wheat. when is it appropriate to use?

[triskelion]

I've made a few light and malty beers that have various amounts of wheat in them, it gives good lacing and some head retension in my experience. They have come out with an astringent taste, I think astringent is the correct term. However the taste is covered if it is a hoppy beer or has esters. Is this always the case? Should I avoid wheat in light lagers for this reason?

 

[rklinck]

Wheat does not lead to astringent flavors. Wheat is a common ingredient in light colored beers (eg, kolsches).


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[tagz]

Wheat does not specifically create astringency. Astringency is typically a factor of pH. If you are brewing a lighter beers and getting astringent flavors, you should track down your water report. It's likely that you have water with high alkalinity, which will cause the pH of the mash/sparge to get too high. Darker grains will lower the pH which is why you might not notice it in some of your other beers.

 

[triskelion]

Haven't really got on to adjusting my water profile yet. It seems like a science in itself. I shall go and do some research.

 

[djt17]

Haven't really got on to adjusting my water profile yet. It seems like a science in itself. I shall go and do some research.

You will be glad you did. My beers have improved a lot just by following the simple instructions here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460/

 

[tagz]

It can get pretty overwhelming, so to start, focus on alkalinity. If you can find some info on your water profile, you can use a calculator to figure out how to keep your mash pH in the 5.2-5.4 range. In most cases all it takes is a little lactic (or phosphoric) acid.

Once you've figure that part out, you can start looking into sulfate and chloride levels. Those impact the crispness and can be used to accentuate the hop/malt character.

 

[pjj2ba]

Hard water plus hops can result in astringency/harshness in the bitterness. The problem is worse the paler the beer. Easiest test is to brew them same recipe, and use a 50:50 mix of your water with distilled or reverse osmosis water and see if that fixes the problem

Wheat is fine in a pale beer - I've got a wheat lager (37% wheat) brewing right now