How much wheat?

[yinzer]

Lets say that I want to add wheat just to get the benifit of the proteins in my mash. For APA's, IPA's. What should I use 3-5%? In Belgiums 0%?

Also what is the difference between flaked and regular? Or is there one?

[ionia_ales]

I think 1% in some pales will be ok. maybe even a bit more. I would just try not to get too many proteins in there, so that it's not cloudy, if that's of any importance to you.

As for belgians... I wouldn't add wheat to a tripel, but maybe a few % in a double. -- but then you have Saisons.. and generally, I tend to be inspired by belgains.. knowing I can never reproduce them, I just go with a "belgian" mind, and see what you have. only cane or corn sugar.. that'll do!- some pale, and some pils left ever.. throw it in there.-- go with what you have on hand, or your heart tells you to throw in there.



http://www.beersmith.com/Grains/Grains/GrainList.htm

willl give you info as to the %s and the flavors assosicated with the grains.

[Steve]

[quote="ionia_ales"]I think 1% in some pales will be ok. maybe even a bit more. I would just try not to get too many proteins in there, so that it's not cloudy, if that's of any importance to you.

As for belgians... I wouldn't add wheat to a tripel, but maybe a few % in a double. -- but then you have Saisons.. and generally, I tend to be inspired by belgains.. knowing I can never reproduce them, I just go with a "belgian" mind, and see what you have. only cane or corn sugar.. that'll do!- some pale, and some pils left ever.. throw it in there.-- go with what you have on hand, or your heart tells you to throw in there.

I was under the understanding that adding a "touch" ie a few percent. of wheat into the mash allows just enough protein to help with head retention. But not to add so much as to influence the flavor of the finished product. Am I wrong?
Steve

[Tundra45]

1-2% wheat should be fine for adding head retention to a brew. Flaked wheat is pregelatinized and doesn't require milling. Whole wheat berries are really tough and require a bit tighter gap setting on your mill to get a good crush. Malted wheat can convert itself but raw wheat requires mashing with a base malt. Since wheat doesn't have a husk, mashing a lot of it requires a filtering aid like rice hulls to prevent a stuck mash.

There is no issue with cloudy beer and using wheat in your grist bill. Some cloudy wheat beers are that way due to the low floculant yeast used in popular hefes. However, I've heard that too much wheat can be the cause of haze. I've never noticed this when I used 10% in an APA tho'.javascript:emoticon(':roll:')
Rolling Eyes

Lately, I've taken to using chocolate wheat malt over chocolate barley malt in my darker recipes. Talk about a perfect porter!

Steve

[Jason E]

If I may, if you are looking to improve head retention, I would suggest you give flaked barley a try, failing that try adding some finely ground pearled barley or even some barley flour to the mash. The raw barley will build a head that is nothing short of amazing, try it, you will be surprised. I add a 1/2 lb to almost all my beers.

[zymurgest]

In the last installment of the MBAA quarterly, there were research abstracts posted about protein rests. In a low oxygen pickup mash, nontrivial conversion of high density (aka > 50KDaltons) proteins to medium density (aka 10K~50KDaltons) proteins were noted at 131'F/55'C rests of 30 minutes or more. Also, more malty flavors and aromas were noted as well. This temperature rest provided maximum head building proteins, AND maximized malt profiles too! So, rather than using nonbarley malt, why not just do a step infusion mash at 131/55, and then proceed onto your regular saccharification temp? Ttyal, and ilbcnu!

Prost!

Michel