Roggenbier

Ever since tasting the rye beer at the Appalachian Brewing Company in Gettysburg, I've been interested in giving it a kick in the tires. I happened to be at the LHBS getting bottles and corks for EdWort's apfelwein, and decided to snag some ingredients to brew a beer, too.

I nosed through the recipe books, but couldn't find anything on the quick for an extract rye beer, so I made one up. Here's what I came up with:

12 oz Crystal Malt (steeped)
12 oz CaraRed (steeped)
8 oz Flaked Rye (steeped)
6 lbs extra light DME
1 oz Willamette hops (60 min)
.5 oz Willamette (15 min)
.25 oz Willamette (5 min)
.25 oz Willamette (flameout)
WLP001 yeast

Here's the question I had... when looking through the grains, I found both flaked rye and rye malt. I went with the flaked rye, but I didn't have a good reason for that. What would have been the difference between the two?

http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue1.3/hayden.html

Rye malt adds a distinct flavor to the brew. Malting modifies the rye grain in a way that eliminates some of the unwanted effects that are present when using unmalted rye. According to the authors of a study published in Crop Science, "Such a qualitative modification apparently cannot be accomplished by enzymes from the malted barley when they act on unmalted rye" (1).

Rye flakes may provide the most trouble-free source of rye for your recipe; rye flakes available from Briess Malting Company (Chilton, Wisconsin) disintegrate readily and can be obtained through homebrew supply stores.

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I'm not sure that steeping either of them will do anything...I think they need to be mashed.

it'll add some flavor, but not much. you have to do a partial mash. i made a honey rye recently. if you want, send me a msg and i'll let you know how it turns out. i hope to bottle tonight.

Yes, you will have to mash flaked rye. But honestly, if you are only going to add 8 oz, I bet the flavour of it won't even be detectable in your beer. There are LOTS of threads and recipes here on using rye in various types of brews. While there is a lot of personal preference out there, a number of people advocate using both flaked and malted rye (often at around 30% of the grainbill) in their recipes. If you are brewing a roggenbier to the BJCP guidelines, then you need at least 50% rye as your base.

Anyways, you might try getting a pound or two of malted rye and do a mini mash with it. It has enough DP to convert itself plus, so you could easily add some flaked rye, as well, to intensify the rye flavour.

Here is a good thread on the difference between flaked and malted rye:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=21823

P.S. My next brew is going to be a rye beer, too!

Here's a PM and EG version of a Roggen I've successfully brewed:
http://homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=210144&postcount=2

The EG notes:
Heat ½ gallon of water to 160°F then add the Belgian, German, and Chocolate Malts. In another pot, heat 1 gallon of water to 160°F and add the Rye Malt. Remove the pots from the heat and steep at 150°F for 30 minutes. Strain the grain water into the brew pot. Sparge the grains with 1 gallon of 150°F water. Bring to boil, remove from heat and add the Malt Extract and Perle hop. Add water until the total volume in the brew pot is 3.5 gallons. Boil for 45 minutes then add the Czech Saaz and Irish Moss. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and chill the wort.

This also works really well on cask.

Good luck,
Wild