Rye malt or flaked rye?

I'm working on making a IPA recipe using rye. Some people use rye malt and some use flaked rye. I have both, which do I choose to use when and why? I'm leaning toward the flaked because I think I'll be under 15% but I'm not sure.

I really enjoyu the taste of the flaked rye. Here's the last batch of a killer IPA I did with it:

8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct
14 lbs 9.4 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain
2 lbs 2.9 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain
2 lbs 2.6 oz Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM) Grain
1 lbs 7.2 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain
1.45 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops
1.30 oz Chinook [14.30 %] (60 min) Hops
1.65 oz Cascade [6.80 %] (45 min) Hops
1.30 oz Cascade [6.80 %] (30 min) Hops
0.95 oz Cascade [6.80 %] (15 min) Hops
0.55 oz Cascade [6.80 %] (5 min) Hops
2 Pkgs Safale us-05 (DCL Yeast) [Starter 50 ml] Yeast-Ale

From what I've read, they are extremely similar. Rye malt is a bit harder to come by and flaked rye is the substitute. Flaked rye is supposed to be fully converted already from the rolling process so you can just toss it in with the rest of the grains and it will dissolve. Both make for a sticky mash though.

Brewing with Rye

BTW - I call it RIPA - Ron's Rye IPA

I have a batch in the bottle for one week that was made with 1/2 pound rye malt. I am going to try one later tonight. I always try one after a week. I really liked Terrapins Rye Pale Ale, so I made this one about a month ago. It was my first time using rye.

I don't get as much spicy rye flavor with the flaked as with the malt, IMO. The flaked seems to add a nice mouthfeel, but I prefer the spice

Do you see anything wrong with maybe doing 1# rye malt and 1# flaked rye? Kind of the best of both worlds type of thing.

Iechyd Da said:

Do you see anything wrong with maybe doing 1# rye malt and 1# flaked rye? Kind of the best of both worlds type of thing.

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We're homebrewers,,,,,nothing you do is wrong, just different. Try it and let us know.
I just did a RyePA after seeing EdWorts post and this is what I did

Specifics
Boil Volume 7 gallons
Batch Size 5 gallons
Yeast 75% AA

Style Comparison
Low High
OG 1.050 1.070 1.075
FG 1.012 1.018 1.016
IBU 40 85 60+
SRM 8 10 14
ABV 5 6.7 7.8



Fermentables
% Weight Weight (lbs) Grain Gravity Points Color
74.5 % 9.50 Canadian Two-row Pale 54.0 4.0
15.7 % 2.00 Rye 9.5 1.4
5.9 % 0.75 British Crystal 50-60L 4.0 8.3
3.9 % 0.50 Belgian Aromatic 2.4 2.5
12.75 69.9

Hops
% Wt Weight (oz) Hop Form AA% AAU Boil Time Utilization IBU
15.4 % 0.50 Columbus Pellet 14.8 7.4 FWH 0.154 17.0
23.1 % 0.75 Chinook Pellet 12.6 9.5 30 0.195 27.6
15.4 % 0.50 Cascade Pellet 6.4 3.2 60 0.254 12.2
15.4 % 0.50 Columbus Pellet 14.8 7.4 60 0.254 28.1
7.7 % 0.25 Columbus Pellet 14.8 3.7 0 0.000 0.0
7.7 % 0.25 Cascade Pellet 6.4 1.6 0 0.000 0.0
7.7 % 0.25 Cascade Pellet 6.4 1.6 DH 0.000 0.0
7.7 % 0.25 Columbus Pellet 14.8 3.7 DH 0.000 0.0
3.25 84.9

I used the dark malts to try and go for a Hop Rod Rye, and if you want to try it on a smaller scale try my Rambler Owl recipe.

Your Rambler Owl recipe does look good. Might be a good intro into brewing with rye. The lower hops will let me pick up the rye flavor easier. Thanks.

Then again I do have a lot of rye. Maybe I'll make a RyePA and Rambler Owl.:cross:

niquejim said:

We're homebrewers,,,,,nothing you do is wrong, just different.

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I was on a brewery tour a couple of weeks back and the head brewer said something that struck a chord. "There's no such thing as bad beer - only seasonal specials".

This is definitely good! First beer after 8 days in the bottle. Nice spicy bite in the center of the tongue. Pretty strong, too. Not as strong as Terrapin's Rye Squared but a little more to it than their Rye Pale. I nailed this one.


11 #s two row
.5 #s crystal 20 or 40 ?
.5 #s rye malt

1.0 chinook 60
.50 cascade 15
.50 cascade 5

mashed at 151 for 1 hour. sparged with 180 twice to achieve 7 gallons. 6 gallons in the fermenter with nottingham yeast for 3 weeks. no secondary

I always throw in both malted and flaked rye. I think it gives a more-rounded rye flavour. In my last batch I used 30% rye and it was just about right.

i'm going to make a rye beer tonight and use up some leftover hops

i'm doing a partial mash with 2 lbs of malted rye and 1 lb of flaked rye.

Iechyd Da said:

Your Rambler Owl recipe does look good. Might be a good intro into brewing with rye. The lower hops will let me pick up the rye flavor easier. Thanks.

Then again I do have a lot of rye. Maybe I'll make a RyePA and Rambler Owl.:cross:

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One to age, one to drink

I like the way you think