Whole wheat? White wheat?

[labeeratory]

Hey guys,

I recently acquired about 100lbs of what appears they've white wheat.... it came from my wife's friends who I guess used it for bread. They told me it was "whole wheat". Can I use this? Sounds like I could be set up for a $h*t ton of hefs, wits, and wheats.

 

[mredge73]

You can use it but you need to know if it is malted or unmalted raw wheat.
They are treated differently, malted wheat can nearly convert itself in the mash whereas unmalted raw wheat needs help.

 

[labeeratory]

Yeah... looks like I'll try a 50/50 with some pilsner malt and see what happens

 

[mredge73]

You should be able to tell examining the kernels. Malted wheat should have a small hole where the sprout dried out and fell off. Raw wheat will sprout after a few days if you soak it in water.
Also you can make a mini-mash with 1 lb of it; take a gravity reading and calculate how well it converts. You can then use this info to adjust your recipes.
Good luck.

 

[labeeratory]

Thanks! That's exactly what I'll do!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

There's more to grain other than whether it's malted or not. If I was using your bread wheat, I'd do a protein rest (at a temperature which would also break down beta-glucans) as well as a two-step conversion rest.