Will smoking malted wheat change the fermentability?

[kestrelbrewing]

Hello, brains.

Last week as I was getting ready to brew a batch of Belgian Blonde Ale, I noticed I had a pound of cara wheat sitting in the cupboard that I had accidentally bought a couple of months ago (bought 2 lbs but only needed one). I was getting ready to smoke a steelhead fillet and had some room in the smoker, so I figured I would pop the wheat in the smoker on a makeshift tinfoil tray and add it to the blonde ale (who can resist the opportunity to make a smokin' blonde?).

The wheat sat at about 160º getting in hickory smoke for about 2 hours, then it cooled and went back in the fridge in a ziplock.

I brewed the beer this week. The OG for this recipe has usually been in the 1.047-1.050 range. With the added smoked cara wheat, the OG went to 1.067. I was thinking given that the smoker was a dry heat, I would not be converting starches, but this jump in OG has me wondering.

 

[IceChisel]

Carawheat has already been mashed, to convert starches to sugars, which are then caramelized and sometimes lightly roasted. This malt has no diastatic power to begin with. Adding 10 - 20 gravity points is just a by product of more fermentables in the mash with the added 2lb of carawheat.

https://www.weyermann.de/cz/bmprodukte_neu.asp?PN=2&idkat=193&umenue=yes&idmenue=37&sprache=2

 

[kestrelbrewing]

Carawheat has already been mashed, to convert starches to sugars, which are then caramelized and sometimes lightly roasted. This malt has no diastatic power to begin with. Adding 10 - 20 gravity points is just a by product of higher mash efficiency and the sugars/starches from the added 2lb of carawheat.

https://www.weyermann.de/cz/bmprodukte_neu.asp?PN=2&idkat=193&umenue=yes&idmenue=37&sprache=2

Only added 1 lb …

 

[VikeMan]

The OG for this recipe has usually been in the 1.047-1.050 range. With the added smoked cara wheat, the OG went to 1.067. I was thinking given that the smoker was a dry heat, I would not be converting starches, but this jump in OG has me wondering.

Your post title says fermentability... adding a crystal malt (smoked or not) will generally decrease fermentabilty, i.e. you can expect less apparent attenuation.

But it sounds like you're really asking about mash efficiency. Adding malt actually decreases mash efficiency. It will increase your OG, but percentage-wise, efficiency decreases.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

The thread title asks if smoking the wheat affects fermentability, but your post asks about whether it gives a higher OG (i.e. improves extract potential). Fermentability difference would mean the same OG, but a higher/lower FG, which I'd guess is possible but unlikely from smoking at a low temperature. There's no way smoking the grain could lead to a higher OG (i.e. improve the extract) so the improved efficiency has to be due to something else (eg. process or crush) or, if it was an extract batch, not thorough mixing. At 100% efficiency, 1lb of grain (assuming a 5 gallon batch) could only possibly give you an extra 7 to 8 points of gravity.

 

[kestrelbrewing]

The thread title asks if smoking the wheat affects fermentability, but your post asks about whether it gives a higher OG (i.e. improves extract potential). Fermentability difference would mean the same OG, but a higher/lower FG, which I'd guess is possible but unlikely from smoking at a low temperature. There's no way smoking the grain could lead to a higher OG (i.e. improve the extract) so the improved efficiency has to be due to something else (eg. process or crush) or, if it was an extract batch, not thorough mixing. At 100% efficiency, 1lb of grain (assuming a 5 gallon batch) could only possibly give you an extra 7 to 8 points of gravity.

Yes, I meant potential fermentability as in a higher OG.

In terms of the rest: all grain 5 gallon batch, same recipe and equipment I've been using for 5 years/6 batches/30 gallons. The only difference is the added 1lb of smoked cara wheat. Normal mash efficiency is in the 75% range and I was expecting about a 0.005 increase in OG which is why the .017 increase over my high end OG was a little baffling.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

The smoked wheat is a red herring - your increased efficiency is from something else. Could you have accidentally put in extra grain? Or crushed finer? Or used different water? Or mashed for longer?

 

[VikeMan]

The smoked wheat is a red herring - your increased efficiency is from something else. Could you have accidentally put in extra grain? Or crushed finer? Or used different water? Or mashed for longer?

...or boiled to a lower volume, which would not be efficiency.

 

[kestrelbrewing]

The smoked wheat is a red herring - your increased efficiency is from something else. Could you have accidentally put in extra grain? Or crushed finer? Or used different water? Or mashed for longer?

...or boiled to a lower volume, which would not be efficiency.

Extra grain/crush: Nope. It was measured by the home-brew store and crushed in their crusher. They are pretty good about not giving away free grain and they have a fancy grain mill that is always set to the same gap so customers have predictability in their mashing.
Different water: Not unless the City of San Diego has changed the water coming to my house.
Mashed longer, boiled to a lower volume: Nope. After nearly 80 batches, I have my process pretty set and consistently repeatable.

Is there any change that the wheat sitting in a dark cabinet at 70º for a couple of months would have caused it?

 

[VikeMan]

Extra grain/crush: Nope. It was measured by the home-brew store and crushed in their crusher. They are pretty good about not giving away free grain and they have a fancy grain mill that is always set to the same gap so customers have predictability in their mashing.

You have more faith in your LHBS than most LHBSs deserve.

Is there any change that the wheat sitting in a dark cabinet at 70º for a couple of months would have caused it?

No. The total carbs in a malt are a function of the grain's variety and growing conditions. There's nothing you can do to increase them. If you could, everyone would be doing it.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Is there any change that the wheat sitting in a dark cabinet at 70º for a couple of months would have caused it?

No. Adding one pound of pure white sugar to a 5 gallon batch only adds 9 points of gravity. There's no way a pound of anything could add double that.

 

[kestrelbrewing]

You have more faith in your LHBS than most LHBSs deserve.

No. The total carbs in a malt are a function of the grain's variety and growing conditions. There's nothing you can do to increase them. If you could, everyone would be doing it.

LHBS: They've won Home-brew store of the year from the AHA and the owner is about as anal retentive as they come.

Increasing carbs: That's basically what I was thinking, if it was that easy …

 

[kestrelbrewing]

No. Adding one pound of pure white sugar to a 5 gallon batch only adds 9 points of gravity. There's no way a pound of anything could add double that.

So, the answer to the original question is "No. Smoking that malt cannot account for that change in original gravity."

 

[kestrelbrewing]

Update in case anyone is remotely interested: Still not sure why the OG went up, but the beer is a smashing success. Took it to the brewery where I work and was chastised for only bringing one bottle.