Triticale Wit

Classification: wheat, triticale, wit, Belgian ale, all-grain

Source: John Richard Taylor, (jrt@minyos.its.rmit.EDU.AU), r.c.b., 10/25/96

"Triticale is a man-made grain produced by crossing wheat and rye. ... It combines the high lysine content of rye with overall high protein content of wheat. ...its flavour is better than wheat, yet more not as strong as rye." Package notes:- Lowan Whole Foods Wholegrain - Triticale Flakes.

The "raw" flakes have a nice pale/light brown colour, a crunchy texture and good taste (not at all floury, unlike rolled oats for instance). I was intrigued when I first saw this grain in the supermarket, so I though I'd try making beer with it. Charlie Papazian mentions this grain, but I have not found any existing recipes with Triticale as an ingredient. The Wit style of beer seemed to be the most suitable type as I could simply substitute the Triticale flakes for the (unmalted) wheat normally used. The recipe is based on various Wit recipes I found in Cats Meow 3, etc.

Ingredients: (for 5 liters)

600 g "Franklin" Malt (lightest available local malt - Pils equivalent?)
300 g Wholegrain Triticale Flakes
120 g Wheat Malt
60 g Rolled Oats
125 g Castor Sugar (to correct low OG... Bummer!)
5.0 g Kent-Goldings (6.1% AA) Boiled 60 mins (bittering)
2.5 g Hallertauer (3.4% AA) Boiled 5 mins (aroma/flavour)
Zest (only) of a small orange and (most of) a small lemon
1 1/4 Tblsp Coriander - slightly crushed (= 5.5 g approx.)
1 small Cardamon pod - slightly crushed
1/8 tsp Anise - slightly crushed
1/2 tsp Gypsum
Pinch Epsom Salts
Pinch Salt
1/2 tsp Irish Moss (natural, dried)
Wander premium dry beer yeast (cheap and quite neutral - a good general purpose beer yeast - and it was all I had :-)

Procedure:

I followed an upward step infusion mash from another Wit recipe:
110 F for 45 minutes
122 F for 45 minutes
144 F for 30 minutes
150 F for 90 minutes
Mash out

I added the castor sugar to the primary to increase the OG to above 1.044 - I could/should have used light dry malt extract instead, but: 1) I forgot I still had some... 2) It tends to be messy stuff to work with (it sticks to everything!) and probably should be boiled for sterilization, etc.

The total boil time was 60 minutes. The Irish Moss was added 30 minutes before the end of the boil. The zests and spices were added 10 minutes before the end of the boil. Hops added as specified in the ingredients list.

I don't know if it's anything like a true Wit, but I thought it tasted great! I can't seem to taste the spices, so you could increase the amounts or maybe boil them for longer if you wanted to. As this was my first attempt, I didn't want to risk using too much spices.

Specifics:

OG: 1044