Flaked Grains

Mashing
1

Hello Everyone,

I have a question about flaked grains and water absorption. I’ll soon be brewing a batch of dry stout that includes a couple of pounds of flaked barley, which will mark the first time I’ve used flaked grains in a recipe. This made me wonder if I should calculate water absorption for these grains the same way I do for the others, in this case some Maris Otter and Roasted Barley. Do flaked barley, corn, oats, rice, etc., absorb water at the same rate as regularly crushed grains?

And on a related topic, now that I have a grain mill, should I crush the flaked grains the same way that the whole grains are crushed, or do they go into the mash uncrushed?

Thanks in advance for your help!

2

I run my calcs assuming they absorb as much water as crushed grain.

I just throw them in the mash the way they are.

3

You can run them through the crusher, but I think they lauter a little better if they are left whole.

+1 to them absorbing about the same water.

4

There’s really no need to crush flaked grains and as Lennie said, it could make your life more difficult.

5

Thanks much for the help!