Hey guys. I just did my first all grain beer last weekend which was a porter. It went pretty well. Now I'm thinking of doing a wheat. I was wondering what differences there were brewing with wheat. I've read about mashes getting stuck because of the wheat so people use about a half pound of rice hulls in the mash to prevent that. Is this accurate? Also A general brewing question, is a mash out necessary if I heat my sparge mates to 170? What's the difference? Thanks in advance guys.
I have never experienced a stuck mash and have both used and not used rice hulls, though I like to err on the side of caution and use them more often than not, I use between 1/3 and 1/2 pound.
Agreed, it doesn't hurt to be cautious. However, I haven't used rice hulls and I've brewed with up to 2/3 wheat in the mash and never had a problem with stuck sparges. I imagine it also has a lot to do with the design of your MLT.
definitely use 1/2 lb of rice hulls. stuck mashes are no fun. if you're feeling up to step infusions, try holding it at 120F for 20min, 148F for 30min, 158 for 30min, then mashout at 170F for 10min. otherwise, a single infusion at 152F for 60min then mashout at 170F for 10min will do just fine too. the more complicated schedule is just more "traditional" and will help the yeast produce more of those iconic hefeweizen flavors. though that is not to say that you cant make a great hefe with a single infusion. i've only recently committed to the multi-infusion process myself and have a long history of making delicious wheat beers. clear as mud?
Well I'm using a 10 gallon cooler for a tun so I don't think I'll be able to do step mashing. Don't you have to a tun on the burner to continually change the temp?
You can also do a decoction and step the temperature up that way-- if you have plenty of time to spare! If this is your first wheat beer, I would suggest just doing the single infusion. Then at some point if you want to try decoction, you can see how much difference it made and whether you feel that's worth the extra couple hours it takes. I always use rice hulls on wheats. They're cheap insurance against a stuck sparge, no reason I can see not to do it.
Well I'm using a 10 gallon cooler for a tun so I don't think I'll be able to do step mashing. Don't you have to a tun on the burner to continually change the temp?
nope! you can just add a little boiling water to bump the temperature. there are a number of mash calculators and such available online to help with determining how much to add. here's one i've used with good results: http://rackers.org/calcs.shtml/
...though for big jumps, decoction is definitely a better method or else your mash will get real thin.
stick with single infusion mash for a little while until you really get a good feel for the process and hitting temps. just toss in 1/2lb of rice hulls...as stated earlier, stuck sparges suck. And yes, getting the mash to 170F before starting lautering definitely will help slightly as the mash is less viscous. Be sure to start the lauter nice & slow though. That said, if you're a big hefeweizen fan like i am you'll probably be interested by this: http://www.ahaconference.org/semina...ens/attachment/hefeweizen-nhc-presentation-2/ I actually was searching for a Zymurgy article (May/June 2010) which talked about ferulic acid rests, but instead found the presentation given in that link above which covers a lot of the variables involved.
In my experience wheat isn't nearly as 'sticky' as rye. But I wouldn't mash wheat without at least having rice hulls on standby. You can mix them in later if the mash gets stuck.
