Steeping Rye?

I'm thinking about brewing a rye beer, but I'm not too sure on how to go about steeping the rye, or what type of rye to use.

I have access to some unmalted rye, which would be my preferred choice (it's free), but if that would be ill-advised I could use something else (flaked rye, perhaps? Is flaked rye unmalted too?)

Anyways, would I have to crush it before using it? How long should I steep it for and at what temp? Thanks!

You will get almost nothing out of unmalted or flaked rye by steeping it. Both have to be mashed with 2-row. If the only grain you want to use is rye, the choice is malted rye. It can convert itself.

Ok, glad I asked before I went ahead with this!

What about other specialty grains? Would there be enough enzymes in ~1 lb of specialty grains to get what I want out of the rye? And what if the specialty grains are 6 row instead of 2 row? Is the enzyme content different enough that it wouldn't work?

It depends on the types of specialty grains, and the rye you use. Some specialty grains, like Vienna and Munich, have enough diastatic power to convert themselves, but not really any other grains. If you really want to do a Rye beer, I'd go for a partial mash (for with any rye, you're going to need it. It's not any harder than steeping grains, it just takes a little longer. Try something like, .5 lbs unmalted or flaked rye, 1 lb. american 2-row, .5 lbs specialty grain. Or add in some unmalted rye, which can convert itself. Some of the HBT wiki pages on the different grains will tell you their diastatic power. If it's 30+ it can convert itself.

You can steep flaked rye. I've done it before with extract recipes and it came out quite nice.

yeah i think you still get some flavor/color when steeping flaked rye, but you wont get gravity points