Wheat Vodka

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Shark
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Wheat Vodka

Post by Shark »

Ok so I looked at a recipe on here for wheat Vodka. I went out and got Flaked Wheat and Malted Wheat. I have a 50L keg to mash in. Want max for that vessel. Question is in litres of water and pounds of wheat how much of each? Also should I be looking at sparging out last bit after mashing and how much water for that?
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by OtisT »

Hi Shark. What did the recipe you found call for? If it’s a tried and true recipe, I say follow those directions.

I don’t sparge, I ferment on the grain, but I bet you can do some maths and figure out how much liquid to mash with and how much to sparge with based on my non sparge process below:

When I’m making an AG ferment, I typically use 2 to 2.25 lb of grain per gallon of finished ferment. IMPORTANT: this does not mean to add 10 gallons of water to 20 lb of grain. It means if you have 20 lb of grains, add enough water to make the total volume of ferment (water plus grains) equal to 10 gallons. This results in an SG around 10 70. If you have a SG that is too high, the high ABV that results during fermentation can stress your yeast and cause off flavors.

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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by HDNB »

250g/litre

50L use 12.5kg of grain total, you can work out the grain/malt requirement based on the malts conversion ability
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Shark »

These posts don't really help much.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Twisted Brick »

Shark wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:21 pm These posts don't really help much.
Yeah, the responses you received make sense but require a base knowledge level to understand. You might need a 'primer' to bring you up to speed?

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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Metalking00 »

Youll have to do some homework. You should find out what the diastatic power of your wheat malt is (found in the spec sheet from the grain maltster). You'll also need to learn to calculate the total diastatic power of your grain bill (recipe). Using that info, you can figure out what the minimum amount of malt needed to convert the flaked would be. Then you can decide if you want the make the ratio of malt/flaked higher than that, but you know it cant be lower. Then follow the info provided about grain to water ratio in order to get a good starting gravity and there ya are.

This post may also seem to "not really help that much", but youre just gonna need to learn some basics, otherwise no ones really gonna be able to help you. You basically asked "I saw a cake recipe, so i went and bought some flour and sugar. How much of each do i need with how much water to make a cake?". What type of cake are you making? Why not follow the recipe you saw? If youre gonna step out and try to make your own recipe, you kinda need to know a bit of the basics so you dont end up with a shitty lump of dough instead of a cake.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by bcook608 »

Metalking00 wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:34 pm Youll have to do some homework. You should find out what the diastatic power of your wheat malt is (found in the spec sheet from the grain maltster). You'll also need to learn to calculate the total diastatic power of your grain bill (recipe). Using that info, you can figure out what the minimum amount of malt needed to convert the flaked would be. Then you can decide if you want the make the ratio of malt/flaked higher than that, but you know it cant be lower. Then follow the info provided about grain to water ratio in order to get a good starting gravity and there ya are.

This post may also seem to "not really help that much", but youre just gonna need to learn some basics, otherwise no ones really gonna be able to help you. You basically asked "I saw a cake recipe, so i went and bought some flour and sugar. How much of each do i need with how much water to make a cake?". What type of cake are you making? Why not follow the recipe you saw? If youre gonna step out and try to make your own recipe, you kinda need to know a bit of the basics so you dont end up with a shitty lump of dough instead of a cake.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Shark wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 1:09 pm Ok so I looked at a recipe on here for wheat Vodka. I went out and got Flaked Wheat and Malted Wheat.
If you were to put up a link to the recipe you intend using , then people may be more able to help.
Kinda hard for folk to help without even knowing what recipe and method your following.
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Demy
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Demy »

I think you should simply scale the recipe according to the capacity of your pot. If you enter the link of the recipe the guys will help you. If, on the other hand, you create a recipe from scratch, I recommend using a homebrewing program or app, estimating your efficiency and then adjusting the shot in future productions.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by 8Ball »

Twisted Brick wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:49 pm
Shark wrote: Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:21 pm These posts don't really help much.
Yeah, the responses you received make sense but require a base knowledge level to understand. You might need a 'primer' to bring you up to speed?

What is it that doesn't help?
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Salt Must Flow »

Instead of using malt, you could use Alpha Amylase Enzyme and Gluco Amylase Enzyme. They say 1 lb will convert 1,000 lbs of grain. I saved a really great YouTube link showing how to use enzymes, temps, times, etc... but the video has been removed for some reason. You might want to get a specific gravity refractometer to check your SG and some iodine solution so you can test the starch conversion.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by NormandieStill »

Salt Must Flow wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 7:55 am Instead of using malt, you could use Alpha Amylase Enzyme and Gluco Amylase Enzyme. They say 1 lb will convert 1,000 lbs of grain. I saved a really great YouTube link showing how to use enzymes, temps, times, etc... but the video has been removed for some reason. You might want to get a specific gravity refractometer to check your SG and some iodine solution so you can test the starch conversion.
I made a wheat and oat whisky using enzymes (no malts at all). After 6 months on oak it's coming along nicely. I've also made neutral using wheat and Yellow Label yeast. I got some interesting bonus cuts from that run. The early and late hearts (where the transitions seemed to be) were not as clean as I would have liked but certainly had some interesting flavours and were good for strongly flavoured liqueurs. I even got a bonus cut of about 500ml at 95% which is just aging. Some weird caramel and dried fruit flavours going on but a little too much tails bitterness to be drinkable young.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by hawkwing »

A pure wheat mash might be difficult to sparge. I can't remember but I made a wheat beer once and it probably had rice hulls to help. On grain might work but I can't say for sure.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by still_stirrin »

Shark wrote: Thu Aug 11, 2022 1:09 pm Ok so I looked at a recipe on here for wheat Vodka. I went out and got Flaked Wheat and Malted Wheat. I have a 50L keg to mash in. Want max for that vessel.

Question is in litres of water and pounds of wheat how much of each?

Also should I be looking at sparging out last bit after mashing and how much water for that?
Some good questions here, especially for a new brewer.

I’ve been brewing all grain beers for 30+ years. I mash in 10 gallon insulated beverage coolers (I have two mash tuns). They each have a gridwork of copper tubes in the bottom for runoff of the liquor. And above the grid is a stainless screen (perforated metal) also to help drain the mash. Anyway, I sparge my mashes and ferment “off the grain”, like traditional beer brewers would do (often distillers ferment “on the grain”, however).

So, I “underlet” the mash tun before “dough-in”, that is - I put water under the grid to fill the bottom of the mash tun first before adding grain. It usually takes me 5 or 6 quarts of water to get above the grid and have a shallow pool to start adding some grains. I’ll stir the grains slowly while adding more water and grains while I monitor the temperature.

Strike water is kept at 150*F to 160*F, so I don’t overshoot my target saccarification temperature. By the time I get my grains doughed in, I usually have about 1-1/2 quarts / pound of grain. This is lower than most here who ferment on the grain. But I’ll hold the temperature for a rest at 125*F for 30 minutes to reduce proteins, especially for wheat.

Then, I add more water, another quart / pound of grain at 170*F to raise the mash temperature. This brings the water to grain ratio up to where I like to do saccarification (145*F to 150*F). If it isn’t quite warm enough with the infusion, I will start recirculation and add heat to the wort to bring it up (and maintain) temperature for conversion. Wheat grains have good enzymes and the conversion is not too labored, so it usually is an hour to 90 minutes saccarification rest. Iodine check always, to validate starch conversion.

Then begin runoff to the fermenters. I runoff slowly, in fact, slower is better for extraction. Recirculation of the liquor will help “set the bed” and create a filter for a lot of the fine particulate. So, I do recirculate sometimes depending on the grainbill of the mash and when using flaked grains, recirculation will help runoff.

I’ll start the sparge water when the liquid level is just above the grain surface in the tun. Typically, I use another 1-1/2 to 2 quarts water to lauter. The sparge water should be 170*F (not hotter) as it will leach tannins out if too hot. Rinse the grains slowly as you drain the liquor out. You can measure the gravity of the runoff, or simply taste it and you’ll know when your about done running. The runoff will be cloudy and taste “husky” like dry grain hulls.

There, long story. Sorry. But maybe some lessons there, especially for a new brewer.

Short answers: 1 liter per pound of wheat (grain or flakes) and another liter per pound for lautering. Otherwise, 2 liters per pound if not sparging. OK?
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Shark »

So tried doing a mash using flaked wheat and malt wheat. Used water two to one. Followed recipe but ended up with a big pile of porridge. Did iodine test and lots of starch left. Can I save this by adding more water and enzymes and bringing it back to 150f?
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by hawkwing »

Shark wrote: Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:19 am So tried doing a mash using flaked wheat and malt wheat. Used water two to one. Followed recipe but ended up with a big pile of porridge. Did iodine test and lots of starch left. Can I save this by adding more water and enzymes and bringing it back to 150f?
Possibly worth a try. How much grain did you add total and how much water?
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Shark »

7000 g flaked wheat, 4030 malted wheat 22 litres water.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by hawkwing »

Shark wrote: Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:35 am 7000 g flaked wheat, 4030 malted wheat 22 litres water.
Typically you should aim at 1.5 to 2 lbs per gallon. So less than 250 g per L. You have about twice the grain. You will have to stir constantly when heating it back up.
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Re: Wheat Vodka

Post by Salt Must Flow »

Could use a Jerry rigged steam wand to heat it back up.
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