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Author Topic: Mashing Raw Wheat  (Read 22941 times)

Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #15 on: October 21, 2011, 03:47:17 pm »
I don't think so either.  That's not to say it doesn't (although it should convert fine if there is sufficient DP in the other grains).  It has a different flavor than malted wheat, which is why I would use one instead of the other.

Ron Jeffries was talking to one of the guys in the club after he die BOS at the competition our club does.  The question asked was about the forms of wheat.  Ron talked about malted wheat, raw wheat, and flaked wheat and what each has for flavor.  He talked about how he uses them and why.  Wish I would have taken notes!

A topic for an NHC talk someday?  Could do more than wheat, as there are the other malted/raw/flaked  grains (not all malted as in corn).
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jaybeerman

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #16 on: October 21, 2011, 04:00:38 pm »
Ron Jeffries was talking to one of the guys in the club after he die BOS at the competition our club does.  The question asked was about the forms of wheat.  Ron talked about malted wheat, raw wheat, and flaked wheat and what each has for flavor.  He talked about how he uses them and why.  Wish I would have taken notes!

A topic for an NHC talk someday?  Could do more than wheat, as there are the other malted/raw/flaked  grains (not all malted as in corn).

+1

Offline Malticulous

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #17 on: October 25, 2011, 10:11:57 am »
Raw wheat dosen't add much flavor. Toasting it brings out flavor and makes it easier to crush. I found soaking it for and hour and toasting until it's dry works very well. I use it as a specialty malt. It's  10L-50L depending on how I toast it.
« Last Edit: October 27, 2011, 07:24:05 am by Malticulous »

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2011, 10:38:06 am »
Raw wheat dosent add much flavor. Toasting it brings out flavor and makes it easier to crush. I found socking it for and hour and toting until it's dry works very well. I use it as a specialty malt. It's  10L-50L depending on how I toast it.

so let me get this straight, you put it in a sock and then carry it around with you until it's dry? doesn't it get moldy? ;D
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Offline Jimmy K

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #19 on: October 25, 2011, 12:35:37 pm »
Raw wheat dosent add much flavor. Toasting it brings out flavor and makes it easier to crush. I found socking it for and hour and toting until it's dry works very well. I use it as a specialty malt. It's  10L-50L depending on how I toast it.

so let me get this straight, you put it in a sock and then carry it around with you until it's dry? doesn't it get moldy? ;D

Steam the sock first. Don't boil it or you'll lose flavor.
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Offline gmac

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #20 on: October 25, 2011, 02:17:10 pm »
So if you grind the wheat to almost flour, what happens if you just used flour?  I expect that the reply will be horrible stuck mashes but what's the difference?  Rice hulls would be an automatic but I use them whenever I'm using what regardless, just a handful for insurance mostly.

narvin

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #21 on: October 25, 2011, 02:52:19 pm »
So if you grind the wheat to almost flour, what happens if you just used flour?  I expect that the reply will be horrible stuck mashes but what's the difference?  Rice hulls would be an automatic but I use them whenever I'm using what regardless, just a handful for insurance mostly.

You could use whole wheat flour, or you'd be missing the bran and the germ and whatever they contribute.  Make sure it is unbleached and not bromated.  Try it out and let us know  :)

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #22 on: October 25, 2011, 10:35:14 pm »
Graham Sanders of Craftbrewer Radio fame is a big proponent of using wheat flour in beers.  I don't think he's still podcasting, but you should be able to find some of them here:

http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/1373

If I remember right, he just subbed it right in for the wheat and didn't worry about it.
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Offline MDixon

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #23 on: October 31, 2011, 06:48:25 am »
Raw wheat has a gelatanization temp that is lower than that of the mash temp you will use for the barley.  It will be converted in the mash. 

Doing a cereal mash will give a better mouthfeel (according to Moaher0, and extraction by bursting the hard small starch granules making them available for conversion.  This is the same as for a decoction mash using all barley, which gives slightly higher extract.


Unfortunately that is not universally so, it actually depends upon the type of wheat. I did some research many moons ago when I was on a Belgian Wit making kick and found it varies so widely it's best to gelatinize the wheat before mashing to be sure. I'm sure I've posted some of the documentation somewhere on the AHA forum, ahh yes
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=8193.15

Another potential issue is gelatinization temps are measured with flour in a lab and most of the time in our world we are talking about cracked wheat.
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #24 on: October 31, 2011, 08:41:05 am »
Thanks for the link.  Looks like some reading to do when I am done with the Landlord attempt.

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Offline MDixon

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #25 on: October 31, 2011, 10:13:14 am »
One day I'll go find all the sources I dug up about wheat starch gelatinization.

FWIW - Most of the homebrew literature says to just mash it and I believe that is incorrect since it doesn't hold true for all wheat varieties.
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Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: Mashing Raw Wheat
« Reply #26 on: October 31, 2011, 03:15:57 pm »
So I was lucky back when I was on my Wit kick years back.   ;D

In "Brewing With Wheat", Stan H. talks about commercial examples and the mash schedules, which all turn out to be step mashes, and one or 2 were single infusion mashes.  That would work for a commercial brewery if they had a known source that was going to gelantanize below mash temps.  There is a chart on Kai's page that shows temps for different grains, and I think this is from one of the German texts.

On the HBD Brews and Views, there was a discussion that said that grain starches will not all gelatanize even it boiled.  They must be pressure cooked.  That was news to me.  Look for the Corn Meal thread.
http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi



Jeff Rankert
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