Sunday I brewed a wit with 7.5 lbs 2-row, 4 lbs rolled red wheat, and 1 lb rolled oats. Mashed at 152* for 60 with a 90 min boil. OG came in at 1.043. Using roughly the same grain bill, I usually hit 1.054. Two differences are the 2-row (I normally use 6 lbs) and the wheat. I bought it at WINCO for .70 a lb instead of using flaked wheat. I brewed this at last moment, so after spending a few days in WA (Mayhem Fest :twisted: ) and no yeast reserves, I racked it onto a cake of 3711 Fr. Saison. Did the wheat not convert?
I’m not certain, but you may have had to cereal mash the rolled wheat to get conversion. I always used flaked wheat for that exact reason… it doesn’t need to be cereal mashed and can just be thrown right in the normal mash with the rest of the grains. I also like the flavor and cloudiness it adds.
Just my guess, but I really don’t know for sure.
I would think that with raw wheat, but I figured the rolled wheat would have been steamed. Maybe not. I did get a real nice haze, though.
If I was a betting man I would bet that it wasn’t malted, didn’t convert, which resulted in low OG and high starch haze.
Not malted, but neither is flaked wheat, which I’ve used in the past with no issues. It should be pre-gelatinized, though.
Raw red wheat is not steamed or anything. You don’t need to do a cereal mash it either. I use it all the time, the issue you may have had is that it wasn’t crushed enough. You can pretty much crush it to flour.
I use my corona mill for the wheat and the barley goes through the MM. I usually have over 80% efficiency this way.
I generally get a lower yield from raw wheat than wheat malt. probably the difference in wheat cultivars, some have more protein than others. I get a heck of a hot/cold break from raw wheat.
