Wheat malt and clarity

[MSK_Chess]

I am glad to see that Brulospohy has also confirmed what I had been experiencing in my own brews, that an addition of wheat malt lends itself to more clarity when the beer is lagered at low temps without the use of finings. This runs contrary to convention, possibly because we associate haze with wheat beers and the idea that wheat contains more protein which is known to be a precursor of haze. However as the Brulosophy experiment has shown, the converse is true, a small addition of wheat actually aids clarity. Why this should be the case I cannot say but it is what it is. Check it out.

addition of wheat on the left, non wheat on the right.

This is of course of great interest to us who employ the LODO technique because we are encouraged to forego post fermentation fining and instead seek clarity through lagering at cold temps for an extended period. As a British brewer who predominately brews Ales we are usually encouraged to add a little wheat for alleged head retention properties and flavour, but the idea that it aids clarity certainly goes against preconceived notions. The author himself wrote:

And what the hell is with the beer made with wheat malt being clearer than the all barley malt version? Since I intentionally forwent fining these beers, and wheat beers are generally known for their haze, I completely expected the opposite to be true.

http://brulosophy.com/2018/06/25/the-impact-of-wheat-malt-on-beer-exbeeriment-results/

 

[RPh_Guy]

The glass on the right is tilted slightly to the right. Ultraviolet refraction, combined with the coriolis effect, protein denaturation, and simple quantum entanglement easily explain the slight appearance of cloudiness.

Interesting stuff though.

 

[day_trippr]

I dunno, seems pretty evident which is the brighter beer.

I recently read a discussion regarding neipa's and the brewer commented that using "too much" high protein malts can actually reduce the heavy haze associated with that style. The protein level reaches a point where it agglomerates and sweeps stuff up before sinking to the bottom. In that case "less is more" apparently applies.

Not sure exactly how that might relate to using wheat where one "normally" wouldn't wrt ending up with a truly bright beer. I'd be interested in what percentage of the total grist was wheat...

Cheers!

 

[ESBrewer]

I think wheat proteins (glutein) tends to form larger complexes and these are partly the reason for more hazy appearance and more rapid sedimentation. There are some studies on this.

 

[MSK_Chess]

I dunno, seems pretty evident which is the brighter beer.

I recently read a discussion regarding neipa's and the brewer commented that using "too much" high protein malts can actually reduce the heavy haze associated with that style. The protein level reaches a point where it agglomerates and sweeps stuff up before sinking to the bottom. In that case "less is more" apparently applies.

Not sure exactly how that might relate to using wheat where one "normally" wouldn't wrt ending up with a truly bright beer. I'd be interested in what percentage of the total grist was wheat...

Cheers!

the brewer used as far as I am aware 22% wheat which is pretty high, normally we are using 5-10 %

 

[MSK_Chess]

I think wheat proteins (glutein) tends to form larger complexes and these are partly the reason for more hazy appearance and more rapid sedimentation. There are some studies on this.

very interesting, thanks for the link.

 

[MSK_Chess]

These results suggested that wheat proteins are haze active in that they interact with polyphenols and protein-polyphenols complexes. At low gluten levels, a haze is formed, though at higher gluten levels the insoluble complexes are too large to stay in suspension and precipitate.

https://www.biw.kuleuven.be/m2s/clmt/lmcb/publications/docs/fdelvaux

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've heard that about wheat many times, but of my Hefe Weizens are CRYSTAL CLEAR in the bottle before I pour.