Rye

[micmacmoc]

I have been given a starter for some sourdough bread. I bought some rye flour to make a loaf or two. I quite like the idea of a rye beer to go with it. Probably something with a spicy taste, sourdough bread, pickles, smoked hams and cheeses. What rye malt should I buy? What yeast or hops? Any recipe advice. The only thing is to get a beer that would taste great with the rye bread that has a rye ingredient in it.

[seymour]

This is my all-time favorite rye recipe, which I've posted before (sorry everyone if you're getting sick of seeing it.) I have others which are more along the lines of a hoppy Rye IPA/Rye Pale Ale; if you're interested, just let me know.

SEYMOUR JUNIPER RYE
This is my modernized version of Finnish Sahti. It took several tries to get this recipe where I wanted it, and I know it makes me sound like a boastful asshole, but the final beer was a rare thing of beauty. Crisp and peppery with that primordial citrus/evergreen magic of the juniper tree. Probably tastes even better after a sauna ritual.

5.5 US Gallons = 4.6 Imperial Gallons = 20.8 Litres

MALTS:
57.1% = 6 lbs = 2.72 kg, Pale Malt
19% = 2 lb = 907 g, Torrified Wheat (Wheat Malt is fine, too)
19% = 2 lb = 907 g, Rye Malt
4.8% = .5 lb = 227 g, Steel-Cut Oats
(I also used 1 lb/454 g Rice Hulls to guard against a sticky mash, but it’s optional. Also added 2 tsp Calcium Carbonate, a handful of freshly cut juniper twigs and crushed berries, and the mash hops to mash tun.)

MASH with a classic DeClerk multi-step schedule, or single temp at 152ºF/66.7ºC for 2 hrs if you must

BOIL 60 MINUTES, add 1 tsp Irish Moss with 15 min remaining

HOPS:
1 oz/28.3 g, Cascade, mash hops
.5 oz/14 g, Cluster, 60 min
.5 oz/14 g, Saaz, 30 min
.5 oz/14 g, Saaz, flame-out, steep until chilled

YEAST:
Dual-strains: Saflager W-34/70 (German lager) & Safbrew WB-06 (German wheat), both believed to be from the Weihenstephan archive, 2 full packets to ensure a quick ferment

I FERMENTED at 64°F/17.8°C for 3-4 days, then 52°F/11.1°C for 3-4 more days, 2 days diacytal rest 63°F/17.2°C, prime with 3/4 cup brown sugar, then stored 1 week at fermentation temperature, another month as cool as possible.

STATS:
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.011
ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 23
COLOUR: 6° SRM/12° EBC

[orlando]

This is my all-time favorite rye recipe, which I've posted before (sorry everyone if you're getting sick of seeing it.) I have others which are more along the lines of a hoppy Rye IPA/Rye Pale Ale; if you're interested, just let me know.

Would be interested in the Rye Pale Ale, nothing off the wall with bits of tree in it though

[dreadskin69]

and i would like to see the rye IPA too please

[micmacmoc]

Thanks! Yes RyePA too!
It seems rye, like wheat, has a reputation for causing stuck mashes. Any pointers there? Ah yes, I see 'rice hulls'..okey doke.


Thos 'mash hops' are they in the mash tun for the entire mash then? Never done that before!

[seymour]

Thanks! Yes RyePA too!
It seems rye, like wheat, has a reputation for causing stuck mashes. Any pointers there? Ah yes, I see 'rice hulls'..okey doke...

That's right. A pound or so of rice hulls or oat hulls eliminates that concern.

...Thos 'mash hops' are they in the mash tun for the entire mash then? Never done that before!

Yes, that's right too. Placing aged hops in the mash tun is an ancient technique that's seeing a bit of a comeback here and there. I don't claim to be an expert, but in my experience it adds a very subtle, harmonious vegetal bitterness, also helps a little against a stuck mash, and supposedly improves the mash pH as well. Even if we don't fully understand what all it accomplishes, each time I've done it, the beer was excellent, so it certainly didn't hurt anything. I do it when I have old, oxidized hops which aren't much use for anything else anyway.

The following are not complete recipes, per se, but they refer to TRULY DELICIOUS BEERS, so good ideas to go on. Remember, many of your favorite recipes contain a portion of unmalted and/or non-Barley cereal grain (wheat malt, torrified wheat, flaked wheat, flaked barley, flaked oats, etc.) If you have one of those recipes in mind, simply replace that portion of the grainbill with rye.

Adnams Ghost Ship
Adnams - Southwold, Suffolk, UK
ABV: 4.5%
Colour: golden
Grainbill: Tipple, Rye Crystal Malt, CaraPils/Dextrine Malt
Hops: Chinook, NZ Motueka, Citra
Yeast: proprietary dual-strain which is available in their mini-casks but not their bottles/cans, ferment at 18°C

Adnams Shingle Shells
Adnams - Southwold, Suffolk, UK
ABV: 3.9%
Colour: reddish brown
Grainbill: Pale, Crystal Rye Malt, Black Malt, Caramel Colourant
Hops: Boadicea, First Gold
Yeast: proprietary dual-strain which is available in their mini-casks but not their bottles/cans, ferment at 18°C

Batemans Combined Harvest (Best Bitter)
George Bateman & Son - Wainfleet, Lincolnshire, UK
ABV: 4.4%
Colour: golden
Grainbill: Pale, Oat Malt, Wheat Malt, Rye Malt
Hops: Challenger

Bronx Rye Pale Ale
Bronx Brewery - Bronx, New York, USA
ABV: 6.3%
Colour: reddish amber
Grainbill: Pale, Rye Malt, Flaked Rye (where does color come from?)
Hops: Chinook, Crystal

Civil Life Rye Pale Ale
Civil Life Brewing Co. - St. Louis, Missouri, USA
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: 40-50?
Colour: reddish amber
Grainbill: "English and German base malts" + 20% Rye
Bittering hops: Chinook
Aroma hops: Centennial
Yeast: Chico/Sierra Nevada/American Ale/US-05

Coriander Rye Ale
Bison Brewing Co. - Berkeley, California, USA
OG: 1052
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 28
Colour: golden amber
Grainbill: 64.1% Pale, 15.4% Rye Malt, 10.3% Munich Malt, 7.7% CaraStan, 2.6% Victory Malt
Hops: Centennial, Northern Brewer (90 min), Northern Brewer (30 min), Centennial (3 min, then steep), .25oz/7g crushed Coriander Seed
Yeast: Whitbread-B strain, available as Wyeast 1098, White Labs WLP007, Safale S-04

Goose Island Mild Winter (Dark Mild)
Goose Island - Chicago, Illinois, USA
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 28
Colour: dark reddish brown
Grainbill: Pale, CaraPils Malt, Chocolate Malt, Roasted Barley, Flaked Rye
Bittering hops: Willamette
Aroma hops: Tettnang

Kirkwood Station Black Rye IPA
Kirkwood Station - Kirkwood, Missouri, USA
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 85
Colour: opaque black
Grainbill: Pale, Rye Malt, Crystal Rye Malt, Midnight Wheat Malt, Blackprinz Malt
Bittering hops: Magnum
Aroma hops: Simcoe, Cascade, and 1.5 lbs/barrel fresh green Amarillo!
Yeast: Chico/Sierra Nevada/American Ale/US-05

Leinenkugel's Big Eddy Baltic Porter
Leinenkugel's Brewing - Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA
ABV: 8.5%
IBU: 40-50?
Colour: very dark reddish brown
Grainbill: Two-Row Pale, Six-Row Pale, Munich Malt, Crystal Rye, Roasted Barley, Special-B Malt, Chocolate Malt
Hops: Cluster (75 min), Mount Hood (20 min), licorice root
Yeast: German lager strain

Mauldons Peggotty's Porter
Mauldons - Sudbury, Suffolk, UK
OG: 1042
ABV: 4.1%
Colour: dark brown
Grainbill: Pale, Rye Malt, Crystal Malt, Black Malt
Hops: Fuggles

Mountain Goat Rare Breed Rye IPA
Mountain Goat Beer - Richmond, Victoria, Australia
ABV: 6.1%
IBU: 60
Colour: golden amber
Grainbill: 58% Pale, 20% Rye, 15% Wheat, 7% Pale Crystal Malt (+ rice hulls to improve run-off)
Hops: Pride of Ringwood (60 min), Citra (10 min), shit load of Galaxy dry hops
Yeast: Chico/Sierra Nevada/American Ale/US-05

Nuova Mattina "New Morning" (Italian Saison)
Birrificio Del Ducato - Roncole Green, Lower Parma, Italy
OG: 1057
ABV: 5.9%
IBU: 28
Colour: hazy golden amber
Grainbill: Pale, Wheat, Wheat Malt, Oats, Rye
Bittering hops: Chinook
Aroma hops: Hallertau, Coriander, Ginger, Green Pepper, Chamomile, Licorice

Peace Tree Rye Porter
Peace Tree Brewing Co. - Knoxville, Iowa, USA
ABV: 6.0%
IBU: 30-40?
Colour: opaque black
Grainbill: Pale, Caramel Malt, Chocolate Malt, Munich Malt, Roasted Rye, Chocolate Rye, Light and Dark Sugar
Hops: Fuggles?
Yeast: Belgian ale strain

Samuel Adams Norse Legend (Finnish Sahti)
Samuel Adams - Boston, Massachusettes, USA
ABV: 7.0%
IBU: 25
Colour: hazy amber
Grainbill: Two-Row Harrington, Metcalf, Copeland Pale Malts, Rye, Special-B Malt, Aromatic Malt, barrel aged on juniper berries
Hops: Hallertau
Yeast: Samuel Adams ale yeast

Schlafly Winter ESB
Schlafly - St. Louis, Missouri, USA
OG: 1057
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 30
Colour: copper
Grainbill: Pale, Crystal Malt, Munich Malt, Rye Malt
Hops: Willamette & Pilgrim
Yeast: London ale strain

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye
Sierra Nevada - Chico, California, USA
OG: 1062
ABV: 6.6%
IBU: 55
Colour: reddish brown
Grainbill: Pale, Rye, Caramel Malt, Chocolate Malt
Bittering hops: Bravo
Aroma hops: Chinook, Citra, "new proprietary variety"
Yeast: Chico/Sierra Nevada/American Ale/US-05

Terrapin Rye Pale Ale/Rye P.A.
Terrapin Brewing - Athens, Georgia, USA
OG: 1054
IBU: 40
Colour: golden amber
Grainbill: 71% Pale, 10% Rye, 10% Munich Malt, 5% Victory Malt, 4% Honey Malt
Hops: Magnum (60 min), Fuggles, Goldings (30 min), Goldings (10 min), Cascade (1 min), Amarillo dry hops
Yeast: Wyeast 1272

Ushers Autumn Frenzy
Ushers Brewery - Edinburgh, Scotland
OG: 1041
IBU: 30
Colour: deep amber
Grainbill: Pale, Crystal Malt, Malted Rye
Hops: Target, Styrian Goldings
Yeast: Scottish ale strain

[micmacmoc]

Wow thanks so much Seymour! That's a lot to get going with, cheers!

[timbo41]

Seymour does the biz as always
I drive past mauldons every work day, also not that far off Growler brewery which is near pentlow,just outside Sudbury. Wonder if a polite email might blag
me some free scoops of their krausen!
Don't hurt to ask!

[seymour]

...I drive past mauldons every work day, also not that far off Growler brewery which is near pentlow,just outside Sudbury. Wonder if a polite email might blag
me some free scoops of their krausen!
Don't hurt to ask!

That would be awesome. I don't know anything at about Mauldon's yeast, do you?

[zgoda]

Thanks! Yes RyePA too!
It seems rye, like wheat, has a reputation for causing stuck mashes. Any pointers there? Ah yes, I see 'rice hulls'..okey doke.

That comes from very high beta-glucan content of rye. The part of grain that is the culprit is located just beneath the hull, well over grain kernel. It is removed when making flakes, but still enough glucans is left to give high viscosity of wort. I wholeheartedly recommend using rye flakes instead of malt, unless the beer is German roggenbier.

[orlando]

Adnams Ghost Ship
Adnams - Southwold, Suffolk, UK
ABV: 4.5%
Colour: golden
Grainbill: Tipple, Rye Crystal Malt, CaraPils/Dextrine Malt
Hops: Chinook, NZ Motueka, Citra
Yeast: proprietary dual-strain, ferment at 18°C, available in mini-casks but not bottles

However, it is available in cans!

[seymour]

...I wholeheartedly recommend using rye flakes instead of malt...

I agree. It's cheaper, too. But even with unmalted rye, hulls make the sparge easier.

(refering to Adnams) However, it is available in cans!

But the cans are not conditioned with live yeast, right? I was referring to Adnam's dual-strain yeast (not their beer in general). They include the primary dual-strain yeast in their mini-casks, but not their bottles; even the bottle-conditioned ones utilize a different bottling yeast strain. I've never heard of "can-conditioning" with primary yeast, sounds potentially dangerous, but I suppose it's theoretically possible.

[orlando]

...I wholeheartedly recommend using rye flakes instead of malt...

I agree. It's cheaper, too. But even with unmalted rye, hulls make the sparge easier.

(refering to Adnams) However, it is available in cans!

But the cans are not conditioned with live yeast, right? I was referring to Adnam's dual-strain yeast (not their beer in general). They include the primary dual-strain yeast in their mini-casks, but not their bottles; even the bottle-conditioned ones utilize a different bottling yeast strain. I've never heard of "can-conditioning" with primary yeast, sounds potentially dangerous, but I suppose it's theoretically possible.

Correct, I didn't realise you were pointing to yeast sources. Can conditioning is done however, Sierra Nevada do it, but whether it contains the primary strain I don't know.

[seymour]

...Correct, I didn't realise you were pointing to yeast sources. Can conditioning is done however, Sierra Nevada do it, but whether it contains the primary strain I don't know.

Gotcha. I edited that section to make it a little more clear. Cheers!

[beer gut]

Hi all I am a bit late getting into this thread but I have to report my new found love for Rye ale. I brewed my very first Rye ale ever this year, so I decided to brew a smoked Rye ale for my first attempt at brewing Rye ale and I was not disappointed in fact this brew could be a show stopper when I put into the competition this year. I am going to brew a Golden Rye ale for the summer using a single hop bill using Australian hop Summer. I have a question about storing Rye ale, how well does it store? Is it a ale that will last months in the bottle or has it got a short shelf life?