Convert pale rye ale recipe to mini-mash

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joelmole

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Hi folks,

I ordered a Pale Rye Ale kit from AHS recently, and being a newbie, ordered it as an extract kit, not knowing that rye must be mashed. I'm not sure why AHS even makes the extract version an option, other than perhaps the possibility that simply steeping the rye will give you some rye character, though not the optimal result. I'm tempted to try to convert this to a mini-mash recipe for better results. I don't remember the hop schedule off the top of my head but the fermentables were, I believe:

2lb Rye malt
8oz 2-row pale
8oz 120L Crystal
7lb Extra pale LME

Would you just take the steeping grains here and mash them as is? I know that's probably not a proper conversion to a mini-mash recipe but I imagine it would at least properly make use of the 2-row and rye. Would simply steeping the 2-row and rye do anything? I'm thinking of trying a BIAB mini-mash with this, but I'm halfway tempted to just let things lie and brew as instructed in the kit, and just leave the mashing for a future brew day.

Thanks
 
That looks like a mini-mash kit to me. I would do the BIAB which has worked well for me. What do the instructions have you doing?
 
joelmole said:
Hi folks,

I ordered a Pale Rye Ale kit from AHS recently, and being a newbie, ordered it as an extract kit, not knowing that rye must be mashed. I'm not sure why AHS even makes the extract version an option, other than perhaps the possibility that simply steeping the rye will give you some rye character, though not the optimal result. I'm tempted to try to convert this to a mini-mash recipe for better results. I don't remember the hop schedule off the top of my head but the fermentables were, I believe:

2lb Rye malt
8oz 2-row pale
8oz 120L Crystal
7lb Extra pale LME

Would you just take the steeping grains here and mash them as is? I know that's probably not a proper conversion to a mini-mash recipe but I imagine it would at least properly make use of the 2-row and rye. Would simply steeping the 2-row and rye do anything? I'm thinking of trying a BIAB mini-mash with this, but I'm halfway tempted to just let things lie and brew as instructed in the kit, and just leave the mashing for a future brew day.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that a "mash" is really just a more carefully controlled "steep" of grain, so if you use the right amount of water and hold it at roughly the right temp, you will convert starch to sugar and will have gotten the goods from your grain.

I would take that 3lbs of grain and put it in a gallon of water so that the temp was somewhere in the mid 150's in temp.

Hold it there for 45 minutes, then rinse it with another gallon of hot water (in the 160-170 temp range).

Good to go!
 
Yes, it looks like a mini-mash kit, but the instructions state to just steep for 25 minutes at 155 degrees, drain, and discard. It looks to my untrained eye like the main difference between an extract with steeping grains recipe and a partial-mash recipe is that partial mashes have a larger volume of grains with a smaller proportion of extracts, and they just "steep" for a longer period of time to convert more of the starches. I'd say sparging is another difference but BIAB eliminates sparging as well.

Walker, I'll try something similar to your suggestion. Thanks for the advice.

I'm considering an all-grain BIAB setup in the near future, but that will necessitate something like a 60qt stock pot. I'm borrowing a 30qt from my father-in-law right now.
 

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