip tube or tap getting clogged up. For all it costs, I will be using torrified flaked oats from now on.

 

[Clint]

So...torrified gives more fermentable sugars..I add porridge oats to some of my pale ales for mouth feel....do you still get that with torrified oats? Would I be better toasting them?

 

[Sadfield]

So...torrified gives more fermentable sugars..

No. Torrification just means that the oats don't have to gelatinise in the mash, allowing conversion to start sooner. Your porridge oats may give less sugars if you didn't give enough time for the gelatinisation and subsequent conversion of starches into sugar, to complete. Which I suspect is what the is cause of @phildo79 trub issue.

I add porridge oats to some of my pale ales for mouth feel....do you still get that with torrified oats? Would I be better toasting them?

Yes. It's the higher (than barley) levels of proteins and beta-glucans in oats that provides the mouthfeel. So, porridge, toasted, torrified or malted oats will all do this.