Midnight Wheat- add head retention?

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TimBrewz

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I am just about to brew a CDA/IBA/BIPA using Midnight Wheat from Briess (550L) for the dark malt. Will it contribute to head retention like lightly kilned wheat does, or does the dark roasting affect this head building quality of wheat malt?
 
Well, no response yet... here is the 411 from Breiss: Nothing about head retention. I might add a little flaked barley to ensure a nice head on this beer.

FLAVOR & COLOR CHARACTERISTICS
• Malt Style: Bitterless Black Malt
• Flavor: Subtle, smooth No bitter, astringent, dry flavors or aftertaste Starts slightly sweet Hints of roasted flavor Finishes exceptionally clean Midnight wheat is the smoothest source of black color of any malt available.
• Color: Dark brown to black tones
CHARACTERISTICS / APPLICATIONS
• Midnight Wheat Malt will contribute the same color characteristics as Black Malt but without the bitter, astringent, dry flavors or aftertaste.
• Use as replacement to debittered black malt
• Excellent in Black IPAs, Schwarzbiers, other dark ales and lagers and for color adjustment in any beer style
• 1-2% Minor color adjustment with little to no flavor impact in lighter colored lagers and ales
• 2-5% Adds color with subtle, very smooth flavor
• 5-10% Use in larger quantities for color plus hints of smooth roasted flavor
 
My guess is that the kilning temperature will utterly obliterate (denature) the protein content of the wheat.
 
Let us know how it turns out. I'm going to be using midnight wheat in a black ipa I'm making soon, and I'm also interested in how it effects the head. I think I'm going to add a half pound of flaked oats though. Do you guys know how the flavor from the midnight wheat is compared to carafaIII? That's what I usually use in my BIPA.
 
I've used it a few times. I've had thin beers with it. Does not add much body/head retention, IMO. Toss in 4-8oz flaked barley and you'll be gravy.
 
Our black IPA is just 2-row, C40, Midnight Wheat, and chocolate malt and has more head retention than just about any beer we brew. I always assumed it was from the hops, though, rather than the Midnight Wheat.
 
My CDA came out fantastic with Midnight Wheat. There is plenty of head retention, like abrix stated, it has more head than most other beers I make. I attribute that to a clean ferment, and the mix of malts: Midnight Wheat, Crystal 40 and Maris Otter.

I did not add any flaked barley.
So, Midnight Wheat certainly does not detract from head retention, and may add to it. It is a great black malt that I will use again.
 
Got an email from Matt Brynildson at Firestone Walker talking about their use of midnight wheat vs carafa:

As for Wookey Jack, we chose the midnight wheat from Briess after chewing it next to the Weyermann carafa and other ultra high kilned materials selected for coloring up a beer like this. Although these products are advertised as having low astringency, there will always be an element of bitterness and astringency due to the high temperature long kilning times that this material goes through at the roast house. Both of these roasted products have about 500 color units but each has a slight different taste and relative astringency. On paper – it makes a lot of sense to select wheat for producing a coloring malt with low astringency because there is no husk – with Carafa III DH they send the barley through a pearler to remove the husk before they roast. In the end, we simply liked the combination of the two better than either by it's self. We also like to incorporate wheat when possible for added texture… although it is difficult to say that it is having that effect in this beer. Remember that there is a large amount of rye in this beer as well, so we created a multigrain beer that is very different from the Black IPA's that were already in the market. I think that often Black IPAs are a little one dimensional - simply IPAs colored up with Carafa. We wanted to create some depth and complexity and make sure that the rye element was present… kind of like a multi grain bread. Amarillo and Citra were selected to bring a dank, citrusy and aggressive hop element… which worked really well in a dark beer like this.

Hope the helps
Best of luck with your brewing adventures.
Matt
 
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