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

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Last batch of this I made was 10 gallons. I used US-05 but fermented at 62 to try and get as little yeast character as I could in the finished beer. I kicked the first keg but then made pale ales and other beers I had to drink before they went bad. The second keg ended up laggering for 5 months in the back of the keezer. It is friggin oustanding now! The mouthfeel is very creamy and the bubbles in the head are ultra fine. If I didn't know better I would say it was a lager. The hops have gone but the rye bite is still there. Just a fantastic beer!!

Revvy, have you tried making this with a lager yeast?
 
Setesh said:
Last batch of this I made was 10 gallons. I used US-05 but fermented at 62 to try and get as little yeast character as I could in the finished beer. I kicked the first keg but then made pale ales and other beers I had to drink before they went bad. The second keg ended up laggering for 5 months in the back of the keezer. It is friggin oustanding now! The mouthfeel is very creamy and the bubbles in the head are ultra fine. If I didn't know better I would say it was a lager. The hops have gone but the rye bite is still there. Just a fantastic beer!!

Revvy, have you tried making this with a lager yeast?
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I'm going to try this recipe with the White Labs San Francisco Lager yeast that I just used for a steam beer and ferment at 60. I'll post my results. :tank:
 
Anybody oak this thing? I brewed it up last week and the sweet wort had a molasses like aroma, I am guessing due to the corn, that seemed like it would go nicely with some bourbon soaked medium toasted oak. Considering the history of the brew, does it seem likely that this may have been fermented in a used bourbon barrel?

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Aa760 said:
Anybody oak this thing? I brewed it up last week and the sweet wort had a molasses like aroma, I am guessing due to the corn, that seemed like it would go nicely with some bourbon soaked medium toasted oak. Considering the history of the brew, does it seem likely that this may have been fermented in a used bourbon barrel?


It goes great with some bourbon. I did about 1 oz of chips and 8 oz of buffalo trace to 2.5 gal. Turned out great.

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Wow. This is some great stuff! I brewed this up about a month ago and just kegged it over the weekend. The quick carbed leftovers are fantastic. Deep amber with a tenacious creamy white head. Can taste the sweetness of the corn and the spice from the rye. I pretty much followed the recipe, but used malted rye and added the hops as FWH. Bravo!
 
Did my WV version of this and kegged last weekend - it's now chilling and carbing in the keezer.

10# 2 row
2# whole rye from bulk food store
8oz biscuit
8 oz caramel 20
4 oz black malt

mashed at 150 for an hour
1 oz of warrior at 60
1 oz EKG at flameout
S05 rehydrated

Huge rye aroma when I kegged it and seems very sessionable. It's sitting behind some other kegs, so will cold condition for at least 2-3 weeks before I start drinking it. Can't wait.
 
Just finished 10 gallons of this per OP. Cut the hops to 1.5 oz as they where 8.1 AA. Half with us05 the other half with 1007. Iv been really digging 1007 in my less hoppy lighter beers
 
Brewed this for the third year in a row. One of the few beers I repeat every year. I'll be serving this one at a beerfest in June.


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Just had my second bottle of this, it is awesome! From grain to glass in 4 weeks and it is already great, hopefully there will be a couple bottles left in a month or so to see how it is then.

I used WLP001, cleared very nicely, bottled after 2.5 weeks in the fermenter.
Definitely on my rebrew list.

i-qgXSgVR-L.jpg
 
I entered this in the Bluegrass Cup in Lexington KY, was my first time entering a competition. I entered in category 23, didn't win or place top three (didn't expect to lol), still waiting on the score sheet but I do know that it was scored a 32 which I think I'm happy with considering it was only my 3rd all grain and 5th brew overall.
 
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1403058436.554939.jpgImageUploadedByHome Brew1403058448.264799.jpg

Brewing this as we speak. Also, the top photo is a batch I brewed about a month ago. Very nice beer!


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I've lost track of how many times I've brewed this in the last year. Either 5 or 6 times, but I love it, especially in the summer. I have a keg on tap now, and I'm planning on brewing another just to have it at the ready.
 
I noticed this beer carbed up in the bottles really quick (like 3 days) usually I use dextrose for bottle carbing but I opted for the table sugar as the recipe suggested. Is this normal for table sugar because the dextrose always takes 1.5 weeks to achieve this level of carbonation.
 
I agree...this beer carbs more quickly than anything I've ever bottled before (not that I have a ton of experience). I used regular dextrose for my bottling so I don't think it's just that you used sucrose vs dextrose.

It's a really fantastic beer. Easy to brew and carbs quickly.


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Enjoying one of these after a long night of work. Great beer for the summer. Not as dark as OPs. Brewed it last year with the same result. Definitely a yearly brew

1405000785056.jpg
 
Has anybody ever tried this with smoked malt? I was thinking a little less than 20% Briess cherrywood smoked malt, which gives me the following recipe for a 3-gallon batch:

2 lbs 2-row
1 lb smoked malt
1.5 lbs flaked corn
10.5 oz flaked rye
1.25 oz Black malt
1.25 oz C120
 
Doing another 10 gallons of this on Sunday. I have 2 new brew partners I've been brewing with. I'm going to introduce this to them. They seem a little skeptical, but I think this will win them over.
 
I have a batch of this mashing right now. I love anything with rye and this beer sounds too good not to try.
 
Wow, just figured what it cost to make this batch. $13.75 using washed yeast. That's a very good deal.
 
The only other beer I have done that uses rye is Edworts bee cave brewery rye IPA. Its delicious. I try to keep that one on tap often.
 
I've been eyeing this recipe for a while now and decided to brew it today. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm tired of brewing the same ales and I'm excited to try something different.

I plan on fermenting for 2 weeks and cold crash and keg.
 
Just got finished brewing. I missed the OG (got 1.042) but hit exactly 5 gallons in the fermenter. Mine doesn't seem as dark either. Maybe it will look a little different when I keg it. I'm not terribly worried though, I'm sure it will be a great beer.
 
I am guessing I am doing something wrong in beersmith..... But its giving me 1.041 EST SG 9.9 SRM 21.8 IBU and EST FG 1.007 72% total efficiency

Usually my recipes are on point, but this one isnt coming out like the original post.

Think I am going to go ahead and make this my next brew just want it to be on point. Thanks.
 
I brewed a 5 gallon batch of this and let it sit in primary for 10 days. I crash cooled it and then kegged it yesterday morning. I also force carbed it. I just poured some to try it and I can't believe how tasty this is. It's a little bit sweet but light has a bit of a spicy finish and maybe a bit of chocolate to it. I'm really not sure what I was expecting from it but I know I like it already and its only 11 days old. It's very easy to drink and has a beautiful cascading head like a nitro pour. This one is a winner and I think I'm going to keep this one on tap is often as possible. It kind of tastes like a Yuengling but much better.
 
nyer said:
I brewed a 5 gallon batch of this and let it sit in primary for 10 days. I crash cooled it and then kegged it yesterday morning. I also force carbed it. I just poured some to try it and I can't believe how tasty this is. It's a little bit sweet but light has a bit of a spicy finish and maybe a bit of chocolate to it. I'm really not sure what I was expecting from it but I know I like it already and its only 11 days old. It's very easy to drink and has a beautiful cascading head like a nitro pour. This one is a winner and I think I'm going to keep this one on tap is often as possible. It kind of tastes like a Yuengling but much better.
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I thought this had the color and sweetness of Yuengling when I tasted a hydro sample. I can't wait to keg it and find out!


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Just brewed a variant of this up, I wonder how many batches of Kentucky Common have been brewed in Scotland? ;)

Just a wee question, did any of you find this malt bill was seriously trubby? I do BIAB and generally trub goes in to the FV and there's almost twice as much as normal!
 
rlemkin said:
Just a wee question, did any of you find this malt bill was seriously trubby? I do BIAB and generally trub goes in to the FV and there's almost twice as much as normal!
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Brewed this Sunday... Just went and looked at it, it has a ton of trub, more than I am accustom to, guessing it might be the rye but could be the corn since i never use it before either.
 
Revvy said:
Yeah, I've given up US 05 for that reason.... The last batch of this, fermented in what with other yeast would be the optimal temp (the low 60's) took on a stone fruit taste.

It's pretty much why I've given up on what used to be my goto yeast. I've been playing around with BRY97 as my main strain. But I haven't done it on this beer yet.
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Revvy, should I go with US 05 for my first attempt or have you found a more reliable yeast for this? It'll be my third all-grain batch, so I'm still a bit clueless.
 
I'm not Revvy. But I have made this batch 3 times. I like US 05 and Wyeast 1007 German ale for this beer. I'd go with US 05 for simplicity
 
Tasted delicious when I was bottling it. My variation was ~30 IBU and 5.7%.. waiting for it to carb, but sadly probably won't be done in time for my local homebrew club meeting.
 
rlemkin said:
Tasted delicious when I was bottling it. My variation was ~30 IBU and 5.7%.. waiting for it to carb, but sadly probably won't be done in time for my local homebrew club meeting.
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Damn this came out pretty good and crystal clear :rockin:

Would be a very tasty summer alternative to lager.
 
This finished insanely low for me.... Came in at 1.002 FG. Tastes good, extremely drinkable, not as much flavor as a I hoped for though. Also has no head retetion at all. mashed at 148... Next time I might think ill mash a little higher and maybe add wheat or carapils then maybe some finishing hops just because I can.
 
Cadrian said:
This finished insanely low for me.... Came in at 1.002 FG. Tastes good, extremely drinkable, not as much flavor as a I hoped for though. Also has no head retetion at all. mashed at 148... Next time I might think ill mash a little higher and maybe add wheat or carapils then maybe some finishing hops just because I can.
Click to expand...

Did you use US-05? I've never had it finish anywhere near that low. Stopped at a nice 1.011 here.
 

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