Ham on Rye Clone

Was at Three Floyds again last night and ordered one of my favorites, their ham on rye. Tried asking the waiter and bartender what made it taste like ham and neither of them said that they knew how. I know that they use smoked rye, but how do they get it to taste and smell like ham? The only thing that I can think of is that they dry hop with bacon bits. Tried searching online and can't come up with anything other than reviews for it. I'm putting together my all grain setup as we speak and this recipe is one that I know I want to try and make. Anyone have any ideas?

I've never had this beer so I don't really know how hammy it is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it entirely comes from the smoked malt. Because bacon is the ubiquitous smoked food, I always think "bacon" when I taste anything else that's been smoked - cheese, malt, even other meats.

kanzimonson said:

I've never had this beer so I don't really know how hammy it is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it entirely comes from the smoked malt. Because bacon is the ubiquitous smoked food, I always think "bacon" when I taste anything else that's been smoked - cheese, malt, even other meats.

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Well it's definately my first rye beer so I'm not sure if that's how all of them taste (rye or smoked rye brews) or if they do something different to get the ham taste.

So what's happening with the recipie. I also wondered the same thing when I tried Ham on Rye. It doesn't taste much like other rye brews. However, I dont think that I have had anything with a significant amount of smoked rye. I'd like to see what you've come up with or if you've attempted how your results were.

I don't know if this is helpful, but on several occasions I've noticed a distinct "ham" flavor to hefeweizens that have seen higher temperatures - mostly, those that have been imported a long distance. Perhaps try fermenting warm with a weizen yeast? Might sound crazy, but it might do the trick.