I read Warner's book last night, and I had a few questions. I know people say that parts of the book are outdated. Is it outdated because malt quality is better today? Which parts, in particular, should I ignore? Can any of the advice be used to brew better beer?
This passage jumped out at me, because my malt's S/T is 34%: "The most intensive mash program commonly used for brewing a Weissbier is the double decoction mash. This mash program is chosen for malts that not highly modified, particularly if the degree of soluble protein is less than 36%. . ."
He also recommends an extended boil (90-120min+) because of the higher level of coagulable protein.
The way I've been brewing my wheat beers: I dough-in around 100*, keeping the barley separate from the wheat. Through direct heat, I raise the temp of the wheat portion to 120-130*, hold for 15-20min, raise to a saccharification temp of 150*-ish for 15-20min, then bring to a boil for 10-15min. I then add that portion to the barley portion, and the temp will hit around 150*. I let that rest for 30-45min, then start to vorlauf and lauter. I generally use a 60min boil for the wort.
I've tried doing single infusions with this malt, but in large amounts it gets really gummy and my sparges stick. My batch efficiency is also really poor (around 60%) when using a single infusion.
Using the above-mentioned method, I can brew with around 55-60% wheat malt, and my sparges are slow but they don't tend to get stuck, and batch efficiency is around 70%.
Here are the specs for my wheat malt:
Fine/Coarse - 78.5/77.1
DP - 188
Total protein - 15.24
Soluble protein - 5.2
S/T - 34.12
Mealy/Half/Glassy - 90/10/0
pH - 6.1
So, any thoughts?