Wheat
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Wheat malt is generally pale, although dark wheat malts do exist.[1] The flavor is fairly neutral. Small amounts (3-10%) may be added in order to improve foam formation and head retention. Wheat may also improve clarity and body. The typical lower degree of modification of wheat malt may increase viscosity, potentially leading to slower recirculation or lautering.
Wheat malt is often used as up to 60% of the grist to make wheat beer because of its high extract. Winter varies are preferred because of their lower protein content and higher extract content.[2] Unmalted wheat (adjunct) is much less commonly used.
Wheat loses its husk during threshing and thus is "huskless".[2][3]
Wort created with wheat is more viscous (i.e. "sticky") because of pentosans, and can therefore reduce lautering speed.[2][1]
Wheat contains a very high proportion of gluten (a protein), so certain people have not tolerate it well (e.g. celiac disease sufferers).[2]
The cell walls of wheat consist predominantly of arabinoxylans (70%) and a small amount of beta-glucans (20%).[3]
Unmalted wheat has a long tradition as a brewing material in Belgium, including Belgian wheat beers (witbier) and Lambic. These contain up to 50% unmalted wheat.[3] The gelatinization temperature is low enough that it does not need to be pre-gelatinized before mashing.
Wheat imparts beer with a dryness character and improves foam stability.[4]
Wheat malts may be used in the grist for beers at a rate of 3% to 10% to improve beer head formation and head retention and possibly to enhance the diastatic activity of the grist and the supply of yeast nutrients. In contrast to barley malts, wheat malts contain very little tannin material. In Europe, much larger proportions of wheat malt are used in particular beers. For example, in traditional German and Belgian wheat beers (Weizenbier or Weissbier [white beers]), 75% to 80% of the grist may be wheat malt. As well as having a high extract, wheat malts are often rich in free amino nitrogen (FAN), which assists fermentation. However, when mashed, wheat malts tend to give slow wort separations, probably due to the pentosans that are present in the wort. A wide range of malts can be made from wheat including smoked, roasted, and pale malts.[4]
Wheat malt is used at high rates in Weissbier and Witbier/Biere Blanche styles (50�60% in traditional wheat beers and anything up to 100% in modern "ground-breaking" ones) where it is said to confer characteristic softness and slight tartness. It is used by some brewers as a minor component in other styles to improve head retention and give a cleaner flavor. Wheat malt is huskless so has a higher extract potential than barley malt. Lack of a husk means it does not contribute to the filter bed during run off or lautering. This, the fact that it does not modify as completely as barley and has higher levels of the gums pentosans and glucans means that using high percentages in grists requires more elaborate equipment or a lot of patience. There are no dedicated brewing varieties as there are with barley but all wheat selected for malting for brewing is lower nitrogen than that used in food production because wheat proteins can give the same problems as the gums referred to above.[5]
The Einkorn (Triticum monococcum ssp. monococcum L.) is an ancient wheat and is suitable to be grown in environmentally friendly organic farming. Compared to common wheat, einkorn is generally more resistant to diseases, and has the ability to withstand drought. Einkorn is still cultivated on poor soils in Italy, where other wheat types would fail. The yield of einkorn, however, is considerably lower compared to common wheat varieties (Løje, Møller, Laustsen, & Hansen, 2003).[6] Einkorn is regarded as a highnutritional-value cereal, especially considering its high protein and antioxidants content.
Malted and unmalted wheat makes up a significant and important proportion of the grist of several specialty beer styles, including Bavarian weizen (weissbier), Berlinerweiss, Belgian witbier, lambic, and geueze. It is a common ingredient in lower proportions in many other styles, and is often added at 2–5% of the grist of beers where additional head retention and mouthfeel are desired, due to the higher protein content of wheat versus barley.[7] Cites: Shewry, P.R. Improving the protein content and composition of cereal grain. J. Cereal Sci. 2007, 46, 239–250.
Grain color (red vs white) does not appear to affect wheat's antioxidant content.[8]
- Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its use as a brewing cereal – a review
- Effects of Wheat Starch Contents on Malt Qualities
- Fundamental studies of the application of wheat for malting and brewing
- The Influence of Partial Substitution of Malt with Unmalted Wheat in Grist on Quality Parameters of Lager Beer
- Relationship between Kolbach index and other quality parameters of wheat malt
- Lipid-Protein Interactions in Beer and Beer Foam Brewed with Wheat Flour
- Effect of wheat malt on the concentration of metal ions in wort and brewhouse by-products
References[edit]
- ↑ a b Briggs DE, Boulton CA, Brookes PA, Stevens R. Brewing Science and Practice. Woodhead Publishing Limited and CRC Press LLC; 2004.
- ↑ a b c d kunze ch1
- ↑ a b c Meussdoerffer F, Zarnkow M. Starchy raw materials. In: Esslinger HM, ed. Handbook of Brewing: Processes, Technology, Markets. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA; 2009.
- ↑ a b Stewart GG. Adjuncts. In: Stewart GG, Russell I, Anstruther A, eds. Handbook of Brewing. 3rd ed. CRC Press; 2017.
- ↑ Howe S. Raw materials. In: Smart C, ed. The Craft Brewing Handbook. Woodhead Publishing; 2019.
- ↑ Fogarasi A-L, Kun S, Tankó G, Stefanovits-Bányai É, Hegyesné-Vecseri B. A comparative assessment of antioxidant properties, total phenolic content of einkorn, wheat, barley and their malts. Food Chem. 2015;167(15):1–6.
- ↑ Lentz M. The impact of simple phenolic compounds on beer aroma and flavor. Fermentation. 2018;4(1):20.
- ↑ https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf052683d