Flaked wheat mash

[CaptChet]

I'm doing a Belgium Wit and it calls for 2# flaked wheat. I used the standard 2qts. per lb. of grain to mash but it seems it sucked all of the water up and I have oatmeal, well wheatmeal in my mash tun. Should I just add more water and how much?

Also it calls for .75 oz of cracked coriander seed. I could not fined seed so I bought ground. Do I use the same amount as if I were using seed?

Thanks!

 

[BigEd]

Are you mixing malt with the flaked wheat? You cannot "mash" flaked wheat by itself. It will require base malt like pale or pilsner, at least 3-4 lbs for 2 lbs of flaked wheat.

 

[RukusDM]

Are you mixing malt with the flaked wheat? You cannot "mash" flaked wheat by itself. It will require base malt like pale or pilsner, at least 3-4 lbs for 2 lbs of flaked wheat.

Ed, where would we find the information that gives the amount of recommended base malt to use for enzymes for conversion of a grain? I typically use a 2 row or 6 row, but never have seen anything describing amounts.

 

[KayaBrew]

Two words... RICE HULLS! You're headed for a stuck sparge.

Also, 2 qts/lb isn't really "standard". 1.25 qt/lb is...though I typically mash "thin" at 1.5 to 1.75 qt/lb.

 

[CaptChet]

I thought I had read that flaked wheat needed to be mashed with base Malts. Well being new to this I have read so much in the past month its dizzying. lol. So did I accomplish anything by making wheatmeal? lol.

I used Palmers -How to Brew instruction that say 1.5 to 2.0 qts water to grist trying to keep it on the thin side. I'm new and everyone seems to quote that book so thats where I got the 2.0 qts. I dont have a mash tun yet so it was treat to mash and lauter. It was only 2# so it was not that bad.

So i added that to my brew kettle and added 3#Extra Light DME and 2# wheat DME. Hot break was fairly quick, added my hops and now waiting to add corriander and orange.

Chris

 

[BigEd]

I used Palmers -How to Brew instruction that say 1.5 to 2.0 qts water to grist trying to keep it on the thin side. I'm new and everyone seems to quote that book so thats where I got the 2.0 qts.

Chris

The water is fine if a little thin, the problem is there was no base malt to provide any enzymes. Without that there is no mash, just wet flakes. The starches and proteins in the flaked wheat will just suck up the water as you described. If there had been base malt with enzymes the proteins in the flaked wheat would have been broken down and the starches as well which then creates sugars. The breakdown of those molecules would also have kept the flakes from getting bound up with the water allowing the converted sugars to be in a usable solution. Read that section of the book again and plan for a real mini-mash next time.

 

[CaptChet]

Gotcha and thanks!

Actually I just picked up Palmers book today but have read Joy of home brewing bt Papazian cover to cover several times now. So far Palmers book is much better as it get down to the nuts and bolts of brewing.

Anyway, the chiller I built worked fantastic, my cold break was awesome. Boiling to 75 in 8 mins. Next on the list is a mash tun after Christmas when things slow down.

 

[dzlater]

I have read that some folks actually use some flour in the boil when making a wit to help with the cloudiness associated with wit beers. I wonder if your flaked wheat steep would sort of be the same thing?
If you want to experiment you could always throw some brett in there that would eat the starches from the wheat.

 

[Justibone]

My last brew was a wit, and yes, the flaked wheat soaks up water like nobody's business. Add a least a quart of water per pound, in my opinion, when working with flaked wheat.

And mine had oats in it as well, so it was oatwheatmealporridge -- but it makes good bread!

 

[Justibone]

Two words... RICE HULLS! You're headed for a stuck sparge.

Also, 2 qts/lb isn't really "standard". 1.25 qt/lb is...though I typically mash "thin" at 1.5 to 1.75 qt/lb.

I agree -- there's not really a "standard" mash volume. Mashing thin spreads out the enzyme from the starches (they float around at random, so the more distance between them, the less activity they have), which changes how much of the starches are converted. In order to avoid that, most old hands would recommend that brew newbs use about 1.25-1.5 quarts per lb of malt (and more for flaked grain)... but that's not a true standard.

Many people, especially when new to all-grain, recommend 1.25-1.5 quarts per pound of malt, and most people recommend 150F to mash, but that's just for simplicity's sake I think. Just like there's no standard mash temp, there's no standard mash volume. It's a variable that you can use to control the characteristics of your beer.

You can go as low as any amount of water that keeps the grain covered, or as high as 2.5 quarts per lb. of malt... but it will have an effect on efficiency of conversion and the flavor of the finished beer. You can go from the low 140's to the high 150's with your mash -- heck, you can mash at room temperature if you want. What we perceive as a "standard" is really just a mid-point for an advisable range. Mashing at room temp would probably take a VERY long time, but if you understand enzyme kinetics, it's theoretically possible -- how do you think the baby plants do it?

(BTW: it is not recommended to go very low or very high on mash volumes, or mash temps.)

So, what we understand to be standards are really anything but. It's your beer -- do what you like! Just be prepared to drink the consequences.