Appalachian Wheat
Appalachian Wheat is a malted soft red winter wheat grown in the Southeast. Riverbend's malted wheat took silver in the wheat category at the 2024 Craft Maltsters Guild Malt Cup.
It tastes like baked artisan bread with a light toast note, more flavor than a neutral commodity wheat malt. Extract is 83%, the highest in the Riverbend range, and the 55 to 65 S/T ratio reflects the protein that gives wheat beers their head retention and haze.
Using Appalachian Wheat
- Riverbend publishes 5 to 50% of the grist.
- At 30 to 50% for hefeweizen and wheat-forward styles where the grain is the point.
- At 5 to 10% as a head-retention and mouthfeel aid in almost any beer.
- Add rice hulls above roughly 30%. Wheat is huskless and will compact a lauter.
- Min DP 100 means it contributes real enzymatic power, not just body.
Styles: Hefeweizen, witbier, saison and farmhouse ale, American wheat, NEIPA, lagers, wheated whiskey
Specifications
| Grain | Malted soft red winter wheat |
|---|---|
| Color | 3.0 to 5.0 SRM |
| Max usage rate | 5 to 50% of grist |
| Extract (FG, dry basis) | 83% |
| Protein | 10.7% |
| S/T ratio | 55 to 65 |
| Min diastatic power | 100 |
| Min alpha amylase | 30 |
| Grain origin | Southern-grown |
| Awards | Silver, wheat malt category, 2024 Craft Maltsters Guild Malt Cup |
| Bag size | 50 lb |
About Riverbend Malt House
Brent Manning and Brian Simpson founded Riverbend in Asheville in 2010, the first craft malt house east of the Mississippi. It is now the first Certified Regenified malt house in the world. Grain comes from family-owned farms inside roughly a 500-mile radius of Asheville, across North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and Florida. They still hand-rake grain on a traditional malting floor alongside modern germination-kiln vessels, and in 2025 they supplied more than 300 breweries and distilleries.