3 quick Qs: flaked wheat, late addition LME, cold crashing

I'm going to do a partial mash White Rascal clone this weekend. The grain bill is 60% 2 row, 40% wheat.

1. I read that using flaked wheat is the best for witbiers but needs to be mashed at a certain percentage with other easily mashable grains (like 2 row). I'm still messing with the recipe (and my equipment), but what should my ratio of flaked wheat to 2 row be (like 1 lb 2 row, 2 lbs flaked wheat)? The rest of the gravity will be from wheat and pale LME.

2. Assuming I partially mash a minimum of 3 lbs of grain, can I add all of my LME at flameout? Or do I still need add a certain amount at the beginning of the boil? I had been doing half and half but my beers still turn out darker than intended. The recipe only calls for 1 oz of Saaz @ 60 min (10 IBUs).

3. Any point in cold crashing a witbier prior to bottling? The aren't meant to be clear so it would be useless, correct?

Thanks!

I don't have helpful input on your first two questions but for the third I would say that logically cold crashing is good even if you will have wheat haze. And because wheat beer from what I understand is typically a fast fermentation without aging; cold crashing will settle things that need settling.

1) I would split the wheat in the mash, half flaked. I'd do at least as much two row as wheat, but you're fine with you're idea.

2) I'd definitely add all the LME at flameout.

3) I wouldn't bother, no pint in cold crashing a wheat.

Thanks for the info. I can borrow a 4 gallon pot from a friend (I have a bigger pot but it doesn't fit in the oven) so I can easily PM/BIAB with 7.5 lbs of grain. I'm going to do 3.75 lbs of both flaked wheat and 2 row, 1.5 lbs of pale LME, and 1.25 lbs of wheat LME (assuming 60% wheat). It gives me 58% pale, 42% wheat (close enough I think). At 70% efficiency that's 1.052 (target is 1.051).

Sounds like it'll work. I didn't run the numbers, but it looks like you did. A bit of advice on using flaked anything in a BIAB brew, it'll get sticky.... very sticky. I'd recommend using some rice hulls (maybe an equal amount to the flaked wheat). The first time I mashed flaked grain, the bag would hardly drain on it's own, I had to squeeze and rinse for way longer than I wanted. Needless to say, I always throw some rice hulls in the mash w/flaked malts now.

I've never used rice hulls in anything (this would only be my 3rd PM batch). What do they do/are they used for? I have room to add maybe a pound, but that's about it. Any more and I'd have to subtract the wheat or 2 row. Would adding a pound help? Does it affect flavor/body?

Also, does flaked wheat need to be crushed?

+1 on rice hulls, and a pound should be good. It won't add body, flavor, or anything else. No need to crush flaked grains....

sounds good. do i account for the rice hulls as part of the grains being mashed? meaning, if i am going to do 1.25 Q of water per pound of grain, are the rice hulls part of that?

wowbeeryum said:

sounds good. do i account for the rice hulls as part of the grains being mashed? meaning, if i am going to do 1.25 Q of water per pound of grain, are the rice hulls part of that?

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Yes, but you don't need anywhere need a pound of rice hulls! A pound of rice hulls is more than I use even in 10 gallon all-grain batches. A handful will do- maybe 1/4-1/8 of a pound. You probably don't need them at all, depending on how you're mashing. For example, if you're mashing in a grainbag you won't need them.

wowbeeryum said:

sounds good. do i account for the rice hulls as part of the grains being mashed? meaning, if i am going to do 1.25 Q of water per pound of grain, are the rice hulls part of that?

Click to expand...

I always account for them when I use them. Yooper's right, you probably don't need anywhere near as much hulls as I use, but since they don't contribute anything to the wort, I don't mind going a bit overboard to make the brew day smoother. I always mash in a nylon paint strainer, and I've found flaked grains get really sticky, and that the rice hulls help a lot with that. I also thin out my mash a touch when using them, not a lot, still ~1.5 qt/gal.

When I use that much wheat I need between .75 to 1 lb of rice hulls or my lauter will get REALLY slow. With smaller amounts of wheat I can get away with the "handful" or two... YMMV

What yeast are you using? I cold crash my wits because wit yeast leave a beer cloudy and I cut ferm at about ten days. Always plenty of haze. I just do 24 hours

Wyeast Forbidden Fruit (3463)