Winter Wheat grain for a Wheat Beer?

[Kerberbb]

I was at a natural food store the other day and saw Winter Wheat grains. I am sure this could more than likely be used in brewing, but I have be unable to find any info regarding winter wheat. What characteristics & benefits does it have? How does it differ from other types of wheat ie: flaked, torrifed, etc... Furthermore does anyone have a recipe of any kind utilizing winter wheat grain?

 

[Oldsock]

Winter wheat is generally higher in protein, so it isn't ideal for brewing. Raw wheat also needs to be pre-boiled to gelatinize the starches (alternatively you could do a cereal or turbid mash). If you are up for the effort it can do good things in a lambic or wit beer.

Hope that helps, I used it in a turbid mash for a lambic that is still aging.

 

[Tonedef131]

You can get Red winter wheat in a soft or hard version. Hard winter wheat is the protein rich stuff Oldsock speaks of, when milled this is usually marketed as bread flour. The softer winter wheats are much lower in protein and are sometimes milled into cake flour. So ask them if it's the soft or the hard and if they don't know ask them where it was grown, usually east of the Mississippi mean soft winter wheat. If it is soft red winter wheat that is ideal for lambics. Wits would have traditionally used a soft white wheat but the red should work just fine.