Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Is it a thing? I've never really heard anything about wheat whiskey before.

I was thinking though when talking to the old man about sowing wheat this year that if it could make a reasonable whiskey I might pinch some from him at harvest. I reckon a home grown whiskey would be a pretty good achievement!

Yeah, it's a thing, but relatively niche compared to the malted barley, corn and rye whiskeys around.

You'll need to malt some or use enzymes to get conversion.

Also makes a great vodka so I'm told

Wheat is very common for Vodka, however there are a few commercial distilleries that are making wheat whiskey.
Have a look at http://www.dryflydistilling.com/ for a 100% wheat whiskey. If you were looking for more of a bourbon type whiskey then you would be looking for http://www.bernheimwheatwhiskey.com/#/welcome. This is a personal favorite of mine. If you were looking to make a wheat whiskey here is a grain bill selection based on the 2.5lb grain - 1gallon water that you may want to have a play with.

Water to Grain Ratio Wheat Whiskey
US liquid Gallon 1 Mash Water (Lt)
Litre 3.75 7.5 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 80 100 120 150

pounds 2.2 - 2.5 Grain Amounts (Kg)
kilo 1.1 2.2 4.4 5.9 7.3 8.8 11.7 14.7 17.6 23.5 29.3 35.2 44.0

Grain Breakdown (Kg) Blend Ratio
Wheat 0.6 1.1 2.2 2.9 3.7 4.4 5.9 7.3 8.8 11.7 14.7 17.6 22.0 50%
Corn 0.3 0.7 1.3 1.8 2.2 2.6 3.5 4.4 5.3 7.0 8.8 10.6 13.2 30%
Barley 0.2 0.4 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.7 5.9 7.0 8.8 20%
If you paste these into a spreadsheet so that they line up it will make more sense

Example 20l of mash water would need 5.9kg grain and the blend ratio for that would be 2.9kg wheat, 1.8kg of corn and 1,2kg barley(malt).

I tend to spilt my barley to use as the starch converter for each, wheat and corn. I boil them both separately as wheat like a different PH to covert than corn.

Makers mark is a wheat bourbon. One of my favorite bourbons.
However they're not 100% wheat.

Sparrow wrote:Is it a thing? I've never really heard anything about wheat whiskey before.

The first All Grain whisky I attempted was "Jimbos Single Malt AG" recipe from the HD forum.
I was a bit skeptical after the fermentation, and after tasting the distillate, but after a month on some american oak chips its already tasting AMAZING. I can highly recommend his recipe... The american oak gives it a really sweet bourbon taste. I would use a bit less chips and rather give it some more time.

I also went into the heads too much, which tasted fine while doing the cuts but after a month its sort of 'elevated' the heads if that makes any sense...

Well worth a try :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks fellas still keen to give this a go. Harvest is still a little while away in this part of the world so haven't had a chance yet.

I'm not too into bourban generally but I don't mind Tennessee whiskey.in lieu of maple charcoal I was thinking if I tried that I could just add maple syrup directly? Something worth a try.

Hi sparrow,
we were given a wheat beer fermented (without hops) using a Bavarian wheat yeast - the banana aromas were off-the-scale! can't wait for it to mature... Definitely something I want to make myself down the track.

Apparently the wheat makes for a smooth taste?!? but can not confirm that as yet!

EziTasting wrote:Hi sparrow,
we were given a wheat beer fermented (without hops) using a Bavarian wheat yeast - the banana aromas were off-the-scale! can't wait for it to mature... Definitely something I want to make myself down the track.

Apparently the wheat makes for a smooth taste?!? but can not confirm that as yet!

I've got an AG wheat beer fermenting here myself at the moment, love the banana aromas it produces. I do wonder how a wheat whisky with the wheat yeast would go distilled. Something worth a shot!

Most wheat beers arent very strong, so some recipe modifications to make distilling worthwhile might be needed. But there are certainly a lot of interesting flavour profiles to work with.

Agree wi H you on that, orcy!

The wheat beer came in at just under 4.7%ABV... didn't get much from it...
The banana smell, tho, was off the scale! Loved it! Unfortunately it was nowhere near as pronounced after distilling which is a shame...

When we go to make our own, we will push the starting ABV harder. This came from a local home brewer who's enters his beers in competitions (didn't know they existed!) so we didn't control the outcome...

Not too keen on wheat beers because of the sweetness but I have some few year old wheat whisky down the shed that is sensational.
Did several runs in my esky rims setup and really need to look at doing more. Malted wheat is readily available and the output volume, not to mention flavour, makes it an attractive mash to put on yr to do list.
Just my 2 cents.
If yr curious, go get a bottle of Bernheim.

Robbers Dog wrote:Wheat is very common for Vodka, however there are a few commercial distilleries that are making wheat whiskey.

Water to Grain Ratio Wheat Whiskey
US liquid Gallon 1 Mash Water (Lt)
Litre 3.75 7.5 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 80 100 120 150

pounds 2.2 - 2.5 Grain Amounts (Kg)
kilo 1.1 2.2 4.4 5.9 7.3 8.8 11.7 14.7 17.6 23.5 29.3 35.2 44.0

Grain Breakdown (Kg) Blend Ratio
Wheat 0.6 1.1 2.2 2.9 3.7 4.4 5.9 7.3 8.8 11.7 14.7 17.6 22.0 50%
Corn 0.3 0.7 1.3 1.8 2.2 2.6 3.5 4.4 5.3 7.0 8.8 10.6 13.2 30%
Barley 0.2 0.4 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.7 5.9 7.0 8.8 20%
If you paste these into a spreadsheet so that they line up it will make more sense

Example 20l of mash water would need 5.9kg grain and the blend ratio for that would be 2.9kg wheat, 1.8kg of corn and 1,2kg barley(malt).

I tend to spilt my barley to use as the starch converter for each, wheat and corn. I boil them both separately as wheat like a different PH to covert than corn.

this drove me bonkas so I had a go at putting into a spreadsheet ...



Mainly because I want to have a go soon now that we are trying AGs...

Good work Ezi :handgestures-thumbupleft: much easier to follow. Will have to give it ago soon :).