Slightly Lower Efficiency with Wheat?

[BeerSmith]

I've been brewing some Wits and Wheats lately (mostly for guests...) but I've noticed that my efficiency is slightly lower when I brew high percentage wheats (50% or more) than with regular barley beers.

I usually come in a few points low on the OG whereas my barley beers are right on.

Has anyone else had this experience?

Cheers!
Brad

[cj_in_j]

I usually add rice hulls to high-wheat beers, and haven't noticed any problems with lower efficiency. In general, I've found that wheat gives more gravity points per pound than barley, and that has been holding even for the all-wheat porter I make.

[BeerSmith]

CJ,
 Several people have written and suggested that I may not have milled the wheat finely enough.

 I always do mill it separately at a narrow setting, but I will try it at a smaller gap and see what happens.

Cheers!
Brad

[cj_in_j]

When I'm brewing with a large percentage of wheat, I usually just crush it all together with the barley -- and I haven't noticed any problems hitting my OG. With the 100% wheat porter, I run it through twice, once at a medium gap and once at the narrowest gap.

Besides the rice hulls, using a mash pad from HBA works wonders -- it works well with non-wheat beers too. Available in two sizes:
13" Mash Pad
16" Mash Pad