What IS Torrified Wheat?

[Hoppkins]

From what i understand it's for head retention and converts more easily than normal malt?

[mysterio]

Forgive the non-scientific explanation, I believe it's wheat grains that have been 'popped' like popcorn, gelatinising the starches making them easily available in the mash. Both torrified and flaked wheat are unmalted, and have a slightly different taste to each other. Flaked, I think is just wheat passed through hot rollers.

Generally it's used in small amounts (<5%) for head retention. I tend to use malted wheat as I prefer the way it tastes.

[Hoppkins]

Thanks

[Stonechat]

Is flaked wheat still obtainable?

[Stonechat]

Thanks for that, I think I was told by the guy in the Home Brew Shop in Farnborough that it was no longer obtainable. I wanted it to do some recipes in BYORAAH and had to use torrified wheat instead.

[Martin the fish]

Is this the same as malted wheat? Which i have.

[steve_flack]

No, one is malted, the flakes and torrified aren't - they are processed, raw, unmalted wheat.

[Martin the fish]

Is there a large difference or do all perform the same function?

Which is better?

[steve_flack]

Neither, it depends what you want it for. They have somewhat different flavours. All of them tend to improve head retention and that's mostly what they are used for in bitters. They are fairly interchangeable when used in small amounts for that.

[Martin the fish]

I've only just used malted wheat in my last brew. Ironically all my beers have come out with nice heads after the first brew.
What additional tastes could i expect with malted wheat SF?
Would it be beneficial to use anyway?
Does it add anything other than head retention?

I fear my beer could now be all head

[steve_flack]

It helps head retention - it doesn't make foam on it's own. I find malted wheat to have little flavour of it's own - it's more of a mouthfeel. Torrified wheat when used too much can add a popcorn, breakfast cereal sort of note to a beer. Some people aren't keen on it.

As wheat is higher in protein than barley, a lot of wheat can cause hazes in beer.

[Martin the fish]

Thanks SF.