Wheat = drain juice for me

[SMOKEU]

I'm on my 5th attempt at mashing wheat (50% wheat this time, the other times 60% wheat), and I have yet another throw away batch. The first 4 times I got basically no conversion (like 40% brewhouse efficiency when I expect to get 80% for that grain bill). This time it's a stuck mash. I always use oat hulls.

I've had my Robobrew for a while and I've done about 20 mashes with it, 15 of them barley. Only 1 barley mash was a throw away (stuck mash, crappy all grain kit that was basically powder and I didn't have any oat hulls at the time). I design my recipes on Beersmith and almost always get to within 2-4 gravity points of my recipe. But for some reason wheat just doesn't work at all for me.

I would really like to make a wheat beer but no matter what I do it just never works. I've read plenty of online guides, got the brew shop guy to tighten his grain mill to ensure a good crush but nothing works. I've tried going to a different supplier for my malt and still it doesn't work.

 

[VikeMan]

I've read plenty of online guides, got the brew shop guy to tighten his grain mill to ensure a good crush but nothing works.

How tight was the grain mill? And what did the crush look like? Efficiency problems with wheat are often a crush issue, because the kernels are much smaller.

 

[shetc]

Flaked wheat, protein rest.

 

[IslandLizard]

what did the crush look like? Efficiency problems with wheat are often a crush issue, because the kernels are much smaller.

That! ^

Are you using malted wheat, or some other form of wheat (whole berries, flaked, cracked, grits, etc.)?

 

[Rackrunner]

What's the rest of the grain bill? If you're using flaked wheat it is unmalted and doesn't contain amalyse enzymes, which means you're relying on the rest of the grain bill to provide the required enzymatic power. I've seen using 6-row instead of 2-row recommended for bills up to 50% flaked wheat, but never tried it personally.

Also agree with Shetc - a protein rest would likely help with the stuck mash

 

[Transamguy77]

Anytime I’m brewing with something with low diastatic power I always try to use 6 row, the problem is now it’s hard to come by at most LHBS due to low sales, they don’t want to stock something that may sit awhile.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've seen using 6-row instead of 2-row recommended for bills up to 50% flaked wheat

Anytime I’m brewing with something with low diastatic power I always try to use 6 row

I've very successfully brewed many beers containing 40-60% wheat adjunct (flaked wheat usually) using just 2-row. Most 2-row has a DP well above 100°L (°Lintner) giving complete conversion after an hour. Replacing 10-20% of the wheat adjunct with properly crushed Wheat malt definitely takes it well above the advised 40°L minimum. And your beer won't taste like 6-row.

I agree on doing a 20' protein rest (~121°F) or a combined protein/beta-glucanase rest at 131F for 10-15 minutes (but no longer), mostly for better lauterability. And rice hulls.

 

[mashpaddled]

Modern malts have so much enzymatic power that often you can mash with <40% two row and still get full conversion in an hour, especially with stirring or recirculation.

With unmalted wheat that isn't flaked you need to do a cereal mash to get good conversion from it. Otherwise you're getting a lot of wheat flavor but not the fermentable sugars you were counting on.