Tips on brewing wheat beer using HERMS

Hey everyone,

I'll be brewing a weizen (50% malted barley, 50% malted wheat) using my herms system. I plan on step mashing by continuously recirculating as I usually do with 100% malted barley recipes. However, I'm slightly concerned that I may come into problems due to the high concentration of proteins which may cause a stuck filtration...any tips?

Thanks

I've been told to use rice hulls but I just brewed my second wheat beer last night and tried putting down a rice hull filter bed but still ran into a very slow sparge followed by a stuck sparge. I had to stir the mash the whole time to keep it flowing. I know this doesn't necessarily answer your question, but many people will recommend using rice hulls in different ways to prevent a stuck sparge.

yeah...thought about it and chose to go without...

my question was concerning the HERMS...isit possible to continuously re-circulate during the while mash or am I asking for trouble.

how did your first wheat beer turn out?

I have a RIMS system and continuously recirculate and make wheat beer all the time. I just add more water to thin the mash. I use about 4-5 gallons for a 5 gallon batch. After I mash in for an acid rest, I wait about 30 mins to start circulating. After the mash seems to be recirculating well, I start my heat. Works the same as with other beers for me. I only used rice hulls once and didn't see much difference. Pay attention to how you crush your grains. If you wet them a little before milling, it leaves your hulls more intact and makes for an excellent grain bed.

If your still worried you can try this also. Take about 1/2 to 3/4 lb of barley and mix all your wheat in a pot with enough water to mix a thick mash. Mash this combo in at 120ish and continue to heat to 152 and rest for 15 mins or so, then continue to boil for about 20 mins. Add this to your other grain that you should dough in about 120. After it is is mixed well and stabilized, it should be pretty close to your Sacc. rest temp. Start up the pump and adjust your heat until you get to where you want to go. Boiling the wheat before adding it to the mash really thins stuff up. Kind of like a single decoction.

great tip! thats exactly what I was looking for!

do you mill your wheat at the same setting as your barley?

I made my own barley crusher, so has it quirks. If your talking about malted wheat, I crush it pretty small. Smaller than barley.

I take my barley and spread it out in a plastic tub and spray it with a few squirts of water in a spray bottle. I flip it around some and squirt it again. I try to look for uniform wetness. Go sparingly at first. As time goes on, you'll learn how much to use. Your looking for kind of a leathery husk. It can get sticky going through your mill if you use too much. I would do a small amount and see how it works, then you can adjust the rest of your grain. You will have a nice crush and your hulls will look like shucked corn.

Don't do the wheat! It has no husk and will certainly make a mess

Raw wheat I grind pretty fine like rocky flour. Wheat flakes can be added without any preparation.

Good luck and happy brewing.