Anyone ever brew with spelt? Whaddya have to say about it? I'm thinking when I brew next (still a ways off; end of April or end of May), I'll brew a saison with spelt, just because I have several pounds of it, and because it at least sometimes has been used in saisons, according to Farmhouse Ales. I imagine it will be like using raw wheat and I suspect the contributions to beer flavor would be about the same; just curious if anyone says differently. Looking at abou 15-20% spelt with Belgian pils making up the remainder, hopped with Hallaertau and possibly some other noble-like pellets that I have lying around. Probably use Wyeast 3724. (Of course, the name, Spelted Cow is a rip-off of New Glarus's Spotted Cow, which uses some adjunct grains and bills itself as a "farmhouse ale")
Never brewed with spelt, but have cooked with it quite a bit. I know in baking, it behaves very similarly to wheat. I too would guess it will behave similarly to wheat in brewing... Let us know how it comes out!
Thanks to my thread asking for more blogs to read: http://ryanbrews.blogspot.de/2009/06/rustic-saison.html
My mother-in-law seems to have mastered the bread machine spelt loaf -- makes good sandwiches, but I suspect she uses a blend of flours. I never used it before in cooking, baking, or (obviously, from the original post) brewing. I'm thinking of raising the level to 25% to better evaluate it. I figure I'll do a cereal mash along the lines of How To Brew. May pick up some rice hulls to be on the safe side. When I brew it and sample it, I'll probably post about it the experience.
Spelt is very very similar to wheat, it has a slightly more golden color and leaves a bit thicker mouthfeel on a beer
