Modifying a Simple Hefeweizen Recipe

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menloavenue

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Just for experimentation's sake, I want to try adding white wheat to my extract hefeweizen recipe this time without mashing it. My friend who runs a bread company gave me a pound of it yesterday, and I've been thinking about how to best incorporate it into the boil in order to give the beer a heavier, more wheaty flavor.

Should I steep it with my specialty grains and add it after I add the malt extract? Or should I just toss it in with the boil?

Will
 
For a nice wheat flavor, steep it at about 122F for about 15 minutes as you bring the opt up to temperature. Then throw your other grains in for the regular steep. Don't toss them in on the boil!
 
Plain old unmalted wheat, without a mash, will likely contribute a bland, pasty, floury taste and a lot of starch haze. If you're after a "bready" type of wheat flavor, there are better ways.
 
Plain old unmalted wheat, without a mash, will likely contribute a bland, pasty, floury taste and a lot of starch haze. If you're after a "bready" type of wheat flavor, there are better ways.

Ok, thanks for the input. About a day into the primary fermentation the primary ERUPTED with a pasty, bready liquid and it got all over the place.

I'm glad at least that the yeast was that active so quickly (this was also my first time using a wort chiller, I pitched at about 84 degrees--I had been pitching at like 150-200 previously which probably killed off a good portion of the yeast), but I'm concerned now that the final product will taste bland, like you said.

Time will tell now I guess, but I have a separate question: because of the eruption, should I transfer to the secondary fermenter now or leave it in the primary for another week and then transfer? I don't want to interrupt the fermentation process, but at the same time I don't want this floury substance to ruin the batch..

Thanks for your input guys.
 
Next time try to chill into the mid or low 70s before pitching. Fermenting in the 80s will give you some unwanted flavors from the yeast.
 
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