Mashing with wheat malt alone?

Hi all,

I have already brewed all grain a few times, but only with barley. I wanted to try with wheat malt as well so I got some and followed the same process as with the barley beer I usually brew. I was so surprised that my OG was extremely low, something like 1.02. Then I did some googleing and found that barley malt has to be added to the wheat in order to have a proper starch conversion. The I looked at commercial wheat beer and saw that they all use barley in their recipe.

I know, I should have done the search before I wasted the grain and the yeast and the hops and the whole afternoon... But what's done is done. I added some sugar to get a couple extra alcohol degrees and hope it will be drinkable...

Anyway, my questions are

(1) Does anybody know why the conversion is so low? Is it related to the amount of available enzymes?

(2) Is it possible to obtain a decent extraction with wheat malt alone? If so, what is the procedure, a longer mashing?

Wheat malt is really hard to crush well. It's like little rubber bullets. Once you get it crushed, there is no husk to keep the bits apart, so it'll get really gummy. A beta-glucan rest would help. Once you un-gummy your mash, you'll need to lauter it. Husks keep the lauter running smoothly. Without husks, you'll need to add rice hull or something or your sparge will get stuck.

So check out 100% weisse beer recipes and follow the mash schedule to the letter. I would personally never do 100% wheat, that will almost certainly result in a stuck sparge, but if you are, use rice hulls. Also I would seriously recommend a decoction mash, you have to break down some serious protein. Condition your grain, good search for how to do that... I lost the link but basically you spray the malt with water until it sticks to your hands and let it sit for 15min and then crush super fine.

This will be a very hard mash, I would do several steps with a long rest at 122. I know that it does contain enough enzymes to convert itself, the problem that it might take a long time. Take a look online.

Thanks for the answers, I'll try that next time I order grain and will post here the result.

wheat malt has plenty of enzymes to convert itself and then some. it shouldnt require any extra time. either use rice hulls or the BIAB technique to help with a stuck mash. a brief (15mins or so) rest around 110F (beta-glucanase rest) will help with lautering. like nateo mentioned, its tough to crush well, so you may need to mill it twice.

If you really want to do all wheat I would suggest doing it as a brew in a bag. no stuck sparges.

Tinga said:

If you really want to do all wheat I would suggest doing it as a brew in a bag. no stuck sparges.

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You can definitely get stuck sparges doing BIAB. It's happened with every Wit I've done that way. The difference is you can pick up the bag and squeeze it, but it still comes out at a snail's pace.

Yea, I wouldn't do it that way, but I would do 1g of rice hulls (very close to a pound) per 10 pounds of wheat, do some serious protein rests, step mash from 113, 122, 148, 162, sparge at 168-170. I would add the rice hulls after you do your last decoction. and stir very well to get the hulls close to the bottom. Also you might still need to cut drain slots into your grain bed.

FWIW I did a 70% wheat malt heff which turned out beautifully doing this double decoction profile. The thing with wheat is, you have to break down the protein and starches which will gum up your lauder and sparge. This is the way I would do it but double check from other people who have done 100%.