Question about wheat grains

[jadk42]

I discovered that a local (for me) company in Mittagong malts wheat and supplies a number of companies ( and a friend tells me Little Creatures ) with some ingredients. Does anyone know what kibbled wheat - basicly cracked wheat could be used for. They also make malted wheat flakes - any ideas for how to use these.
David

[Trough Lolly]

Hi David,
Wheat is, of course, a commonly used fermentable in many forms of brewing. Malted wheat is commonly used for, um, wheat beer and as an excellent fermentable contributor to beers in general. Wheat malt has as good if not better diastatic power (starch to sugar conversion properties) than malted barley. Wheat is also a very good grain to use to promote head retention thanks to its relatively high levels of protein. The most obvious physical difference between malted wheat and malted barley is the absence of the husk which can cause some problems if brewers mash exclusively with wheat and don't give the mash a "protein rest" as part of the mash process. Brewers sometimes get around the problem of a stuck mash by adding rice hulls to the mashtun. Wheat by its very composition also tends to contribute cloudiness to the final product, when it's used in substantial quantities, which is quite acceptable in a lot of wheat beer styles (yes, I'm making some fairly broad generalisms here...)

Flaked wheat is a commonly used adjunct - it needs to be mashed with another grain that has diastatic power otherwise you will add body to the beer in the form of tasteless, cloudy starch. Flaked wheat, when mashed, does promote head retention and add body and haze to the beer thanks to the high protein levels. I pick it up on my palate as a silky smoothness and a subtle but agreeable slightly sharper / acidic flavour note. If you want a less sharp flavour profile, you can substitute the flaked wheat for flaked barley, which I almost always use in my Irish Stouts.

Depending on the manufacturing process, the kibbled or chopped wheat that you're referring to may also be known as Torrified Wheat which is a commonly used ingredient in english ales. Torrified wheat has no enzymes thanks to the cooking process that has denatured the enzyme in the wheat. The heat can also cause the cell walls of the grain to expand or if you will, "pop" open which causes a gelatinisation of the available starch granules. Basically I find torrified wheat adds a slightly nutty / toffee-like flavour profile to the beer, compared to wheat flakes, which I quite enjoy in a well balanced english bitter. I'll happily stand corrected but torrified wheat is a much better choice in your english bitter, compared to crystal malt.

Hope this helps...

Cheers,
TL