Wit Recipe Question

[Wisey]

Give it a couple of months and we will be stripping this years wheat crop im not sure what they are paying but usually its around $250 /Tonne would be probably what they are paying for top quality.

On the flip side, would Durham wheat be ok to use (noodle wheat)? They make semaliner (spelling) from this

Cheers
Wisey

 

[muckanic]

Define purist? :blink: For me that would probably be Hoegaarden and I'm fairly certain they use raw wheat.

Hoegaarden is a watered-down revival of a style that doesn't really exist anymore, a bit like porter. The original witbier was turbid mashed, sour, and consumed young from the barrel. Even worse, after Hoeg took off, others jumped on the bandwagon and perverted the style even more. For example, De Bocq's Blanche de Namur uses wheaten cornflour, which provides about as much character as rice. Huyghe's witbier uses some sort of orange flavouring which I personally don't mind, although it's about as authentic as home brewers adding lactic acid. Australia's very own Feral is as good as anyone else's IMHO.

 

[muckanic]

On the flip side, would Durham wheat be ok to use (noodle wheat)? They make semaliner (spelling) from this

That's hard (ie, high protein) wheat, which could present lautering problems depending how you handle it.

 

[DiscoStu]

Ok, went down to China Town today for a wander at lunch an found a stall in Paddy's Markets selling raw wheat for $2 a kilo, so I'm sorted and ready to brew this weekend (SWMBO depending )

Any comments on mash schedule when using raw wheat, I was thinking

Protein Rest 50C for 30 mins
Sach Rest 66C for 60 mins

Then mashout

 

[warrenlw63]

That should be fine Stu. It's pretty similar to what I did.

Speaking from my mere one raw wheat's worth of experience I'd also suggest trying to crush the wheat as finely as you can. I'm guessing this will aid in gelatinsation and conversion.

What I did was run it through firstly at the same gap as the barley (around 1mm). Then I tightened the mill gap to 0.5mm and ran the wheat through a second time. If you don't have a motor on your mill (which I have) you may have to prepare yourself for a sore arm or smoking drill.

Warren -

 

[hazard]

I'm making a wit this weekend and after reading this thread am going with raw wheat (have previously used torrified. I bought it crushed fron nLHBS so milling it is not a problem for me. Can someone tell me how much "a few handfulls" of rice hulls weigh? Do you throw them in the bottom of mash tun or mix them up in the grist? I got 2kg from LHBS and will be using it, last wit got a stuck sparge.

Recipe is:
Pils malt 2.5kg
Unmalted wheat 2.25kg
Oats 0.25kg
Hallertau 30g
Wyeast 3944

 

[WitWonder]

For example, De Bocq's Blanche de Namur uses wheaten cornflour, which provides about as much character as rice.

Mmm, my personal favorite :icon_drool2:

I'm making a wit this weekend and after reading this thread am going with raw wheat (have previously used torrified. I bought it crushed fron nLHBS so milling it is not a problem for me. Can someone tell me how much "a few handfulls" of rice hulls weigh? Do you throw them in the bottom of mash tun or mix them up in the grist? I got 2kg from LHBS and will be using it, last wit got a stuck sparge.

Guess you have already made this, but just throw a few handfulls in with the mash and mix them in. As for how much they'd weigh, maybe 10g? You don't have to be scientific about it and given the fact they cost nothing and don't impart flavour to your beer, there's nothing to be gained by not using enough.

 

[tdh]

But wheaten cornflour is wheat. Why should it have a character as lame as rice?

tdh

For example, De Bocq's Blanche de Namur uses wheaten cornflour, which provides about as much character as rice.

 

[muckanic]

But wheaten cornflour is wheat. Why should it have a character as lame as rice?

Because it's about as close to pure starch as it gets, ie, the processing discards the character.

Backtracking, another reason why Hoeg probably tastes little like the original is that they used to use unkilned malt.

 

[tdh]

aaaaaaha

 

[northwest9]

*bump*

my old man will finish harvest today, and with about 1000 tonnes of wheat, i have abit of choice. I was convinced i couldnt use any of it until it was malted?

can someone clear this up for me? also, what type of wheat is better? high quality APH with min 13% protien, which gets the best price, or the lesser quality ASW with a protien of between 9 and 10%. but still with good full grains.

also, if i get it straight off the header, what do i need to do with it prior to brewing with it. it doesnt get much fresher than that

 

[gap]

If you were wanting to brew a Belgian Wit you could use 30% to 50% raw wheat in it.
The higher protein wheat would be the best.

You could use say 40% Pilsener Malt
30% Malted Wheat
30% Raw Wheat

5 - 30 g of Bitter Dried Oracle Peel
5 - 30 g Crushed Corriander Seeds

Have a look for some recipes . Do not use a German Wheat Beer Yeast.


Regards

Graeme