Rye IPA - Ideas for Grains and Hops

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

beerspitnight

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Messages
316
Reaction score
4
Location
Beijing
Folks,
After a successful APA and a great brewday on Saturday (Stout) we are going to try making a Rye IPA.
Please let me know your thoughts on the grains (types and %).
This is for a 10g batch

Pale 12.12 65%
Rye 3.3 18%
Crystal 30 2.2 12%
CaraPils 1.1 6%

Hops - we were originally thinking about doing a continuous hopped beer, but I am now having second thoughts and thinking we will stick with a "traditional" hopping schedule.

Chinook 3 60 11.0% 59.07
Chinook 1 5 11.0% 3.93
Amarillo 1 5 9.0% 3.21

Total IBU's = 66

Safale 05

Dry Hop
4oz of Amarillo
4oz of Chinook

Estimated OG = 1.053
Estimated FG = 1.013
Estimated ABV = 5.24
 
I'll be a bit more direct with my questions.
1. I have never brewed with rye malt before and I wonder if 18% rye malt will screw with the efficiency and/or sparging. I don't have access to rice hulls (go figure).
2. With 8oz of dry hops, are we "wasting" hops? Is this the best utilization of these hops for a beer with full aroma?
Thanks.
 
I make a killer Chinook Rye IPA if I do say so myself (see my drop down). I would cut the C-pils and the C-30 to 3% each. 18% rye is OK in my book. It gives kinda a slick mouthfeel so all that crystal malt is not needed. Try 4oz dry hop and adjust next batch if needed. It soaks up a lot of wort...
 
I make a killer Chinook Rye IPA if I do say so myself (see my drop down). I would cut the C-pils and the C-30 to 3% each. 18% rye is OK in my book. It gives kinda a slick mouthfeel so all that crystal malt is not needed. Try 4oz dry hop and adjust next batch if needed. It soaks up a lot of wort...

Thanks, Poobah.
I can cut the C-30 and put carared in its place in order to get the color around 8srm.
I chopped the Cpils down to 3%.
I can also add in the wheat malt to match your style.

And now I am contemplating adding in mash hops, which would be a first.

Hops Schedule:
1oz Chinook Mash Hop
1oz Amarillo Mash Hop
3oz Chinook @60
2oz Chinook @ 5
2oz Amarillo @ 5

2oz Chinook Dry Hop
2oz Amarillo Dry Hop

Thoughts on the hop schedule?
 
I think his reasoning is because with that much crystal malt it will be quite sweet. I think the Chinook is a bit too much overall. Many people have said Chinook when used in large amounts gets very "Catty". It's also supposedly pretty harsh as a bittering hop when used in large amounts. Amarillo though is fantastic with pretty much anything, which I'd keep.

If you are adamant of using Chinook, I'd do smaller amounts and/or use other hops to help achieve the IBU you are looking for. Honestly, I'd think a combo of Columbus/Chinook/Amarillo would probably be pretty interesting and solid.
 
I think his reasoning is because with that much crystal malt it will be quite sweet. I think the Chinook is a bit too much overall. Many people have said Chinook when used in large amounts gets very "Catty". It's also supposedly pretty harsh as a bittering hop when used in large amounts. Amarillo though is fantastic with pretty much anything, which I'd keep.

If you are adamant of using Chinook, I'd do smaller amounts and/or use other hops to help achieve the IBU you are looking for. Honestly, I'd think a combo of Columbus/Chinook/Amarillo would probably be pretty interesting and solid.

Keffa,
Thanks - we are a bit limited on the selection of available hops over here. I have 12oz of Chinook and 5oz of Amarillo (and 5oz of Goldings and 5oz of fuggle) that I can play with. I heard from others that the Chinook/Amarillo combo is nice. And looking at Pohhba's recipe, he utilized Chinook for bittering. By "catty" do you mean cat pee? hmmm.
 
Thanks, Poobah.
I can cut the C-30 and put carared in its place in order to get the color around 8srm.
I chopped the Cpils down to 3%.
I can also add in the wheat malt to match your style.

And now I am contemplating adding in mash hops, which would be a first.

Hops Schedule:
1oz Chinook Mash Hop
1oz Amarillo Mash Hop
3oz Chinook @60
2oz Chinook @ 5
2oz Amarillo @ 5

2oz Chinook Dry Hop
2oz Amarillo Dry Hop

Thoughts on the hop schedule?
Chinook and Amarillo is a nice combo. I used some chinook in my mash because I had some pellets that I wanted to use up. It's kind of a waste so limit use, but it sure makes the mash smell nice. Try some as FWH. Get bittering and flavor out of them. I like the new setup!
 
Keffa,
Thanks - we are a bit limited on the selection of available hops over here. I have 12oz of Chinook and 5oz of Amarillo (and 5oz of Goldings and 5oz of fuggle) that I can play with. I heard from others that the Chinook/Amarillo combo is nice. And looking at Pohhba's recipe, he utilized Chinook for bittering. By "catty" do you mean cat pee? hmmm.

Yeah, the dreaded cat pee.


I'd think if used for FWH, it wouldn't be nearly as bad, but most people do suggest limiting the amount used.

I'd stick to the Chinook and Amarillo if those other 2 are all you have though.
 
We should be able to brew this tomorrow, after work.
Feedback is always appreciated, especially on the hop schedule.
After speaking to the brewmaster who provides our ingredients, we are going with the following grain bill.
10 gallon batch
PAM 7.5K = 73%
Rye 1.25K = 12%
Wheat 1K = 10%
CaraHell 500 grams - 5%

We'll try out the FWH
Hop Schedule
Chinook 2oz FWM
Amarillo 1 oz FWM
Chinook 2oz @ 60
Chinook 3oz @ 5
Amarillo 2oz @ 5
Dry Hop - 2oz Chinook
Dry Hop - 2oz Amarillo

05 yeast

IBUs -FWH = 50.65

Estimated OG = 1.065
Estimated FG = 1.015

Color = 6.4

ABV = 6.4
Any ideas on how we figure out IBUs on the FWH addition?
 
It looks as though that site doesn't have a mac version, and I am really more interested in sorting out the hop schedule, especially since we are using FWH for the first time.
Thanks.
 
Well as I said, putting your recipe into software, any software will let you play around with the recipe, including the hops. I know there are ways to get windows programs working on a mac, or you could always use an online program like the one at www.hopville.com . Google is your friend.
 
You might check out the hop schedule on Yooper's Dogfish Head 60 minute clone. I tried that using about 1/3 of the total amount of Amarillo as FWH, then followed her instructions the rest of the way. Turned out great. Better than any IPA I've tried commercially. Very smooth bitterness. (haven't seen actual DFH in stores in Kansas to compare...)
 
Thanks, Trom - that was a good reference point.

We are brewing this now.
Mash Schedule, which was given to us by the brewer:
50c - 30 min
60c = 15 min
66c = 40 min
72c = 10 min
78c = mashout

We'll see how it goes.
 
Post gravity reading was 1.070, which is above our estimate of 1.065.
It will spend 3 weeks in the fermenter and with dry hops for the last week.
 
So we ended up pulling this a bit earlier than we had originally planned as we tasted a sample on Thursday (after 4 days of dry hopping) and it was fantastic. I pulled my first proper pint last night. It is still hazy, which I am a bit disappointed about as we used Irish moss for the first time in hopes of it helping to clarify.
Final gravity was 1.012 and abv is 7.6%
Mouthfeel is great. Hints of sweetness from the malt, slight spiciness, perhaps from the rye or from the chinook hops. Mellow bitterness (we were at 60 IBUs). and some citrus and floral notes from the amarillo. Bitterness hits a bit harder in the end, and then fades off nicely.
Smells great and tastes great! I think this is our best brew yet!
 
Should be from the rye and chinook spiceyness i was thinking this would be pretty spicy but balanced pretty good,rye will probably come out more as it ages.Since i bottle onlly i find it pretty interesting how they evolve with time.Even commercial beers also. Glad this turned out good it sounded pretty good and was interested how chinnook and rye would work together,thanks for the follow up.
 
Batch size 5.5 gallons
Boil size 6.5 gallons
Boil time 60 minutes

Pale Ale 6 lbs 46%
Rye malt 4 lbs 31%
Munich 10L 1 lb 8%
Caramel 40L 1 lb 8%
Flaked Rye 1 lb 8%

Citra (13.4%) 1.25 OZ 60 min 51.15
Citra (13.4%) 1.00 OZ 10 min 14.76
Citra (13.4%) 0.75 OZ 05 min 6.10
TOTAL IBU 72.01
SRM 9

I am reconsidering the Caramel 40L after reading this thread. May drop it and add 1 lb pale ale. I am wondering if the 31% rye malt and the flaked rye may be too much?
 
Next time we brew this, I would like to increase the amount of rye by 5%. I have read that the GB should contain no more than 20% rye malt, but I've also seen recipes that hit up to 25%.
 
beerspitnight said:
Next time we brew this, I would like to increase the amount of rye by 5%. I have read that the GB should contain no more than 20% rye malt, but I've also seen recipes that hit up to 25%.

You can go up to 100% rye malt, its all a matter of personal taste. I do a rye version of my imperial belgian wit recipe subbing rye for the wheat, it comes out great, and that's 70% rye.
 
Ive never had a 100% or even 50% rye beer commercially.Any out there? I would like to try them rather than up my rye next time. Does it finish gravity just like any base malt?
 
Ive never had a 100% or even 50% rye beer commercially.Any out there? I would like to try them rather than up my rye next time. Does it finish gravity just like any base malt?

Short's Rich's Rye. This is the one you need to try. I tried this at the Traverse City summer brew festival last August. The next day I took a short trip over to Short's in Bellaire. The guy behind the bar told me the grist was 85% rye. It is the best rye beer I've ever had.
Supposedly, it's available in spring but I'm just not sure if it goes out for distribution.

http://www.shortsbrewing.com/beer/our-portfolio/specialty-beers/richs-rye/
 
Shorts has a Rye? Excellent every one of there beers I have tried has been great. Well I guess I will be taking the SWMBO to the Quilt Shop in Bellaire.
 
There is some good info attached to this thread! We will definitely brew this again, and we'll go with 5% to 10% incremental increases in the amount of rye we are using. I have read that GBs with more than 20% rye run the risk of decreased sparges and that rice hulls should be used. Believe it or not, we can't get rice hulls over here, so my only concern will be sparging.
 
There is some good info attached to this thread! We will definitely brew this again, and we'll go with 5% to 10% incremental increases in the amount of rye we are using. I have read that GBs with more than 20% rye run the risk of decreased sparges and that rice hulls should be used. Believe it or not, we can't get rice hulls over here, so my only concern will be sparging.

My first rye beer was about 20% and I did not use rice hulls and it was a nightmare getting the mash to drain. It sucked big time. The next time I added .5 lbs of hulls and it drained beautifully! I would do what I could to obtain some.
 
wolverinebrewer said:
My first rye beer was about 20% and I did not use rice hulls and it was a nightmare getting the mash to drain. It sucked big time. The next time I added .5 lbs of hulls and it drained beautifully! I would do what I could to obtain some.

Couldn't something locally available be subbed for rice hulls? You just need something organic that doesn't soak up water, like sunflower seeds or maybe even uncrushed whole grain wild rice (???). Just brainstorming. There isnt anything magical about rice hulls is there?
 
Couldn't something locally available be subbed for rice hulls? You just need something organic that doesn't soak up water, like sunflower seeds or maybe even uncrushed whole grain wild rice (???). Just brainstorming. There isnt anything magical about rice hulls is there?

Jim - good ideas there. Seeds are aplenty here. The Chinese certainly don't find anything magical about rice hulls...save for the fact that they are a good fire starter since they burn easily!
 
beerspitnight said:
Jim - good ideas there. Seeds are aplenty here. The Chinese certainly don't find anything magical about rice hulls...save for the fact that they are a good fire starter since they burn easily!

Anything work out for you?
 
Back
Top