I have a witbier recipe that is almost half barley and half wheat. Does it make a fermenting (or flavor) difference if you use barley extract or wheat extract in the starter?
John Buck
Brother John's Brewing
The Monk at the Hartley Monastary
John,
Most of the "wheat" extracts are actually a blend of barley and wheat malts. For example the Briess Bavarian Wheat extracts are 65% wheat malt and 35% barley malt. I'm not sure if that helps answer your question or not.
It will make no difference in the final product, as the yeast that actually ferments your starter will be spent before it goes into the fermentor. You are just multiplying yeast cells. I always use regular pale DME for my starters.
