Alternative Grain Beer Light Rye Ale

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MikeFlynn74

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
3,875
Reaction score
22
Location
ANCHORAGE!!
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Notty
Yeast Starter
none
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
none
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.051 (1.046 to 1.053)
Final Gravity
1.012 (1.011 to 1.013)
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
35ish
Color
3° SRM (Yellow)
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7
Tasting Notes
Taste lighjt- but has lots of flavor
This is one sexy beer

Batch size: 5.0 gallons

63% 7 lb American Six-row Pale 33 1
18% 2lb Rye Malt 30 2
9% 1lb Flaked Corn (Maize) 40 1
9% 1lb American White Wheat 39 2

hops
60 1oz Cascade pellet
10 1oz Cascade pellet

Original Gravity
1.051 (1.046 to 1.053)
Final Gravity
1.012 (1.011 to 1.013)
Color
3° SRM
(Yellow)
Mash Efficiency 70%
 
Looks good, has anyone else tried this? I want to brew a beer for my girlfriend (new to craft beers); would this be good for her?
 
Can you sub out the corn to make it all grain? Any other way to thin it out besides sugar/corn/rice?:(
 
Weird- I didnt mean to put 6 row

I will try to get a pic up. I dont know if just using 2 row instead of corn would keep it as light as it is
 
What mash schedule did you use? Did you do a protein rest? How would using 6-row change this beer?
 
I bet this beer would be great with all 6-row. Rye plus the graininess of the barley and the sweetness of the corn would be wonderful. I think maybe a all 2-row and no maize would be good if done a little lower mash temperature for a highly drinkable beer as well, but I think that corn is going to give it that American pop most are used to in the BMC world and still be delicious for us EAC's. LOL :D I really want to try my hand at this with a decoction for fuller flavor and better corn break down in the mash tun. That is why I want to know how clear you can get it without ;). Let us see this beautiful beverage!!!!! LOL
 
i just made this beer...forgot the maize it was outside in another bag...i wonder what it will come out like without the corn in the mash?

any ideas....comments?
 
Ok having to do this one again- It turned out awesome but too heavy with the RYE. I would drop the rye to 1lb and the Wheat to .5lb-

That would make this a great summer brew.
 
I'd do it with 6-row, heck ya, 6-row, rye and corn... as American as Rye Whiskey, baby!! :rockin:

Real Ale's Full Moon Pale Rye ale is one of my all time favorites... 42 IBU (Cascade and Willamette) with 17% rye in the grist. The higher hop bitterness in that beer really balances the spiciness of the rye perfectly.
 
I'd do it with 6-row, heck ya, 6-row, rye and corn... as American as Rye Whiskey, baby!! :rockin:

Real Ale's Full Moon Pale Rye ale is one of my all time favorites... 42 IBU (Cascade and Willamette) with 17% rye in the grist. The higher hop bitterness in that beer really balances the spiciness of the rye perfectly.

I was really trying to make it a lighter beer with some flavor. That way when or if we ever get a summer- I dont have just IPAs and Stouts and me being hammered by 2pm. lol
 
I used the same basic recipe but lowered the IBU's to 30 and used Safale 05.
Just won a gold medal at the St. Louis HHHC in Light Hybrid category with this beer! :rockin:
 
Giving this recipe a go. Not sure if I'm making a mistake by letting the fermenting temperature fluctuate between 50 to 60 degrees? My wife does not appreciate the scent of wort fermenting. So it has to stay in the garage. I have noticed the activity level of the yeast has slowed down. Should I bring it in the house, which is about 74 Degrees?
 
as per my first post....i forgot the maize....that version turned out nice...have rebrewed with original recipe and it is aging now......samples are very good as well as first time without maize.
 
Brewed my version of this Thursday:

7 lbs two row
2 lbs rye
1 lbs flaked corn

OG: 1.052. 74% efficiency......

.50 oz Centennial @ 60
.25 oz Sterling @ FWH
.50 oz Sterling @ 15
.25 oz Sterling @ 10
.50 oz Centennial Dry Hop

IBU's 28.5. Pitched Safale 05 on it and fermenting nicely @ 70F.


I wanted something spicey and floral to go along with the spicey rye. I know Sterling to be a spicey hop and I hope the floral of the Centennial shines. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for pointing me in this direction!
 
Brewed my version of this Thursday:

7 lbs two row
2 lbs rye
1 lbs flaked corn

OG: 1.052. 74% efficiency......

.50 oz Centennial @ 60
.25 oz Sterling @ FWH
.50 oz Sterling @ 15
.25 oz Sterling @ 10
.50 oz Centennial Dry Hop

IBU's 28.5. Pitched Safale 05 on it and fermenting nicely @ 70F.


I wanted something spicey and floral to go along with the spicey rye. I know Sterling to be a spicey hop and I hope the floral of the Centennial shines. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for pointing me in this direction!

any update on this recipe?
 
Sorry for the delay. This turned out very good. My efficiency was a little better than anticipated making it a higher gravity than I wanted.... I was shooting for 4.5 and ended up with 5.5. Oh well.

I like the Sterling in this and it is a nice light crisp beer with the Safe Ale 05 and low mash temps. My next try will be to lighten the ABV to 4% and replace the Centennial/Sterling with Sterling/Crystal. Definitely a rebrew with some tweaks.

Also, my LHBS just got in a bag of 6-row. I will be using that next time. We have a tradition of moonshine here in Alabama. Like the other poster stated, I think it'd be cool to have a Rye Whiskey Ale.
 
MikeFlynn74, after reading your recipe I decided to finally make a rye beer myself. Especially after how good you said yours turned out. I did a slightly different batch,
7lb 2 row
1.5lb rye
1lb naked oats
.5lb flaked oats

It isn't very red, but it sure does have that rye bite, but is matched very nicely with about 30-35 IBUs, a mix of sterling hops and some (fresh picked last fall) cascade. A very good brew for the 4th of July weekend. I've had nothing but complements on it so far.
 
I made the same beer this time. Except I did 3.1lbs of rye. Only because I might have been drunk.

It turned out very rye ish
 
OK, I gotta try this one with the 6 row.
I always put rye in all my beers.All my IPA recipes have half or a whole pound rye.
I did a few batches with out it and it just didnt taste the same..even the Wife commented on the fact that there was something missing.( and she rarely drinks)..I just need it in there..
I was under the impression that rye helped head retention, and well im all for head.
Joe
 
Brewed this one up today with some slight tweaks to the hopping schedule.

1oz Sazz^2.8 @ FWH
.75oz Amarillo^7.2 @ 60
.25oz Sazz^2.8 @ 15
.50oz Sazz^2.8 @ 10
.25oz Sazz^2.8 @ 5

...I will update this in 6 weeks when its in bottles:mug:
 
Brewed it yesterday, stuck with the original grain bill. but changed the hops.

1oz cascade 60m
1oz willamette 10m
10z willamette 5m

Mashed @152 for 60m
Wyeast German ale yeast

Fermentation activity 10 minutes after pitching and right now it smells like gold.

I had been using white labs yeast but the push from my brewshop has turned me too wyeast, I have been getting excellent results and its local.
 
Jw, how is the head retention on everyone's beers? I pour mine, get a half inch head and it dissipates to a lacing around the edge, anyone else?
 
Rebrewed finally in an attempt to find a light summer beer:

6.0 lbs six row
1.5 lbs rye malt
1.5 lbs flaked corn

.50 centennial @ 60
.50 oz cascade @ FWH
.50 oz cascade @ 10
.50 centennial dry hop

OG: 1.043
FG: 1.009
IBU: 24

Should be light (by my standards), dry, and crisp. In the secondary now. Will advise in about (30) days.
 
I love this beer! Thanks Mike.


IMG_0534.jpg
 
Any luck there? How'd it come?

The schedule sounds amazing and i think I'd like to throw this together maybe over the weekend. It'll be a bit late by the time this is ready but in my mind there's nothing better than light and crisp.
 
Rebrewed finally in an attempt to find a light summer beer:

6.0 lbs six row
1.5 lbs rye malt
1.5 lbs flaked corn

.50 centennial @ 60
.50 oz cascade @ FWH
.50 oz cascade @ 10
.50 centennial dry hop

OG: 1.043
FG: 1.009
IBU: 24

Should be light (by my standards), dry, and crisp. In the secondary now. Will advise in about (30) days.

Brewing this this weekend. Changing hops to Simcoe and Amarillo, I've heard such great things about that combo and it seems like a good time to find out!
 
Looks good. Going to make this soon to have for wedding in April. I'm liking the rye flare to the light beer. Any idea how some Saaz hops would go with this brew? Just bought a pound of them :)
 
Brewed this up today. Mashed in at 153 for 90 minutes, collected 7.75 gal of wort, boiled 90 minutes. (After thinking about this, it may turn out a little more bitter than expected because of the FWH.) Boiled down to 5.5 gal, but OG was a little low at 1.040. Assuming poor efficiency in my AG setup, though my last batch was at 80%. Will let you know how it all turns out in a couple weeks.
 
Racked to secondary today, hydro reading 1.004! Smells wonderful, sample tasted a little dry and bitter. Dry hopping secondary, will keg in 1 week. Updates to follow.
 
Tasted first sample last night. The color was a pale yellow (Coors/Miller/Bud), no redness from the rye though. The hop aroma is wonderful. The taste is a little harshly bitter (probably from my FWH and long 90min boil). Also further complicated by the dry finish (1.004FG due to long 90min mash) and spicyness from the rye malt. It was also over carbonated (I had forgot my regulator was set to 18). Seemingly mistake after mistake with this one...but it's still drinkable. I'll make this again, with a 50 minute mash @ 154, and only a 60 minute boil. Also increase the rye bill to 3#.
 
Tasted first sample last night. The color was a pale yellow (Coors/Miller/Bud), no redness from the rye though. The hop aroma is wonderful. The taste is a little harshly bitter (probably from my FWH and long 90min boil). Also further complicated by the dry finish (1.004FG due to long 90min mash) and spicyness from the rye malt. It was also over carbonated (I had forgot my regulator was set to 18). Seemingly mistake after mistake with this one...but it's still drinkable. I'll make this again, with a 50 minute mash @ 154, and only a 60 minute boil. Also increase the rye bill to 3#.

Yeah, seems like the dry bitterness is from the fact you over attenuated. 154 will help that out big time. I almost always do a 90min boil and never have issues with that part. Also do you alter your water? Light beers are usually affected more by poor water.

BTW this beer was AWESOME!!
 
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