I brewed a stout today, and the mash was a bit dry. Usually by the end of my mashes I've got my grains under a 1" or so bed of water. Today I used oat flakes, which I haven't done in ages (the last time was before I knew at all what I was doing), and today the mash was a bit dry. Efficiency dropped of course as well.
I had a half pound of oat flakes, about 7% of my 7 lb grain bill, for a 3 gallon batch of beer. I calculated 1.29 qts. per pound of grain, where I'm usually around 1.35 or so. I know I had less water per pound, but not so much different than normal.
Wondering if more experienced brewers can tell me, pound for pound, do oat flakes soak up more water than grain? Maybe it was a combination of the 2 things?
In retrospect, that .06 qts / lb difference didn't sound like much, but could easily become .4 or more or gallons total. Eh I may have answered my own question asking it.
I had a half pound of oat flakes, about 7% of my 7 lb grain bill, for a 3 gallon batch of beer. I calculated 1.29 qts. per pound of grain, where I'm usually around 1.35 or so. I know I had less water per pound, but not so much different than normal.
Wondering if more experienced brewers can tell me, pound for pound, do oat flakes soak up more water than grain? Maybe it was a combination of the 2 things?
In retrospect, that .06 qts / lb difference didn't sound like much, but could easily become .4 or more or gallons total. Eh I may have answered my own question asking it.
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