ChrisfromAbby
Well-Known Member
I am contemplating a lambic and am pouring over what information I can find, without spending $85+ on the out of print Guinard book.
It seems the classical way to brew is the raw wheat in a turbid mash process, and that's how I am leaning to brew mine. It doesn't seem as complex now - after a few readings. Plus, I am already used to performing multi-rest infusions.
However, I have seen some recipes that call for simplified mashing and I wonder what differences could be expected? Some call for simple malted wheat, and others for flaked wheat. The malted seems straight forward,and the flaked wheat - well the starches are already gelatinized, so no overly complex rest schedule needed. I am trying to understand what the contribution of these variations on the wheat starches to the wort is?
I gather the turbid mash produces a huge variety of carbohydrates to feed the bugs over a very extended fermentation process. The malted wheat would provide a much more rapid (and traditional) brewing process - maybe where you were avoiding using the wild bugs, maybe? The flaked wheat appaealed to me for a while, but I figured that really,it wasn't significantly differerent from the malted wheat following a proper mash. But then it occurred to me - what really is the resulting difference?
I've never done a side-by-side comparison of even malted vs flaked wheat in a brew. If you can get the same results, why use raw wheat? I can see how it might be cheaper IN BULK. It was hard to find a supplier of raw wheat, and I think the flaked wheat was still cheaper....
Chris
It seems the classical way to brew is the raw wheat in a turbid mash process, and that's how I am leaning to brew mine. It doesn't seem as complex now - after a few readings. Plus, I am already used to performing multi-rest infusions.
However, I have seen some recipes that call for simplified mashing and I wonder what differences could be expected? Some call for simple malted wheat, and others for flaked wheat. The malted seems straight forward,and the flaked wheat - well the starches are already gelatinized, so no overly complex rest schedule needed. I am trying to understand what the contribution of these variations on the wheat starches to the wort is?
I gather the turbid mash produces a huge variety of carbohydrates to feed the bugs over a very extended fermentation process. The malted wheat would provide a much more rapid (and traditional) brewing process - maybe where you were avoiding using the wild bugs, maybe? The flaked wheat appaealed to me for a while, but I figured that really,it wasn't significantly differerent from the malted wheat following a proper mash. But then it occurred to me - what really is the resulting difference?
I've never done a side-by-side comparison of even malted vs flaked wheat in a brew. If you can get the same results, why use raw wheat? I can see how it might be cheaper IN BULK. It was hard to find a supplier of raw wheat, and I think the flaked wheat was still cheaper....
Chris