Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

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Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby hotjer on Fri May 13, 2011 3:37 pm

Hi folks,

A good friend of mine told me about a recipe inspired by old times (500-1500 AD) he read about in an article. Unfortunately he cannot remember the recipe in details - except for three components:

* Oatmeal
* Milk
* Alcohol (more specifically the article mentioned vodka, but that is probably irrelevant as long as there is a high percentage of alcohol)

and then let the fermentation process begins for a long period and voila! You should have some sort of tasty alcoholic drink.

My knowledge of fermentation is very basic. I had biology and chemistry at college/gymnasium and I have brewed mead and made cheese with a friend. My intuition tells me that my friend remembered incorrectly when it comes to the milk in the recipe, but I lack knowledge in this field to propose an educated judgment.

I have searched a bit on the Internet for recipes with fermented oatmeal, and it came to my attention that people actually eat that kind of thing (still) - which made me conclude; I submit that my friend probably remembered correctly to some degree.

Best regards
Jon
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby Fubar on Fri May 13, 2011 5:50 pm

First of all, If alcohol is added to the recipe, any natural yeast that might be in there will be killed by the alcohol. Certain yeasts have certain alcohol tolerances. Most commercial yeast strains are able to go up to maybe 25% because they are bred that way. Even using the strongest of the commercial yeasts, unless you are adding a very small amount of alcohol (assuming it's 80 proof or better) and you do a good 3 day yeast starter, your yeast will not do anything. It will be very sluggish at best and it won't raise the alcohol any. Plus, if it did work, the yeast would most likely take any food from the bacteria that causes milk to ferment, leaving the milk to basically just spoil. I see it as a huge mess and waste of alcohol, milk, and oats. It also doesn't sound very appetizing.
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby Tim Hall on Fri May 13, 2011 8:09 pm

I'm scratching my head on this one...not sure what it's supposed to turn into. Fermented porridge? No offense. I'm really curious about this one, but I think you're missing too much information here to piece together a recipe.

Fubar's right - adding vodka kinda defeats the purpose as you'll probably be adding more alcohol than you can produce, and too much vodka will sterilize everything. As he mentioned pedigreed yeast can tolerate up to about 25% alcohol, but even then that's a minority of strains.

Milk ferments can develop alcohol, but usually very low...maybe 2-3% maximum as a guess. The oats will not ferment into alcohol without some sort of enzymatic action to cleave the starches in simpler sugars. This happens either by malting (beer), enzymatic action by another culture prior to fermentation (sake), or by direct addition of enzymes (high-fructose corn syrup).
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby Tim Hall on Fri May 13, 2011 8:17 pm

I'm thinking this not actually a fermentation recipe you're friend is talking about. This sounds more like making something along the lines of egg or cream liqueurs that are more popular in northern Europe. There's really no fermentation that takes place in these recipes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Cream

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocaat
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby hotjer on Sat May 14, 2011 1:28 am

@Tim Hall

I also had my doubts about the high percentages alcohol he was talking about, and I was also very sceptical about the recipe - as you and fubar say; it does not sound very delicate (and that is why I have not tried to make any attempt to make it myself yet).

And thanks for the links though I am very sure they are not the correct ones. However, I might try to make them myself.

Maybe, just maybe to simplify this weird recipe: do you know of any alcoholic liquids with oatmeal? Afterall, some people do let their oatmeals ferment for a day with water.
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby Tim Hall on Sat May 14, 2011 2:27 am

hotjer wrote:do you know of any alcoholic liquids with oatmeal? Afterall, some people do let their oatmeals ferment for a day with water.


Well, "oatmeal" stout. Add lactose to the recipe and you'll have "oatmeal milk" stout. But I'm not sure if beer is what you had in mind.

Just about any grain can be used to make alcohol, but it must be converted to fermentable sugar first. Just be aware that brewers generally use oats sparingly, as they tend to gum things up and can make for undesirable flavors. Oatmeal is typically added to beer to give it a little more body, depth and head retention.
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby Tim Hall on Sat May 14, 2011 2:33 am

hotjer wrote:And thanks for the links though I am very sure they are not the correct ones.


What I was suggesting with the links is your friend may indeed have once read a valid recipe for some obscure liqueur once drunk by Siberian reindeer herders or something. Typically liqueurs are made by steeping ingredients in a distilled spirit like brandy or vodka. Irish Cream, for example, is more or less whiskey mixed with cream. But it doesn't ferment.
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby Fubar on Sat May 14, 2011 6:25 pm

Check this link out. The report gets kind of complicated, but very interesting nonetheless.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/38226261/fermented-probiotic-drink

Also, if I were to ferment oats, I would use malted oats. Thomas Fawcett is the only malting company out there who produces them that I know of.
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby Tim Hall on Sat May 14, 2011 7:36 pm

Yeah that sounds like something similar to kvass or boza. Will have lots of good bugs in it, but probably not much alcohol.
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Re: Oatmeal+milk+alcohol?

Postby BrooksNYC on Sat Sep 17, 2011 11:03 am

The following (snatched from Chowhound a few years back) isn't at all what you're looking for. I'm posting it because it looks tasty.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OAT AND HONEY VODKA
Adapted from Blue Hill Stone Barns

TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 10 minutes, plus infusing time
Active: 10 minutes
Makes: 1 liter

When we saw oat-and-honey-infused vodka on the menu at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, we were a bit dubious. One taste, however, and we had to have the recipe. Turns out it’s simple: Just infuse plain vodka with rolled oats and raw honey. Of course, Blue Hill uses Spirit of the Hudson vodka, distilled from apples, and honey from their own bees. We improvised with good-quality items that were easier to get our hands on, and, well, the results speak for themselves.

1 liter top-shelf vodka
3/4 cup raw honey
2 cups rolled oats, preferably organic (not instant)

1. Combine all ingredients in a large glass jug with a screw-on cap or a nonreactive plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. Screw on the cap and shake well. Leave vodka in a cool place overnight.

2. Refrigerate for 5 days, shaking the mixture vigorously about once per day.

3. Strain mixture through a cheesecloth-lined fine-mesh sieve into a clean container. Keep refrigerated.

4. Serve vodka on the rocks or blended with a little half-and-half to make a Quaker Shaker. Shake well before using.

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Quaker Shaker

2 ounces Oat and Honey Vodka
1 ounce half-and-half or cream

1. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine vodka and half-and-half. Shake until well chilled, then strain over ice into an Old Fashioned glass.

http://www.chow.com/recipes/10873-oat-and-honey-vodka
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