All Wheat Brewing

Reads 2422 • Replies 7 • Started Monday, August 14, 2017 6:12:21 PM CT

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Message EvanFriend beers 844 º places 20 º 18:12 Mon 8/14/2017 Just brewed a beer with an all wheat grain bill (8lbs oak smoked wheat malt). I did it brew in a bag, mashed for 60 minutes at 150 degrees (Fahrenheit), and sparged with 170 degree water. My efficiency was shit, about 34%. I’ve never had efficiency issues before, and I’m assuming it’s because of the all wheat grain bill. Any suggestions on improving my efficiency would be welcome.
Message CLevar places 23 º 19:40 Mon 8/14/2017 Step mash. Rice hulls.
Message skinnyguy 20:07 Mon 8/14/2017 Do a mashout before sparging. I never usually worry about doing that, but with something like wheat or rye, it can definitely help. And make sure your water is hotter than 170. I shoot for 175, so the sparge actually occurs closer to 170.
Message EvanFriend beers 844 º places 20 º 20:29 Mon 8/14/2017 Originally posted by CLevar Step mash. Rice hulls. My understanding was that with brew in a bag, I could skip the rice hulls. Guess I know better now. Also, what would be a good ratio of rice hulls to malt?

Message EvanFriend beers 844 º places 20 º 20:32 Mon 8/14/2017 Originally posted by skinnyguy Do a mashout before sparging. I never usually worry about doing that, but with something like wheat or rye, it can definitely help. And make sure your water is hotter than 170. I shoot for 175, so the sparge actually occurs closer to 170. I did not do a mashout. Does it really help with extraction? And I pulled the pot of sparge water (I run a rather low tech system, I have a pot of sparge water on a second burner, no pumps or hot liquor tank or anything cool like that) off the burner at 170 and used it instantly. Not sure if that makes a difference.
Message CLevar places 23 º 22:17 Mon 8/14/2017 Originally posted by EvanFriend Originally posted by CLevar Step mash. Rice hulls. My understanding was that with brew in a bag, I could skip the rice hulls. Guess I know better now. Also, what would be a good ratio of rice hulls to malt? Unless you are actively squeezing the extract from the mash, the rice hulls will help. I’d start with 5% total weight and see where that gets you. If you have the ability to mash in thick and cool (around 37-40C) prior to adding boiling water for your sacch rest that would be good as well. Any beta glucan that you can break down is going to help your lauter
Message EvanFriend beers 844 º places 20 º 23:37 Mon 8/14/2017 Originally posted by CLevar Originally posted by EvanFriend Originally posted by CLevar Step mash. Rice hulls. My understanding was that with brew in a bag, I could skip the rice hulls. Guess I know better now. Also, what would be a good ratio of rice hulls to malt? Unless you are actively squeezing the extract from the mash, the rice hulls will help. I’d start with 5% total weight and see where that gets you. If you have the ability to mash in thick and cool (around 37-40C) prior to adding boiling water for your sacch rest that would be good as well. Any beta glucan that you can break down is going to help your lauter I do actively squeeze the bag to try and get as much sugar out as possible. Not sure what you mean by mashing in thick and cool, but the temperatures you mentioned (approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit) seem quite low to me for any kind of extraction. I don’t know what a beta glucan is. Full disclosure: I’m relatively new to brewing, this was my 11th beer (not counting two meads and a cider), and my 6th all grain. I’ve been doing brew in a bag, I recently got a mash tun but deliberately chose not to use it for this brew for (apparently misguided) reasons I mentioned above. Please explain further.
Message NobleSquirrel beers 3437 º places 209 º 11:43 Tue 8/15/2017 Originally posted by EvanFriend Originally posted by CLevar Originally posted by EvanFriend Originally posted by CLevar Step mash. Rice hulls. My understanding was that with brew in a bag, I could skip the rice hulls. Guess I know better now. Also, what would be a good ratio of rice hulls to malt? Unless you are actively squeezing the extract from the mash, the rice hulls will help. I’d start with 5% total weight and see where that gets you. If you have the ability to mash in thick and cool (around 37-40C) prior to adding boiling water for your sacch rest that would be good as well. Any beta glucan that you can break down is going to help your lauter I do actively squeeze the bag to try and get as much sugar out as possible. Not sure what you mean by mashing in thick and cool, but the temperatures you mentioned (approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit) seem quite low to me for any kind of extraction. I don’t know what a beta glucan is. Full disclosure: I’m relatively new to brewing, this was my 11th beer (not counting two meads and a cider), and my 6th all grain. I’ve been doing brew in a bag, I recently got a mash tun but deliberately chose not to use it for this brew for (apparently misguided) reasons I mentioned above. Please explain further. I’d listen to Clevar ;) Basically, you do the low step to break down the long chain starches that cause the stickiness. It will make extraction much easier. It sounds like you haven’t read a lot of material on brewing, being so new to it, so I’d recommend reading as much as you can. There’s a ton of great reading materials for brewers that wasn’t there even 5yrs ago. As to the need for rice hulls, you have to take into account that you have no husk on wheat, so there isn’t anything creating any avenue for draining. Couple that with the stickiness of wheat, anyhow, and you get very low efficiency. Basically, you do the low rest to allow Beta Glucanase to work it’s magic, then you step the mash up to your saccharification temperature (150ish?) and then let it mash for your mash length, then mash out/sparge.

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