Flaked Rye

I am not sure, but it adds an almost 'spicy' character to the beer. I love the stuff . I know Rye has a fairly good amount of Protein, although not as much as Hard Wheat...which along with Dextrines are the source of good head retention. So anything that is fairly high in Protein may be a good candidate for improving head retention.

Yes, rye will add body and head retention, especially if you do a protein rest.


TL

You might also consider doing that protein rest at the low end of the temp range so that you can catch some beta glucanase activity (i.e. top end of the gum rest). Flaked rye is sticky stuff, and you will improve your lautering and beer clarity/stability if you can break up some of those beta glucans).

I'd go with the malted rye over the flaked rye. More bang for your buck.

I've had rye saison's before, so why not some rye with wit yeast.

Followup question, as I am brewing with rye this weekend too.

A few people on here have mentioned using a protein rest, to help with head retention. Would you still do that if you're using only Pale 2 row with the rye? Most of the highly modified stuff they say don't do a protein rest, so if you do, are you cancelling out some of the effects from your rye?

As i just brewed a roggenbier last week I think I can help. I used both flaked and malted rye in the recipe and yes a protein rest is a must. Rye gets real sticky without the rest. Even after I did a protein rest the flow of my lauter was pretty slow. Rye beer is one of my favorates its perfect for a warm sunny day, crisp and spicy! I recently had the pleasure of getting to tase a cask age PA rye by a local brewery here at a beer festival and it was fantastic!

I have made many many beers with Rye and never done a protein rest, you can skip it if your system will lauter it.

My roggenbier was the worst stuck sparge I've ever encountered, but the end result was worth all the hassle! We used the yeast cake from a pale ale (S-04, IIRC). That recipe had rye as 60% of the grain bill. I believe style guidelines call for a minimum of 50%. Use some rice hulls!

I also made a Rye IPA with 25% flaked rye. No sparge problems, no rice hulls used. My efficiency was crap, but it's still one of the tastiest beverages I've ever created.

I just did a bastardization of Pastor's Water in to Barleywine and used 3 1bs rye as about 30% of the partial mash grain bill.

No protein rest. Batch sparge. No problem with the lautering.

I'm excited to see if I can detect the 'spicy' flavor of the Rye!

Beehive Brewer: How did you get no stuck sparge? I brewed mine over the weekend, and it was a godawful mess. Although, to be fair, I've had a problem with stuck sparges every time I've brewed. I would say it's my main problem. Grainbed compaction, is my guess.

Do you just lauter super slowly? I barely opened my tun up, and it stopped moving after I had about 2 gallons of wort in my kettle.

I wish I could give you some sage advice, but I'm a rookie when it comes to mashing and lautering.

I'm using a 5 gal, igloo/gott style MLT with a stainless false bottom. I have done anywhere from 6-11 lbs of grain and haven't ever had a stuck sparge. (or even a slow sparge for that matter)

What's your set up?

I have the exact same set up. Isn't that great? I fly sparge, but I don't think that's the issue. It's funny, because my first AG, I just opened the ball valve up full. My efficiency was 65%, but I was done lautering in 10 minutes. Now, I take my time like I'm supposed to, and my efficiency goes up to 78% with stuck sparges. I guess I'll call it a modified crap-ass batch/fly sparge.

Like I said though, I think next time I'll just sit there with a measuring cup and a stop watch, and make damn sure I'm not faster than 1 quart per minute.

A few post here with different results, but what are you using, flaked rye or rye malt? Could be the difference between stuck or not.

AnOldUR said:

A few post here with different results, but what are you using, flaked rye or rye malt? Could be the difference between stuck or not.

Click to expand...

I recommend rye malt too. Not so much for the sparge's sake, but for better conversion/efficiency in the mash...

Malt. Like I said, it's not the first time it's happened, so I think I'm compacting the grain bed.

Next time I may try rice hulls to help it.