Explain to me the difference between wheat malts

[SumnerH]

So I'm planning out a partial mash hefeweizen. I've heard (from EdWort and others) that red wheat is a great malt to use. Unfortunately, I don't have any and neither does the LHBS.

I do have pale wheat and caramel wheat.

1. What's the taste profile of red wheat? Caramel wheat?
2. Would I be better off using 1 lb each of pale wheat + caramel wheat (plus base malts, obviously), or skipping the caramel altogether?


I'm hoping to brew tomorrow, I have 1 lb each of pale and caramel on hand (along with plenty of pilsner malt and DME, and wheat DME).

At the moment I'm considering mashing 1 lb of each wheat with 1.5 lbs of pilsen and using wheat DME for the remainder of fermentables. Is that a really bad idea?

 

[Poindexter]

You can sometimes get red wheat from whichever grocery store has all the volvo's in the parking lot. You'll be headed back to the LHBS to use the grinder.

1.5# Pilsen in five gallons that is probably going to go around 1.040 is a right lot of wheat. I don't know weizen's well enough to say don't do it, but Mosher's American Wheat ale is only 44% wheat, his Garden of Wheat Bavarian Weizen is 49% wheat.

Like I said, not a style I brew much, but your possible recipe is so far over the top I suggest you make a test batch before you commit to five gallons.

 

[benl560]

ive made my wheat recipe twice now mashing
2# 6 row pale
2# pale wheat malt
1# flaked wheat.
3.3# wheat lme
ive not had any problems with it being over the to wheaty. i think that the extract is a lower percentage wheat. something like 35-40 maybe.

as far as the red/pale/carmel comparison? i have no idea. it will probibally have a darker color, maybe something like a wizenbock. i dunno try it out. just giving reassurance that it will be good beer if you use the 2# wheat and the pilsen.

 

[SumnerH]

You can sometimes get red wheat from whichever grocery store has all the volvo's in the parking lot. You'll be headed back to the LHBS to use the grinder.

1.5# Pilsen in five gallons that is probably going to go around 1.040 is a right lot of wheat. I don't know weizen's well enough to say don't do it, but Mosher's American Wheat ale is only 44% wheat, his Garden of Wheat Bavarian Weizen is 49% wheat.

The wheat DME is only about 60% wheat and 40% pale malt. I aim for 50/50 wheat/barley, so I'll probably use some pilsen DME as well If I only go with the pale wheat.

 

[Malticulous]

http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_RedWheatMalt.pdf
http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_WhiteWheatMalt.pdf
The red malt is a little lighter in color and slightly higher protein and DP. Briess added the word creamy to the description of it.

 

[android]

i think what you've proposed will work fine. it may not end up exactly like a bavarian hefe, but i bet it will be right tasty.

 

[eschatz]

In Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher there's a HUGE tutorial about all of the kinds of wheat. I don't have the book with me but it's pretty massive.