Malt Differences

Ingredients
1

I realize this is probably something I shouldn’t worry about at this point in my illustrious home brewing career, but I have to ask!

Looking at the recipe I just made has 7 ounces of “wheat malt” on the grain bill. I think I got white wheat from my LHBS (different story), but then I realized there is a ton of wheat grains including…

White, Pale, Red, Dark, and what looks to be various maltster branded ones including Weyerman CaraWheat, Briess CaraCrystal wheat, Canada Malting wheat, etc. etc.

So if I’m looking for a wheat grain in this case, what would I get? Would it matter terrible at 7 ounces?

I’m guessing the same goes for many other types of grains as well. Thanks!

2

White and Red wheat are types of wheat, then you get into when planted, spring or winter, and so on.

CaraWheat is a caramelized wheat, so similar to a crystal malt, but it started with wheat. You can have cararye also.

You can kiln the wheat and have chocolate and midnight wheat (sort of a black patent made with wheat).

What to use? What are the goals for the beer? What do you intend the 7 oz. for - color, body, head retention?

The new malt book might help.
http://www.amazon.com/Malt-Practical-Brewhouse-Brewing-Elements/dp/1938469127

3

A recipe that calls for “wheat malt” likely means the standard white or red wheat malt not any of the crystal or roasted wheat products. It’s my experience that many homebrew shops carry either white or red wheat malt but you can use either one in your beer. The red wheat malt will give your beer a little more color and it is a little more aggressive with the wheat flavor while the white wheat malt is overall mellower. I usually prefer red but it’s easier to find white and I use whatever I can find, often interchangeably in the same recipes.

In short: whatever you bought is likely white or red wheat malt and exactly what you needed for the recipe.

4

white is also easier to grind. the red wheat has smaller kernels so they tend to slip through the mill more.

5

A quick side question: I’ve never consciously tasted red wheat. Would you guys be able to distinguish red wheat beers from white wheat beers in a blind test?

6

I would be surprised if I was able to. Perhaps with significant prep and a very large proportion of wheat in the recipe but I wouldn’t bet the farm.

7

i swear a hefeweizen a friend once made with red wheat seemed to have a red tint to it, but that could be suggestive.  didn’t taste any different than i expected though.

8

There’s very little difference in color between red wheat and white wheat.  The white wheat at the LHBS is darker than the red wheat.if you look up the specs on the Briess website their red wheat is also slightly lighter than their white wheat.

I heard somewhere that the difference is mainly in the color of the husks but I have no idea if that’s true.  I’ve also heard that red wheat is more traditional for making German wheat beers.