- Oatmeal Breakfast Beer

Oatmeal Breakfast Beer

This was my first attempt at making beer from things around the house. It was my biggest learning experience yet. I don't reccomend brewing this one as I did (check "Suggestions" for better method/results) it was a mess and yielded mediocre results for an excessive amount of effort.

Equipment used: 2 half-gallon glass growler containers, 2 additional glass half gallon bottles, large cooking pot, wooden spoon, siphoning tubing, bottles, 2 balloons with pin holes.

Ingredients used: 4 cups of rolled oats (oatmeal—use the instant variety for best results), ½ cup of ground coffee, water to one gallon, general brewer’s yeast.

Steps: 1. Sanitize all equipment in/with boiling water 2. Bring water, oats, and coffee to a boil 3. boil for 45 minutes (this is where it gets messy—it now looks like gravy!) 4. Strain, strain, strain, until you feel you’ve had enough straining. 5. Allow to cool until just warm. 6. While it’s cooling, and within ten minutes of anticipating adding yeast, hydrate your yeast per package instructions. Mine called for allowing it to sit 15 minutes in a cup (about ½ full) of warm water. 7. Mix in yeast/water from cup 8. Siphon into growlers and fit balloons with pin holes over mouth of growlers. 9. Allow this to sit for two-three weeks 10. Siphon off the liquid (be sure to leave the gravy on the bottom of the growler!) into another glass container and allow to sit for another 2-3 weeks to clarify. 11. Siphon this off, again leaving the sediment behind, into a prepared solution of sugar/water (this is called a priming solution). Use just enough water so that the sugar is in solution. General rule of thumb that I’ve gathered is ¼ teaspoon of sugar per 12 oz. bottle of beer. 12. Mix the sugar-water and your beer, then siphon into bottles. I used glass beer bottles and tried to re-use caps, attaching them with pliers. Surprisingly this held carbonation, but I do not recommend it. I have since decided to use screw-top bottles, be it glass, like Jones soda product bottles, or PET plastic such as any carbonated soda you might buy at the convenience store (see "Suggestions" below if concerned about leeching.) Be sure to sanitize the bottles, and only use bottles that previously held carbonated beverages. There is a risk for explosion if you put too much sugar in the priming solution, or if you use a bottle not designated for carbonated beverages. Allow this to sit for at least a week, probably be best if left two weeks.

Results: Not horrible. Better than I expected. Nicely carbonated, light colored. Tasted strongly of coffee—overall flavor could be described as a weak ginger ale mixed with coffee.

Suggestions: Take this to heart! Put the oatmeal in a bag of some sort while in the mash. Perhaps a coffee filter contraption, a tea strainer ball, or a clean, sterilized 100% cotton sock. If the oatmeal is added to the water freely, you will end up with a thick, unpleasant gravy-ish mixture, which is quite messy. I would also suggest using a similar “bag” for the coffee grounds. It would save the hassle of straining at the end. Instead of boiling for 45 minutes, bring all the ingredients to a boil for about 10 minutes, and gradually reduce your heat from there, applying pressure to the "bag" with a poatoe masher (kind of squish it now and again to be sure you're getting to your grains.) You might also try toasting the oatmeal for a few minutes in the oven prior to mashing.

I’m too poor to buy a bottle capper and caps, so I tried to half-ass that. It kind of worked, but I wouldn't reccomend it. I’ve since read about using screw-top bottles (such as soda bottles), and plan to give this a whirl in the future. It’s cheap, easy, and a good way to know if the carbonation is working—just give it a squeeze! If you’re worried about the plastic leeching into the brew (as I was), from the research I’ve done it appears to be a non-issue if you are using plastic that consumables were directly stored in.

Notes: This one was a success in that I learned a lot. However, I would not recommend brewing it as I did. If you want to make it, I strongly recommend applying the above suggestions.