Rye Grain and Oily Mouthfeel

I get the slick mouthfeel from flaked rye, but not malted rye. You could try exchanging them to see if that helps.

I have definitely gotten it from malted rye, but usually only when associated with a high hop level.

I believe a beta glucan rest may help with it.

ChrisKennedy said:

I have definitely gotten it from malted rye, but usually only when associated with a high hop level.

Click to expand...

This last one was about 40 IBU of American hops.
What do you consider a high hop level?

The reason I said that was the fact that I have gotten the oiliness when making Rye IPAs, but I have made a Rye Dry Stout and Rye Brown with very little noticeable oiliness.

So higher than a Dry Stout or Brown I guess. It could have easily been other factors though.

Rye makes for a sticky, gelatinous mess. The betaglucen levels are very high, as are the proteins.

I had some problems with my roggenbier because of this.

As for "oily", I don't recall having that, but one thing I always do is skim the top of the boil to get rid off the goop. That stuff is definitely "oily"...it may help, I dunno.

A beta-glucan rest is a good idea...I may do that next time.

Here is a good read I found:

BT - Brewing with Rye

Hard to believe it's been almost three years since the last time I brewed a big rye beer. I gave some thought to the past slick mouthfeel issue, but went ahead with a 1.075 OG recipe that had 40% rye (30% malted / 10% flaked) and 80 IBU's of American hops. Kind of a Roggenbier meets American IPA experiment. It's tasty, but damned if this beer doesn't have the same problem as the one from 2009.

So, here's the question. Is it even a problem? In a BJCP competition, would slick mouthfeel take away points in a rye based beer in the Specialty Beer category? The guidelines describe a Roggenbier as having a medium to full body, but nothing specifically about slickness. Any judges or someone experienced with rye beers have an opinion on how the beer would do in a contest?

I went searching online for these exacts descriptions when I brewed up a Roggen back in Dec 2017 (slick, oily mouthfeel) and I came across your post. I was stunned to find that someone else was asking the same questions that were running in my mind. My rye grist was also around 1/3 of the total grain-bill. I did NOT do a beta-glucan rest. From the initial pour, the medium to medium-heavy mouthfeel, an oily, viscous mouthfeel, was apparent. Like you, I cranked up the co2 but that did not improve things. So I set the keg aside and pondered what went wrong. I had brewed several batches with Rye before (mostly RyePA) but my rye grist was always low. I was angry that this 5-gal batch seemed ruined. I consulted with the owner of a local brewery who happened to be releasing his own Roggen after having not brewed it for a few years (I bought a corny keg of his batch). One of the first things he told me, before I could even ask, was to say that his beer had one of the heaviest mouthfeels that he could remember in a Rye based brew. This immediately triggered a long conversation about the challenges of brewing with a large portion rye grist. I found myself relieved that what I was experiencing was not some unexpected and unexplained fault in my brew day. So I sampled his Roggen and mine side-by-side and experienced the same viscous body. Fast forward a few months in the keg and both beers are now drinking with a noticeably lighter body. I have no explanation for why that is so, but I am taking away two lessons learned from this. The first is that I will keep my rye grist to a minimum in the future. Second, I believe that a Roggen needs some time to keg condition as the slick mouthfeel will dissipate. -Cheers!

Try a Lipoxygenase Rest(fatty acid rest for the free long-chain sugar molecules) between 113-131 for 30 minutes

Do a rest at 43°C, this will be a combined beta glycan and protein rest. Works well in a Roggenbier.