Walk in to LHBS asking for Oat Malt. They say never heard of it. Must be rare , right? Reasons like this, I rather order my stuff than go into the store. Oh well. Lesson learned.
I even told them Fawcett makes it. They still never heard of it. Left the store with 1lb of Flaked Oats instead. ugg
From our host’s product description for the Oat Malt they sell:
I’ve been brewing for yeast and have made Stouts and Porters from extract as well as all-grain, read the Papizian and Palmer books as well as browsed through Clone Brews and BYO’s recipe selections and haven’t come across a recipe that called for it.
May I may have overlooked recipes that called for Oat Malt. I’m just saying it may not be crazy that they don’t carry it.
Yes, I would also agree, I think your over thinking the widespread usage of this malt on a regular.
I have noticed it way too many times and never had a second thought of using it. If I was going to use oat at all it was flaked oats or cereal mashed oats for my recipes. Its presence is basically anecdotal and therefore I have always kind of questioned it’s freshness because of how slow it trickles out of a shop. IE: they buy 1 50Lb bag and it lasts for like what 10 years? LOL no kidding guy I am being totally serious. You could always shoot off an email to NB and ask them to be real and tell you what was the last time they invoiced a load of the stuff.
Yes they should know about it IF they are mega pro style, but as you’ll find around 50% of LHBS regular everyday staff is going to laugh at a lot sh*t you might look for or mention. Most of the big guys like NB, MW, Moorbeer etc… tend to know there stuff.
I had the exact same experience.
NB includes .75 lbs. oat malt in their Carmelite Triple kit. I’m not sure how popular that kit is, but they must go through at least some of their stock.
I’ve never heard of oat malt, either. 
The thing I like about shopping online is the selection. But my local is owned by some nice people and they always have something similar if not exactly what I need.
