Historical Beer: Kentucky Common "Kiss Yer Cousin" Rye Kentucky Common Ale

Finally got around to brewing this last month, tapped a couple weeks ago. Holy crap, this is good beer! Across the board raves, craft beer and bmc drinkers alike! I undershot the mash at around 146, and had a sorta crappy efficiency (1.038 OG), but it fermented (vigorously, spraying through the airlock all over the wall. i used us05) all the way down to 1.004 for a respectable final ABV of 4.5%. But even with all my terrible technique, this one is definitely a gem.

The first sip definitely has a lot of corn sweetness, but that moderates quickly. I have it at a fairly high carbonation - it just feels appropriate, regardless of historical accuracy. Gorgeous crystal clear deep mahogany color. Decent head retention with nice lacing, and more body than you'd expect from such a low mash temp. Both refreshing and full flavored, but with a great rye finish. I've been on a little bit of a hop-heavy bender, and this one is just the perfect contrast to that. Great bbq/porch-sitting/hockey-watching beer. Can't wait to make it again - this one is definitely going in the standard rotation!

SuperNintendoChalmers said:

Gorgeous crystal clear deep mahogany color. Decent head retention with nice lacing, and more body than you'd expect from such a low mash temp. Both refreshing and full flavored, but with a great rye finish.

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I had to re-read this to make sure you weren't describing the perfect woman...

I've had this fermenting for 6 days now and the krausen is still up a about an inch and airlock is still going pretty good. I may have to leave this one in primary for 3 weeks just to make sure it's good and finished. The color is gorgeous on this one.

Yea I recently brewed this and it was crystal clear after 14 days. I took 1 gallon out of the primary after week 3 and put it into a 1 gallon jug and put 2 ounces of bourbon soaked oak chips (soaked 2 ounces of chips in 1/4 cup makers for 2 days beforehand) in the 1 gallon for 4 days then bottled it. It was absolutely fantastic after 4 days on 2 ounces of oak chips, but we'll see how it turns out after being in the bottle for 2 weeks.

I had forgot about this guy with my move to North GA....I have to add it back to my list of must brews.

Took 1 gallon off the primary and aged it on oak for 4 days. 2 oz of oak was soaked in 1/4 cup bourbon for 2 days then both the oak and bourbon was added to the jug. I was tasting daily bc I had a ton of oak and bourbon for only 1 gallon, so 4 days was when it was ready and I really liked the taste. I am also planning on consuming this within 3-4 weeks of bottle, if I was planning on aging longer I would have prolly left the oak in for at least another week or two.

Mashing now!

This was my first all-grain BIAB recipe, and its about to be the first batch to go through my new mash tun. All I have to do now is finish building it...

Success! I stepped up the recipe a bit so I would be covered for a no sparge mash (worried about kinks in my process). Looks like the I'll end up with 5.5 gallons of 1.046 wort in the fermenter.

Boiling now. Can't wait.

So I'm getting my full size fridge today for fermentation control! This means my keg fridge can be used for serving only and I can brew any time! So what I'm saying is I think this will be my first recipe! Revvy, what do u think about using cali ale yeast 001? It would be nice to use a yeast I can reuse and save some money.. but I understand if it ferments too dry. Maybe cali 5 would be a better choice but I'm less likely to reuse it. I know either would make a good beer, but will 001 be way off the mark, flavor wise?

I can't remember if I've used a liquid Cali yeast on it before, but I have used US-05 which is a dry cali yeast. I don't think there's a problem with using it.

My first batch was with CalAle and it turned out fine.

I need a quick turnaround session so I will be brewing up a batch of Kentucky Common tomorrow. Came across this post a while back and brewed a half batch of Revvy's recipe at the beginning of the year and though it was great. Then went home to MN and had Summit's Old 152 and loved it. The brewer at Summit is a buddy of mine and I got some additional thoughts on what I might do with the recipe.

I think this time around I am going to do an inverted "high rye" burbon grain bill (i.e. up the rye to 18% - I love rye in my beers). I am also going to use crystal 80 as I prefer the flavor to 120L and add touch of Victory malt (2 oz for 5 gallons).

Just killed my keg tonight. I'm gonna do a re-brew of this in a few weeks. It only lasted a month. Considering I'm the only beer drinker in the house, it went pretty quick. Good stuff.

Even though I screwed it up it came out good.

FarmBoy530 said:

So I'm getting my full size fridge today for fermentation control! This means my keg fridge can be used for serving only and I can brew any time! So what I'm saying is I think this will be my first recipe! Revvy, what do u think about using cali ale yeast 001? It would be nice to use a yeast I can reuse and save some money.. but I understand if it ferments too dry. Maybe cali 5 would be a better choice but I'm less likely to reuse it. I know either would make a good beer, but will 001 be way off the mark, flavor wise?

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WLP001 is what I used, and I love the results. And I reuse that like crazy. I believe I washed a WLP001 yeast cake and split it into 2 new beers, this being one of them.

My brew buddies yesterday at a bbq were wondering about English ale yeasts...anyone tried it with them?

I've used Nottingham before at around 60. Worked very well. Never at higher temps where the esters would come through.

Just tapped this keg after fining on gelatin for a week. This is really interesting. Very clean with with a rye bite finish. This is the first beer I've ever brewed with rye in it, and it is very nice! Thanks Revvy!

Brewed a bigger hoppier version this time for an upcoming crab fest.
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.011
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 26.5

5.3# American 6-Row
2# Flaked Corn
1# Flaked Rye
1# Dark Brown Sugar
2oz English Crystal 70-80L
2oz English Crystal 160L
2oz Chocolate Malt 350L
1oz Bramling Cross (7.4%) @45min for 17.2 IBUs
1oz Bramling Cross (7.4%) @15min for 9.3 IBUs
3/4oz Bramling Cross (7.4%) Dry-Hopped for 1 Week
White Labs CalAle yeast

I wanted to keep the creamy mouthfeel without making it heavy at this higher grav, so I went with 6-row for the extra proteins. Tasted great while bottling this morning. Can't wait to try it cold.

Knocking out another 5 gallons right now.

Just bought ingredients for this...going to be my next brew day!

Not exactly sure what has happened with the last 5 gallons that I brewed. A week ago I brewed a 10 Gal batch of the Raging Irish red. Then Friday I brewed this and on Sunday a cream ale. I was going to use the yeast cake from the Raging Red. (WLP001) for the rye and cream but don't have it ready yet, so they've been sitting in the room with an airlock, and I purged their airspace with CO2 first.

Today I came in to check and the rye had an even foam across the top of it with airlock activity. I'm hoping I merely did a terrible job cleaning it and the English ale yeast or San Fran lager yeast from whatever was in that carboy last took root. I grabbed my racking cane and tried to pull as much from the bottom of the red as possible to pitch into it.

I guess we'll see what happens when I return from Korea.

daggumit LHBS didn't have Flaked Corn. Guy said Instant Grits could be substituted.....Any one ever done this?

knuckleheadbrewing said:

daggumit LHBS didn't have Flaked Corn. Guy said Instant Grits could be substituted.....Any one ever done this?

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Corn is one of the easiest to use in different forms, you just have to handle them differently. You can use whole, canned, cream, grits, polenta, tortilla chips, cornflakes, even pop corn. You just have to know how to treat each. Instant you probably can use just like flaked, but regular grits, or most of the other ones I mentioned you'd more than likely have to do a cereal mash. Google that, and you'll see what you need to do.

Appricate the advice Rev

Love the Sons avatar as well!

I'd get a shirt from ya but I cannot ever bring my self to pay almost (2XL) $30 for a tshirt...I'm a cheap bastard!

Well, I brewed this again yesterday, didn't change the recipe. But after the first one I did with the cream ale yeast I thought I try another batch. I was going to use a California common yeast, but remembered I had White labs American Farmhouse ale I use on something. So.. I will keep posted

Try this beer with a couple lemon slices in your glass. It 's perfect on a hot summer day. It reminds me of an Arnold Palmer.

Revvy, I'll say it again, this is an AMAZING beer. I'm on my third batch and it has become one of my all time favorite beers. It is crisp and clean with the rye bite in the finish. So good! So far I've brewed this and your Old Bog Road (search doesn't find that one BTW, have to pull it from your signature or from the 'Multiple' category) and really liked them both. Cheers!

Finally re-doing this tomorrow. I'll bump up the Rye a bit in this batch. looking forward to it. I have a poker game at my house in about a month, so hopefully it will be ready to go then.

Brewed 2 gallons of this 8/3/13 substituting Chinook for Cluster. I bottled half as was (1.054 OG to 1.015 FG) and oaked the other gallon on .35 oz toasted Jack Daniels oak chips for 5 days (toasted in oven at 375F for 40 mins). I tried the plain KY common 9/2 and its a really nice dark cream ale with a clean, crisp finish (easy drinking) but its really hard to pick out the rye so I might rebrew with a bit more.
I just had the 1st bottle of oaked and WOW! amazing... i had some Innis and Gunn when in Philly last weekend and I have to say, I prefer this oaked recipe to it. thin, creamy head on it after a few minutes, aroma of wood/oak/corn/cream ale similar to Innis and Gunn. its definitely not as dry as I&G, the oak also makes its appearance towards the finish, really rounding it out. it reminds me so much of a bourbon and coke, ha! I will be rebrewing this and oaking all of it! Thanks for the recipe

Brewed this a couple times now and really enjoy it. Upped the rye but just wasn't the same.

A little off topic but where did O'Daniel's version go? Looks like that thread (and his account) were deleted.

Brewed this'n yesterday afternoon and had to sub a few things. Didnt have 120L crystal so I used 3oz 80L instead of the 2oz of 120. I couldnt find flaked rye and used rye malt instead , morebeer said the sub would be fine ?
No Cluster at lhbs so I used Northern and reduced 60 min to 1/2oz and at 15min tossed in 1/4oz.

Hit 1.046 OG right on the button and sample tasted good , a little sweet but I thing that will drop off some .
All in all it tastes good now !!

This looks like a fun beer.

I brewed this up a couple of months ago( infact I am getting low on it). I handed a couple to a buddy, well last night I get an email with what was that beer you gave me. "I found an unmarked bottle in the back of my fridge so I decided to see what it was, it was great. I can only assume you gave it to me since it had no label" As I remember I used Special B in it instead of C120.

The first batch of this that I brewed back in April was not only too low in FG (1.040) and too high in IBU (~32) but also ended up with some sort of infection while conditioning in the carboy. By the time I noticed it, however, it had already formed a nice pellicle and didn't have any off smells so I decided to just let it ride (for the past 7 months).

Tasted a small sample over the weekend and it's turned into a pretty decent (accidental) sour, with a nice golden-brownish color. Maybe some sort of Münster Alt?

Anyway, I'm slowly lowering the temp on it (along with a schwarzbier) in my lagering fridge and hoping to get the pellicle to drop. Hoping to bottle this weekend or next.

I just bottled up a batch of the Kiss Yer Cousin and must of done something wrong as it turned out an amber ?
I used the brew in a bag method , and at time couldnt find flaked rye and used rye malt from morebeer , and local shop didnt have 120L crystal (should have ordered that too)so I used 80L .But for the rest I used all the same .
It didnt come out dark like Revvy's in the picture posted.
Any ideas how I can adjust ?
I did however hit the 1.046 SG and a 1.010 FG . The hydro sample was pretty tasty and the rye gave it a dry taste.

Hayseed said:

I just bottled up a batch of the Kiss Yer Cousin and must of done something wrong as it turned out an amber ?
I used the brew in a bag method , and at time couldnt find flaked rye and used rye malt from morebeer , and local shop didnt have 120L crystal (should have ordered that too)so I used 80L .But for the rest I used all the same .
It didnt come out dark like Revvy's in the picture posted.
Any ideas how I can adjust ?
I did however hit the 1.046 SG and a 1.010 FG . The hydro sample was pretty tasty and the rye gave it a dry taste.

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Revvy's picture is darker than the beer actually turns out. The 80 vs. 120 will make a slight difference, but the beer is really more of an amber or dark amber beer. It'll be fine.

I couldnt stand the wait !! Today it was 4 days old and I stuck one in freezer for 40mins and it had a nice frothy head and wow !! That is tasty !!

Thank you Revvy !! This is one I wont be without !

Brewing this for the second time this weekend. This is one of those beers that really strikes a cord with the BMC fans out there, I suspect it may be because of the corn addition.

This time I'm making a split 10 gal batch. I'm going to bump the mash temp by a degree (for some reason my beers attenuate really well), then I'm going to add wlp001 California Ale yeast to the first 5gal, but for the second 5gal I'm actually going to lager this.
I figure there's a good amount of overlap between a typical lager and this beer, so it should turn out really nice. Initially I wanted to use the San Francisco lager yeast but realized that it would probably require a different mash temp due to it's attenuation profile. So instead I'm going to try it with the Mexican lager yeast which seems to come highly recommended as a yeast that shows of the malt profile of a beer quite nicely.

Anybody else try this as a lager?

Thanks for the recipe Revvy!

I Was only able to get 2 lbs of the flaked maize at my LHBS. Will this make much of a difference? I'm not at home to plug the lesser amount into beersmith. Thanks for any replies.