Brewing Unmalted Wheat

[MajorPowell]

I have over 200 lbs of raw wheat in storage that I would like to brew a wheat beer with. Since it's unmalted and I don't want to go through malting this much wheat, I have a couple questions about grain bill and mashing:

I have researched and it looks like I can do a Hefeweizen or Witbier with 50% 2 Row malted barley and 50% raw wheat. Some people suggest adding some oats as well. Other suggest a Pilsner malt. I read different opinions and I'm unsure on the best grain bill for this. I know I need plenty of barley to break down the raw wheat. But how much?

As far as mashing, I've read different things from boiling the wheat prior to mashing, to doing a regular infusion mash, to doing a decoction mash. Which way is best? Also, do I need rice husks in the mash tun to keep milled wheat from sticking? What's going to be the best way to do this?

Beer, the oldest method of storing wheat.

 

[giraffe]

Witbier is probably the best way to use some of it up, look up some recipes they are likely to be very similar. Id think 60% wheat would be safe, the oats arent necessary, just replace with more wheat. 2 row or pils will both work. Both have enough enzymes. I prefer the flavor of pils malt for a witbier, but you can cheap out and use 2 row if you want.

The starches ideally should be gelatinized before mashing with unmalted grains. Flaked wheat is already gelatinized. As you dont have flaked wheat id cook the grain first. Via cereal mash or just boiling or whatever. A standard decoction mash isnt a replacement for this, as you only take a portion of the mash, (and 60% wheat is too much to use a cereal mash to raise the mash temp.)

Id add a half a lb of rice hills per 5 gal. Unmalted wheat will make an ugly gummy mash, the rice hulls will help loosen the mash, prevent stuck sparges, and help with sparging efficiency.

 

[MajorPowell]

Thanks for the response. So, I ran across this wit recipe that sounds almost exactly as you suggest: http://carboyclub.com/recipes/wit3.htm

The only difference is he uses Belgian pale, vs your suggestion to use Pilsner, and he doesn't mention the rice hulls. I think I'll use them for sure just as sparge insurance.

 

[NTexBrewer]

I get raw wheat from my friends farm each year. I'm still trying to perfect my witbier recipe and technique. The last beer I did was

45% Unmalted Wheat
5% Flaked Oats
50% Pilsner

I did a single infusion and only got 53% brewhouse efficiency. Thinking that gelatinizing the wheat is an important step.

I'm a BIAB brewer so I never have to worry about stuck mashes.

 

[daksin]

I think you should be getting excellent gelatinization of the wheat at mash temps- may be a sparge issue. I use rice hulls on my wheat beers even when they're BIAB. Could be doughy, too- not getting the grist totally hydrated. Check your conversion efficiency- first runnings should always be the same based on your mash thickness.