Red Wheat VRS White Wheat????

[mxwrench]

Most of the beer that I brew are German style Hefeweizens or Dunkleweizens. I have only used White Wheat or Pale wheat. Has anyone used Red wheat and actually been able to tell the difference in taste?

 

[android]

i've used both before and personally, i can't tell much of a difference. either work fine, i usually just use the white wheat. i guess in theory the red wheat might impart a tad more color to a beer and might have a few more tannins in it, but definitely not a huge difference IMHO.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Red wheat is supposed to have a more edgey and "wheaty" flavor. That said, I've never done a side by side taste test of the same recipe, the only difference being the type of wheat. My guess is the difference will be very subtle, but that's just a guess.

The biggest difference will be between hard winter and soft summer wheats. The former will have a much higher protein content, which is the real difference when it comes to brewing.

 

[PorterIV]

Try chewing on a couple of pieces of each. I did this at my LHBS and could tell something of a difference. That being said - I am not sure how much of that translates into the final brew but try it and see what you think.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

For me, the white wheat has a heavy "grain" character whereas the Red has a more earthen flavor. The red wheat also has a darker color in the extract. The white has more haze.