Local ad i saw, 50lbs wheat, $8

[Soulshine2]

Does this sound like a scam or good deal . Is whole unmilled wheat the same .i mean is there a brewers wheat or is it all the same .could i potentially use this for brewing. It appears to be a white wheat, no idea what variety.

 

[bracconiere]

from a feed store? they charge $14 here...and feed store grains have a taste...you'd be best off malting it if you pick it up...

 

[okiedog]

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If I were interested in it for brewing, I'd be asking questions like: Why is it so cheap?", "Is it malted?" and "How old is it?" and "Has it been contaminated or treated with anything?". I would also want to inspect it. Myself, I would rather pay for good grain, and know what I'm getting.

 

[bracconiere]

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

doesn't sound too good to be true if it's livestock feed...i buy 50lb sacks of whole barley from the feed store for malting all the time for 12.99....(but it's has to be malted and kilned, otherwise it tastes like the chicken chow it is.....)

 

[Soulshine2]

after posting this I went and looked up to buy malted or unmalted what. If making Wit beers its supposedly prefect for the style.
Since then , the seller has replied that it was grown on their own farm.
I've asked if it is organic or has it been treated with any chemicals. waiting for reply again.

 

[Soulshine2]

it was grown on a local farm for human consumption. I think I'll go get 50# of it. Its only $8 ,I've thrown way more money away on way worse...like the 50# sack of whole corn...

 

[lump42]

If it was grown for human consumption and is from this past harvest, seems like a good deal if you use a lot of wheat. You could even play around with malting it.

 

[bracconiere]

You could even play around with malting it.

it's easier then most people think! (and this should be in homebrew deals! for your neighbors! )

 

[Soulshine2]

it's easier then most people think! (and this should be in homebrew deals! for your neighbors! )

I live out in the country. I dont have too many neighbors. I will try malting these, ive malted corn and barley before

 

[Soulshine2]

Im going tomorrow to get a 50# bag of it. Ill be sure to post whatever it is i brew with it.

 

[Soulshine2]

50# of white locally grown white wheat in hand.
Now, I look for recipes for it.

 

[bracconiere]

i'd add my experience trying to mill whole wheat (unmalted)....Make sure to mix it with malt, every time i've tried milling unmalted grains, it jams my mill...

(not sure if you already knew that, just thought i'd say it)

 

[okiedog]

Wheat that is not meant for brewing is treated with a desiccant so they can harvest a little earlier, and have a slight increase in yield. Desiccant is not the proper term, but it's what farmers call it. It is really just Roundup, a Glyphosate, which is linked to health concerns and is banned in parts of Europe. Also, there are different varieties of wheat that may be more suitable for brewing. Maybe I'm picky, but I consider "feed grade" grains to be inferior, and won't use them for brewing. Brewing grains are chosen for qualities that make them more suitable for brewing, and their specifications are recorded and listed by the maltster or grain supplier.

As you mentioned above, unmalted wheat is good for use in Belgian style Witbier, but raw, unmalted grains must have their starches gelatinized before adding to the mash.

Sorry to ramble on with my opinionated comments. Good luck with the wheat and your brew.

 

[okiedog]

i'd add my experience trying to mill whole wheat (unmalted)....Make sure to mix it with malt, every time i've tried milling unmalted grains, it jams my mill...

(not sure if you already knew that, just thought i'd say it)

They are glassy grains, unless they have been gelatinized like rolled or flaked grains. They make a lot of noise going through the mill. Unless it's a small amount, I like to run them through a course crush, then run them through again for a finer crush.

 

[Soulshine2]

Wheat that is not meant for brewing is treated with a desiccant so they can harvest a little earlier, and have a slight increase in yield. Desiccant is not the proper term, but it's what farmers call it. It is really just Roundup, a Glyphosate, which is linked to health concerns and is banned in parts of Europe. Also, there are different varieties of wheat that may be more suitable for brewing. Maybe I'm picky, but I consider "feed grade" grains to be inferior, and won't use them for brewing. Brewing grains are chosen for qualities that make them more suitable for brewing, and their specifications are recorded and listed by the maltster or grain supplier.

As you mentioned above, unmalted wheat is good for use in Belgian style Witbier, but raw, unmalted grains must have their starches gelatinized before adding to the mash.

Sorry to ramble on with my opinionated comments. Good luck with the wheat and your brew.

I made sure to ask what its intended purpose is. Its human food grade.
Ah dont worry about the rambling. I do it myself
Ive milled wheat plenty of times.

 

[Soulshine2]

Wheat that is not meant for brewing is treated with a desiccant so they can harvest a little earlier, and have a slight increase in yield. Desiccant is not the proper term, but it's what farmers call it. It is really just Roundup, a Glyphosate, which is linked to health concerns and is banned in parts of Europe. Also, there are different varieties of wheat that may be more suitable for brewing. Maybe I'm picky, but I consider "feed grade" grains to be inferior, and won't use them for brewing. Brewing grains are chosen for qualities that make them more suitable for brewing, and their specifications are recorded and listed by the maltster or grain supplier.

As you mentioned above, unmalted wheat is good for use in Belgian style Witbier, but raw, unmalted grains must have their starches gelatinized before adding to the mash.

Sorry to ramble on with my opinionated comments. Good luck with the wheat and your brew.

This was locally grown just 15 to 20 miles away .We had a 85 to 90s degree drought nearly 2 months this year .it definitely didn't need a desiccant.

 

[bracconiere]

but raw, unmalted grains must have their starches gelatinized before adding to the mash.

I thought wheat starch gel'd at around the same temp as barley? i've used unmalted wheat in a mash, (including straight white flour), and have got decent efficiency, without a cereal mash, like needed for rice or corn....

 

[mashpaddled]

I thought wheat starch gel'd at around the same temp as barley? i've used unmalted wheat in a mash, (including straight white flour), and have got decent efficiency, without a cereal mash, like needed for rice or corn....

The gelatinization point for wheat flour yes but not for cracked grains.

 

[bracconiere]

The gelatinization point for wheat flour yes but not for cracked grains.

So a fine grind makes the gel temp different?

 

[grampamark]

You can read the USDA’s standards for wheat here. Note that there is no mention of malting.

I’m a grain farmer. Most wheat grown in the US is not desiccated, with glyphosate or any other chemical. In some places, such as the northern portion of the Canadian prairie provinces, where the growing season is very short, wheat is dessicated so that it can be harvested before it freezes.

I farm right on the Canadian border in north central Montana. We’ve never dessicated wheat. And, while we have grown malting barley many times over the years, we’ve never grown malting wheat. If there is such a thing, I’ve never heard of it. Maltsters may contract with individual farms to grow wheat which will be malted, or, the maltsters may just purchase wheat from a grain merchandiser in the open market.

Think about how much wheat, corn, oats or rice you use as homebrewers and compare that with how much barley you use. Now, extrapolate that out to the hundreds of millions of gallons of beer brewed annually in the US. Everything other than barley is a rounding error. There simply isn’t enough demand for grains other than barley to create a specialty market for malting wheat, or oats, or rye, etc. If you want to malt wheat you go out and buy some, or find someone to grow some for you.

 

[okiedog]

I thought wheat starch gel'd at around the same temp as barley? i've used unmalted wheat in a mash, (including straight white flour), and have got decent efficiency, without a cereal mash, like needed for rice or corn....

Actually, the gelatinization temp of wheat is about 151F. But if you add glassy grains directly to the mash at that temp, it will take a long time to fully gelatinize and fully convert for good mash efficiency.

 

[okiedog]

This was locally grown just 15 to 20 miles away .We had a 85 to 90s degree drought nearly 2 months this year .it definitely didn't need a desiccant.

It may be good wheat then. 8 bucks sounds like one heck of deal. Not living in the grain belt, I guess I'm just not used to such low prices on grain. I hope it works out for you. Let us know how you used it and how your brews turn out.

 

[okiedog]

Grampamark, it's great to hear from a grain farmer! Also, I like hearing that the wheat is usually not desiccated. I use a fair amount of wheat in my brewing, but you are right. Way more barley is used in brewing, at least in this country. I have malted grains, including wheat, but for small quantities it is just not worth the time or trouble. Malted wheat is available from nearly every malt supplier, anyway. The brews I use wheat in are: Weisbier, Witbier (unmalted), Koelsch, Saison, Gose, and very small amounts in a few others. I do like having some wheat around to brew with.