Brewing with Wheat
It is easy to fall into the assumption that barley malt is the only base for brewing beer. Barley malt does happen to be well suited to this purpose and malt production is an important end-use of barley. But wheat is just as easily malted and has a long history of being used in beer brewing. Most modern wheat beers have long, traditional pedigrees. Notable among these are lambic beers and weizenbier from Belgium and Germany, respectively. In fact, there has been an increase in popularity of wheat beers in Germany in modern times and, according to The Oxford Companion to Beer, one out of every ten beers drunk in that country today is brewed with wheat.
Germany and Belgium (along with some more modern American styles) may be where wheat-based beers are most common, but English brewers also use wheat in their ales, just in small proportions with the aim of improving the beer’s head-retention property. Actually, in earlier times English brewers used quite a lot of wheat, although that use never developed any particular style for such beers. English agricultural and malting techniques were ahead of others in the 18th and 19th centuries and highly modified barley malts became more common in Britain. As these improved barley malts could be efficiently mashed by a simple, single-infusion mash, whereas wheat and wheat malt are more difficult to handle in such a procedure, wheat malt began to be neglected by English brewers. Why wheat is more difficult to handle is a statement that requires some explanation.
Problems with Wheat
These perhaps stem from the fact that wheat varieties suited to brewing have never been developed. To quote from the Oxford Companion to Beer,“Virtually all wheat is bred and cultivated for non-beer purposes.” In contrast, while there are other uses for barley, a good deal of the crop is used in brewing, and many varieties most suitable for beer production have been bred and cultivated specifically for this purpose.
The first problem with wheat is that, unlike barley, it has no husk. That makes it easier to malt, but more difficult to mash, for purely physical reasons. The husks from barley are split off from the kernel during milling and are spread through the grain in the mash tun, where they help to separate the particles of spent grain from one another. This makes for a porous, permeable bed that allows for efficient run off of wort and for percolation of sparge water through the bed. In the case of wheat and wheat malt, the spent grain particles are in contact with another and tend to obstruct the flow of wort through the bed. At its worst, this can result in a seriously stuck mash. It has been said that this can be due to the presence of β-glucans, a glucose polymer derived from the cell wall, which can cause gel formation in the mash. However, as far as I can determine, it seems that this is a minor problem that is just as likely to occur with barley malt.
The other problem with wheat is its protein content, which is usually higher than that of barley and barley malt. Although there may be less of a difference between the grains in terms of protein content in North America. In fact, it may not be a question of the purely numerical level of protein but rather a difference in its type with wheat containing more gluten — which is why it is much easier to make bread from wheat than from barley flour. Further, wheat proteins are generally higher in molecular weight than those in barley and can cause two problems in brewing. The first is that using wheat results in higher viscosity wort than with barley alone, which can exacerbate the difficulties with run-off. Second, these proteins are more difficult to degrade during mashing, leading to hazy, turbid beers. For that reason many wheat beer brewers use a so-called protein rest during mashing when working with wheat malt; more on that later. Using raw wheat is even more complicated, since the wheat must be cooked to gelatinize its starches prior to mashing.
So, overall, the difficulties with wheat in brewing are largely a problem in mashing, so what I shall discuss applies to all-grain brewing. In fact, extract brewers have an advantage brewing wheat beers in that there are wheat extracts on the market in which, of course, the mashing has already been done for you. That does restrict you to the manufacturer’s specification for wheat beer, but that is a small price to pay for the simplification of the brewing process.
Why Use Wheat?
It’s simple enough; using wheat in a beer can confer different flavors than barley malt so it is another shade in the brewer’s palette (and palate). It makes for a softer, yet crispy, even slightly tart finish; especially in the various forms of German wheat beers that are relatively light in alcohol (say, 5–5.5% ABV). Some drinkers find wheat also gives the beer an estery or fruity and bready character. However, these are ales brewed with ale yeasts, so ester formation might be more a function of the yeast than of wheat.
One particular flavor should be mentioned and that is “clove” or “clove-like,” often a characteristic of weizenbier. This flavor is due to 4-vinyl guaiaicol, which has been said to be formed by POF+ (phenolic off-flavor positive) strains of yeast in fermentation, rather than arising from the wheat. However, it is more often held that this flavor is produced from ferulic acid, which is certainly present in wheat. Some brewers look for wheat varieties high in ferulic acid, and some even use a low mash-in temperature of about 100 °F (38 °C) since this favors enzymatic production of ferulic acid.
Another important effect of using wheat is that it helps both head formation and head retention. I have already alluded to the use of wheat malt/wheat flour in low-alcohol draught British ales. In genuine wheat beers brewed with a significant proportion of the grain in the grist, head formation can be dramatic with the foam sometimes being inches deep (which also depends on the level of carbonation, of course).
Wheat Brewing Procedures
Next, we’ll look at how wheat is used and treated in some of the most common wheat beer styles.
Lambic
Lambics, of Belgian origin, are brewed with around 40% raw wheat, which may be pre-cooked by doughing in with around 10% of the malt at 156–158 °F (69–70 °C), then raising to a boil, before adding to the main malt mash. Alternatively, you can do a decoction mash — removing a portion of the mash, bringing it to a boil, and then returning it to the main vessel. This is done two or three times so as to take the mash through several rests, starting at around 115–120 °F (46–49 °C), then about 130 °F (54 °C), 148–149 °F (64–65 °C), and finally to about 160 °F (71 °C). Each stage usually takes 15–20 minutes and traditionally the mashes are very dilute.
Decoction is an awkward procedure, requiring time, effort, and a second heated mash vessel, and it can be burdensome for homebrewers who may not have the mash tun near a stove or a second heat source. A slightly simpler alternative is an upward infusion, adding boiling water at each stage to bring the mash temperature to the required level, the various stages being at similar temperatures to those mentioned earlier. This procedure is not a direct substitute for decoction mashing as it thins the mash, which is not the case with the decoction process.
I do not have space here to go further into the production of lambics because of their complicated fermentation process, which was historically a spontaneous process using wild yeasts and bacteria derived from a specialized environment. Many of these have been identified and you can now buy suitable strains for brewing these beers such as Wyeast 3278 (Belgian Lambic Blend) containing a Brettanomyces strain among others.
Berliner Weisse
This is another soured beer using a combination of a Lactobacillus and an ale yeast. It is brewed with from 25–60% wheat malt and has an original gravity (OG) of 1.030–1.032 (7.5-8.0 °P), so about 3% ABV. Modern versions are often soured through kettle souring and fruited, which isn’t traditional but the tart, clean structure does lend itself well to fruit flavors.
Weissbier
German for “white beer,” perhaps written more properly as weizenbier “wheat beer,” is a style produced mainly in southern Germany and must be brewed with wheat malt making up 50–60%, of the grist by definition. Like so many wheat beers, it is low in both color and hop bitterness and usually 4–5% ABV, although there are stronger weizenbocks at 6% ABV and up, which may be pale or dark, with the latter using some color malts. Weissbier is customarily mashed by a decoction process, using similar temperature rests to those in lambic brewing. Of course, decoction mashing is a very traditional German procedure for barley malt-based beers as well as weissbier. Homebrewers may consider this process too complicated for brewing regular beers, but for weissbier with such a high proportion of wheat it is the traditional process to ensure that sufficient degradation of those high molecular weight proteins occurs. As mentioned with lambic beers, an upward infusion mash is, I think, an acceptable alternative. That said, nowadays German maltsters produce malts that are highly-modified and do not require decoction mashing so you do not need to be concerned that a step-infusion mash will result in a beer that is inferior to the traditionally brewed German products!
For an authentic German-style weizen you need an appropriate yeast to bring the required clove character in the beer. Typical examples of these are Wyeast’s 3068 (Weihenstephan Wheat), Wyeast 3368 (Bavarian Wheat), or White Labs WLP300 (Hefeweizen Ale) and WLP351 (Bavarian Weizen).
A variation on this theme is dunkel weissbier or dunkelweizen, which only differs from weissbier in that it is darker in color, up to around 20 SRM, which makes it more of a bronze color than its pale relation. This level of color can be achieved with the addition of Munich malt or the lighter versions of caramel malt. There is even a crystal wheat malt available that would serve well in this beer.
Witbier
This Belgian style is brewed with curaçao orange peel, coriander, and sometimes other added spices, with these additions usually being steeped in the hot wort at the end of the boil. There are significant variations in the spices that are not always revealed by the brewers. But generally, witbier is brewed from a grist consisting of about 40–50% wheat and the rest barley malt. It ferments out to about 5% ABV using an ale yeast and normal ale fermentation temperatures. One of the more famous examples, Hoegaarden, is said to also use about 10% oats in
the mash.
American Wheat Beers
These beers are quite different from Belgian or German wheat styles. For a lambic beer you would want to use yeast and bacteria specifically designed for the purpose. German styles also have a unique yeast character with the aforementioned clove flavor. But the craft-brewed American wheats go their own way; most pros will use whatever their house strain is. That means they might use an English ale strain, or even a lager yeast, although there are a couple of American wheat yeasts available such as Wyeast 1010 (American Wheat) and White Labs WLP320 (American Hefeweizen ale yeast). The result is that American wheat beers have a more malty, less fruity and spicy flavor than their European counterparts.
American wheats often (though not always) use less wheat malt than their forebears, around 10–35% of the grist and are made by simpler mashing techniques. Some use a two-step upward infusion mash with a so-called protein rest at around 110–120 °F (43–49 °C), followed by a “normal” rest at around 150 °F (65.5 °C). Others use a one-step infusion mash at this latter temperature. That may seem astonishing in view of what I have said about the problems with wheat proteins, but there is no doubt that it works. Note that the protein rest referred to above may not degrade proteins at all, which would suggest that direct infusion is the best way to go. It may also be that the complicated traditional mashing methods arose because of the use of poorly modified malts, whereas modern wheat and barley malts are more uniform and well-modified than was the case in the past.
To ensure that you do not get a stuck mash with these simpler approaches you have to take some precautions. Make sure you have a high quality wheat malt and that it is properly ground, which may mean a couple of passes through the mill as it is harder and less friable than barley malt. Keep the sparge water as hot as you can, preferably at 175–180 °F (79–82 °C), so as to reduce the viscosity of the wort and speed up run-off. More important is the use of rice hulls to ensure the formation of a properly structured filter bed. These are added at the rate of 1–5% of the grist by weight, and should be distributed throughout the grain as evenly as possible, and it is advisable to add a portion first, so as to form a layer on the false bottom before running in the grains. There is no risk in using such grains as they are inert and do not decompose in the mash, having been boiled to remove all color and flavor.
Wheatwine
This is a wheat version of barleywine and can be brewed with up to 50% wheat in the grist. At 8.5% ABV and up it is a big beer and not easy to make because of the amounts of grain involved. But it can be made by single temperature infusion, using the methods described earlier. In particular, use a full 5% of rice hulls, properly distributed throughout the grain, and watch sparge water temperature carefully. If you get a stuck mash with around 20 lbs. (9 kg) grain and an almost full mash tun you will be facing a long, difficult afternoon. Indeed, if you want to make a beer in this style you may consider making it only from extract, using one designed for weizen (which would be a combination of wheat and barley), or if you can get it, a 100% wheat extract plus some regular pale extract.
New England IPAs?
Because the juicy flavors from heavy late-hopping is the star of the show here, and because wheat additions are smaller than other styles mentioned earlier, New England IPA is not often thought of as being a wheat beer. However, wheat malt, because of its high protein content, is an important contributor to the characteristic haze of such beers. These beers feature a significant portion of wheat, oats, or sometimes both to boost the soft mouthfeel the style is known for. Wheat malt can be used at a rate as high as 30–40% of the grist, which is treated via a simple infusion at 152–154 °F (67–68 °C). It should be noted that wheat malt is not the only cause of haze in NEIPAs but that subject has already been covered (see “From Juicy to Hazy,” in the March-April 2021 issue of BYO).
Endpiece
I have mostly concentrated on brewing wheat beers by mashing procedures, but extract brewers should not be deterred by this. As pointed out, there are wheat extracts available to homebrewers and these can serve admirably for making acceptable versions of this somewhat unusual family of beers.
To help illustrate how broad of a style may be brewed with wheat, I have included my homebrew recipes for American wheat and wheatwine.
American Wheat
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG =1.048 FG = 1.010
IBU = 15 SRM = 4 ABV = 5%
Ingredients
7 lbs. (3.2 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
3 lbs. (1.4 kg) white wheat malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) rice hulls
4 AAU Liberty hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28g at 4% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1010 (American Wheat), White Labs WLP320 (American Hefeweizen Ale), or SafAle S-33 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Make sure malts are thoroughly crushed and mash at 152–154 °F (67–68 °C) with 3 gallons (11 L) water, adding about half the rice hulls before the grain and distributing the rest throughout the addition of the grain. Allow to rest for 45–60 minutes then run off the wort, recycling the first 0.5–1 gallon (2–4 L) until clear. Sparge with hot water at 175–180 °F (79–82 °C) to collect about 6.5 gallons (24.6 L) of wort in your brew kettle. Bring wort to a boil and add the Liberty hops.
Boil until the volume of wort is 5.75 gallons (22 L) of hot wort in your kettle, approximately 60 minutes. The goal is to have 5.25 gallons of cool wort in the fermenter, losing 1 qt. (1 L) to thermal contraction and another 1 qt. (1 L) to trub. Give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool after turning off the heat and allow to settle for 10 minutes.
Cool to about 60 °F (16 °C), aerate wort if using a liquid yeast, and then pitch the yeast. After fermentation is complete and the beer is allowed to settle (about seven days), rack then bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.5 v/v.
American Wheat
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG =1.048 FG = 1.010
IBU = 15 SRM = 4 ABV = 5%
Ingredients
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) wheat dried malt extract
4 AAU Liberty hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28g at 4% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1010 (American Wheat), White Labs WLP320 (American Hefeweizen Ale), or SafAle S-33 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Heat 4 gallons (15 L) of water in your brew kettle and stir in to dissolve about 4 lbs. (1.8 kg) of the malt extract, being careful to make sure all is dissolved before reaching a boil. Add the hops just before boiling commences. Boil for 40 minutes, turn off the heat and very carefully add the remainder of the extract, stirring thoroughly to ensure complete dissolution.
When the boil is complete, cool to about 60 °F (16 °C) and top off to 5.25 gallons (20 L). Aerate wort if using a liquid yeast, and then pitch the yeast. After fermentation is complete and the beer is allowed to settle (about seven days), rack then bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.5 v/v.
What’s Up WheatWine
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.093 FG = 1.025
IBU = 64 SRM = 16 ABV = 9%
Ingredients
10 lbs. (4.5 kg) white wheat malt
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) North American 2-row pale malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Munich malt (10 °L)
1.5 lbs. (0.7 kg) caramel malt (80 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) cane sugar
1.5 lbs. (0.7 kg) rice hulls
12 AAU Centennial hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 12% alpha acids)
12 AAU Centennial hops (15 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 12% alpha acids)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrients (15 min.)
LalBrew Nottingham Ale, Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), or White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Mash grains at 152–153 °F (67 °C) with 5 gallons (19 L) of water — first adding about a quarter of the rice hulls then the malt, mixing in the remainder of the hulls as evenly as possible. At 60 minutes (or longer if a starch-iodine test is negative) start run off and sparge with water at 175–180 °F
(79–82 °C) to collect 7 gallons (26.5 L) of wort. Add the sugar. Bring the wort to a boil adding the first hops after 30 minutes. Keep boiling until the volume of wort is 5.75 gallons (22 L) of hot wort in your kettle, approximately 90 minutes total. The goal is to have 5.25 gallons of cool wort in the fermenter, losing 1 qt. (1 L) to thermal contraction and another 1 qt. (1 L) to trub. Give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool after turning off the heat and allow to settle for 10 minutes.
Cool to 68 °F (20 °C), aerate wort if using a liquid yeast, and then pitch the yeast. Ferment 10–14 days at about 68 °F (20 °C) and then rack to secondary for 2–3 weeks to cool condition at cellar temperatures (roughly 55 °F/12 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.2 v/v. Preferably, you should age this beer for at least three more months.
What’s Up WheatWine
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.093 FG = 1.025
IBU = 64 SRM = 16 ABV = 9%
Ingredients
8 lbs. (3.6 kg) wheat dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Munich dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.7 kg) caramel malt (80 °L)
1 lb. (0.45 kg) cane sugar
12 AAU Centennial hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 12% alpha acids)
12 AAU Centennial hops (15 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 12% alpha acids)
1⁄2 tsp. yeast nutrients (15 min.)
LalBrew Nottingham Ale, Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), or White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by step
Begin by heating 5 gallons (19 L) water. Place crushed grains in muslin bag and submerge in the kettle as the water heats up. When the water reaches 170 °F (77 °C) remove grain bag, allowing it to drip into the kettle. Turn off heat and stir in to dissolve sugar and dried malt extract in the kettle. Be sure that all of it is dissolved before turning heat back on. Bring wort to a boil, then add the first hop addition and boil for 60 minutes. At the end of the boil, turn off heat then give the wort a long stir to create a whirlpool and allow to settle for 10 minutes.
Cool to 68 °F (20 °C) and top off to 5.25 gallons (20 L). Aerate wort if using a liquid yeast, and then pitch the yeast. Ferment 10–14 days at about 68 °F (20 °C) and then rack to secondary for 2–3 weeks to cool condition at cellar temperatures (roughly 55 °F/12 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.2 v/v. Preferably, you should age this beer for at least three more months.
