Wheat flavor in Wheated Bourbon
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2025 4:32 am
Hi there, distillers.
I am playing around a wheated bourbon recipe and could need some feedback from other palates and experienced Bourbon distillers.
My idea of what wheat brings to the table in a Bourbon is some bread, some sweetness, but above all creamy texture. My view is that if you’re going to use wheat in your Bourbon recipe as the only flavor ingredient besides the corn you should not be cheap with the proportion. Do you agree?
My thought has been to use 30-40% wheat malt in the malt bill. However, as of late I’ve been toying with the idea to use a smaller portion, say 5%, Carawheat (crystal malt from wheat) and lowering the wheat malt proportion similarly, to further enhance the mouthfeel, and maybe add some caramel and roasted aromas. Has anyone got experience from using Carawheat or an opinion on how that would change the flavor profile from only having malted wheat?
I am planning to make 80L of mash over three ferments/stripping runs, followed by one spririt run. Do you recommend I stay with my original recipe for the first batch and only tweak the changes to it once I have a baseline?
Thanks in advance.
I am playing around a wheated bourbon recipe and could need some feedback from other palates and experienced Bourbon distillers.
My idea of what wheat brings to the table in a Bourbon is some bread, some sweetness, but above all creamy texture. My view is that if you’re going to use wheat in your Bourbon recipe as the only flavor ingredient besides the corn you should not be cheap with the proportion. Do you agree?
My thought has been to use 30-40% wheat malt in the malt bill. However, as of late I’ve been toying with the idea to use a smaller portion, say 5%, Carawheat (crystal malt from wheat) and lowering the wheat malt proportion similarly, to further enhance the mouthfeel, and maybe add some caramel and roasted aromas. Has anyone got experience from using Carawheat or an opinion on how that would change the flavor profile from only having malted wheat?
I am planning to make 80L of mash over three ferments/stripping runs, followed by one spririt run. Do you recommend I stay with my original recipe for the first batch and only tweak the changes to it once I have a baseline?
Thanks in advance.