Wheat malt question

[bencdeck]

A friend and I were able to get some raw wheat from a farmer, and we have malted it. It is soft white wheat, and I was debating toasting it, or perhaps toasting a portion of it, prior to using it in a batch of hefeweisen. Anyone have advice?

Here's the recipe I'm planning to use for a 5.5 gallon batch:

Grain Bill

• Rice Hulls – 12 oz
• Wheat Malt – 5 lbs (59.5%)
• Pilsner Malt – 1 lb 11.2 oz (20.2%)
• Munich Malt – 1 lb 11.2 oz (20.2%)

Hops

• 0.85 oz of Hallertau Mittelfruh

Yeast

• Weihenstephan Weizen – Wyeast 3068

 

[Agent]

Congrats on jumping in to the real fun of brewing with your own malt! If you haven't done it before, I'd recommend a mini-mash ahead of time just to verify you achieved adequate modification and get an idea what your extraction will look like.

That said, I have only been making wheat malt so far and haven't seen the need to toast or otherwise treat it. I've even done a 100% wheat American wheat that had plenty of wheat-y flavor. Granted, I believe I start with soft red wheat.

 

[bencdeck]

Thanks!
And when you say mini mash, how is that done? When I search the phrase, I get descriptions of brewing with a combination of mash and extract, but I’m guessing that’s not what you mean?

 

[dmtaylor]

He probably means, try making a tiny quart or half-gallon batch with like 4-8 oz of your wheat malt to see how much sugar will come out of it compared to a commercial wheat malt. If you have done everything correctly, you should be getting like 75-85% the sugars of a commercial wheat malt (the reason you might get a little less than expected is because the commercial maltsters are all EXPERTS of course).

Personally I don't think any of that is totally necessary. You could just go ahead and brew like normal, and hope for the best.

I think it would be interesting to brew a dunkelweizen by toasting about half a pound of your malt in a 375 F oven for an hour or so prior to brewing. It might not make a brown beer but a deep copper color should be possible. I would not do this to all your malt, just a portion of it to try it out. And this small amount will prevent the toasted character from being too powerful.

By the way... this is a pretty advanced topic for most homebrewers. Not sure it should be in the Beginners forum. A mod (if one should read this) might want to relocate this to an appropriate forum category.

Any way you look at this... this is a pretty darn cool topic! I have never malted my own before. I find this discussion intriguing. And I would consider myself to be a pretty advanced homebrewer.

 

[bencdeck]

Yeah, I'm running before walking a bit -- I've only brewed a couple of batches, but the opportunity came up and my buddy and I decided to give it a whirl. The wheat came straight from the combine, with bits of stem and the occasional hunk of grasshopper in the bag. Lots of cleaning was required.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Yeah, I'm running before walking a bit -- I've only brewed a couple of batches, but the opportunity came up and my buddy and I decided to give it a whirl. The wheat came straight from the combine, with bits of stem and the occasional hunk of grasshopper in the bag. Lots of cleaning was required.

With all the information available now tackling a malting project can be fun and educational. Just be aware that your results will be specific to your brews, meaning your recipe using your malted grain probably wouldn't be the same as purchased grain.

Not trying to talk you out of trying it, at all. Very interesting and fun to try it out.

Please post back your results!

 

[pvtpublic]

My local maltser entertained a request of mine; to kiln wheat into the equivalent of a Vienna malt. It's an amber wheat, and it's so awesome that I dont know why its not a thing! I highly recommend toasting some.

 

[bencdeck]

This is what it looks like at the moment; I still need to shake it and blow off the rootlets. My homebrew shop is going to help me with milling.

I have enough for a few batches, and still have some raw grain. I might use some of that to attempt a crystal wheat malt (if that is even a thing).

I will post back after the hefe batch is brewed.

 

[Drinking Sensibly]

Have you kilned (oven) it? You need to get it dry before you can mill it and prevent mold. (I suspect you did but can't find any affirmation).

 

[bencdeck]

Yes, it has been sprouted and dried. Luckily, my friend has access to drying kilns at work.

 

[G_robertus]

View attachment 855216

This is what it looks like at the moment; I still need to shake it and blow off the rootlets. My homebrew shop is going to help me with milling.

I have enough for a few batches, and still have some raw grain. I might use some of that to attempt a crystal wheat malt (if that is even a thing).

I will post back after the hefe batch is brewed.

Crystal wheat is most definitely a thing. I've never made my own crystal before, but I have done various base/chit/toast malts at home with varying levels of success.

Just be sure to get most, but preferably all, of the roots and shoots off. That stuff tastes horrible in beer. It's a pain to do, but very necessary

 

[pvtpublic]

View attachment 855216
I might use some of that to attempt a crystal wheat malt (if that is even a thing).

It is, again, my maltser makes an SRM 20 crystal. It's sooo good. I could even pour some into a bowl with milk and eat it for breakfast, in fact I'm actually going to do that this week.
It's brand new, so I've only used it in a German Hef, and the amber wheat mentioned earlier. So that's also a malt I can't recommend enough.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Crystal wheat is most definitely a thing. I've never made my own crystal before, but I have done various base/chit/toast malts at home with varying levels of success.

Just be sure to get most, but preferably all, of the roots and shoots off. That stuff tastes horrible in beer. It's a pain to do, but very necessary

Weyermann Carawheat is very similar to what you describe.

 

[Climb]

It’s recommended that you age, room temp is fine, any freshly toasted or roasted malt for a couple of weeks before brewing with it. At least that is what I have done and is what I have read.

 

[G_robertus]

Weyermann Carawheat is very similar to what you describe.

Fawcett has it as well, like their medium crystal. It's pretty similar to regular version iirc

 

[pvtpublic]

It’s recommended that you age, room temp is fine, any freshly toasted or roasted malt for a couple of weeks before brewing with it. At least that is what I have done and is what I have read.

I've mashed a sahti with rye straight out of the oven, it was such a wonderful flavor and aroma in the finished beer, but it needed a better malt bill to support it.