Specialty IPA: Rye IPA Denny Conn's Wry Smile Rye IPA

Haha, I know how goo it is! I've made it three times! (although I forgot the gypsum last time)
I ordered the halertau, I'll use them and keep the ibus the same

I brewed this yesterday. It was my first all grain batch and I picked up the kit from Northern Brewer. I'm really excited about this beer and all grain brewing in general. So excited that it has made me stupid. A brewing friend of mine called me last night and asked me if I hit the correct OG and I realized that I did not take a reading. Oh well. I plan on making this again and I'll have calmed down about all grain brewing by then and I'll take an OG reading.

Cheers, guys!

I think this is the first time I've come across a hop like Mt. Hood being used so prominently in an American IPA. From reading the reviews of Denny's beer here, it obviously yields great results. Is this because it's a good match for the rye? Can someone give a description of the aroma and flavor? I'm very intrigued...

Well, I'm not good at describing hop flavors, but if you've ever used Hallertau or Saaz, you're very close. It definitely compliments the rye, (spicy notes)
Hopefully someone else can describe it better than me.

I'm also beginning to think the noble type hops seem to impart cleaner, fresher hop flavor, along with better aging. This beer will keep much longer than other IPAs, and I think it has to do with Mt hood.

I'd love to hear more from others, and Denny

Btw, thanks Denny!

It is an unusual hop combo. AAMOF, when John Maier from Rogue first tried it, that was the first thing he commented on. The Mt. Hood has a kind of floral spiciness to it that works well in the beer. I kinda stumbled across it during the dozen or so test batches of the beer I brewed. I have to say, though, that I disagree Jboggeye about noble hops necessarily having a cleaner and fresher flavor and contributing to the beer's longevity. I haven't found that to be the case in my experience at least.

fair enough, I've only been doing this for 2 years, so I would believe Denny...
I'm bottling this beer as we speak, Denny. Everyone loves it, and would rather drink it than any other beer!
I will be brewing it with Hallertau soon, as I have a few pounds of it. I'll let you know if it still works well.

Ah, thanks guys, especially Denny (no offense Jbogg)! Naturally, I think many of us homebrewers have these partitions in our minds separating the different hops into rather strict categories based on styles of beer. Ignoring the "rules" is definitely in the spirit of homebrewing. I'm gonna have to try this recipe...

And don't change a single thing! A lot of people I know brewed this beer the first time and changed it slightly. Brew it first as is. You might find you can't pick out anything to change...

I just saw this post somewhere else

ryan6458 wrote:
When I tried it with the 2450 I just sat there and stared at the glass for five minutes. It took my brain awhile to process the awesomeness.

Yep, that's what happens. Denny, thanks again.

wow - that's a new level of awesome - i usually want to finish a beer in 5 minutes if i think it's that good

and i'll make sure not to change anything - it's too "visionary" to mess with!...unfortunately i probably won't be able to brew this until the summer - so many other beers scheduled

Jboggeye said:

I just saw this post somewhere else

ryan6458 wrote:
When I tried it with the 2450 I just sat there and stared at the glass for five minutes. It took my brain awhile to process the awesomeness.

Yep, that's what happens. Denny, thanks again.

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I agree. The Wyeast 1450 is a must!

Say one couldn't get the Wyeast 1450 for this beer for whatever reason.

If they had to use a more attenuative strain such as pacman or 001 would it be a good idea to bump up the mash temp to perhaps 155-156F to retain more sugars in the finished beer?

Thanks again for all the kind words, guys. I've made it in the past with FWY1056, 1272 and US-05. For something like 1056/001 or 1272 I wouldn't change the mash temp. For Pacman or 05, that might not be a bad idea, but I've never tried doing it. I'd say just try to avoid those. I've been told that White 051 works well, but I haven't tried it, either. Keep in mind that it's the 1450 that really is the finishing touch. I'd consider that as important as the rye.

Hi Denny, just wanted to let you know that I used the second runnings of this beer for a amarillo saison (very small- 3.5%) and at 2 weeks in the bottle it's already one of the best beers I've ever had.
So, your grain bill works very well in a saison...

Anyone want to help me convert this into a more sessionable beer? Thinking 4 to 5 percent. Ill scale down the hops and OG proportionally, but i should add anything to help keep some body?

Don't do it. It completely changes the character of the beer.

Damn, I can't believe you can make a saison out of the grist! Good on ya for creativity!

I'm sipping on wry smile right now. This is beer heaven! Thanks Denny.

Denny or anybody who has done a 10G of this recipe - will it fit in a 15 g mash tun?

I am thinking I might have oatmeal on my hands if I go less than 1.25/ lb. But beersmith is giving me 40 qts for mash in volume and there is ~30 lbs of grain.

The mashtun is a 15g "blingman"

Thanks!

Looking at my Arrogant double batch (36qts mash water and 29lbs grains), I am thinking this won't fit unless I reduce the water (currently 40qt and 32lbs grains).

CidahMastah - this is the thread for you: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-big-your-mash-tun-needs-123585/

My LHBS didn't have any Mt. Hood and they sold me some Sterling instead. I haven't used either of those hops before. Anyone have any comments on my hop substitute?

Yeah I have seen that, but was looking for personal experience since I am so close to the max capacity. Thanks though.

It looks like the Mt. Hood is responsible for a lot of the aroma for this recipe. Having never used Sterling I can't comment on it. But man I hate it when the LHBS seems to be missing one or two crucial elements to my recipes!

I made another Rye IPA recipe due to the fact i couldn't get Mt Hood hops. It doesnt make any sense to change a highly touted recipe before you've brewed it once to specs.

I'll get some Mt Hoods eventually and come back to this one.

Luckily I hit up another major hop by. I plan on doing this recipe this, or next weekend. Really looking forward to the monster grain bill

I brewed this last night and I'm really looking forward to it! My one issue was I had a stuck sparge. A stuck batch sparge at that. No matter how many times i tried, i just could not drain the MLT completely. I'm guessing i lost at least a half gallon. I was thinking it coulda been all the rye plus the half lb of wheat. Did any of you encounter this? I've never had this issue before. Denny, you're a batch sparger, right? Any suggestions for me? Thanks for the recipe!

VanHolton said:

I brewed this last night and I'm really looking forward to it! My one issue was I had a stuck sparge. A stuck batch sparge at that. No matter how many times i tried, i just could not drain the MLT completely. I'm guessing i lost at least a half gallon. I was thinking it coulda been all the rye plus the half lb of wheat. Did any of you encounter this? I've never had this issue before. Denny, you're a batch sparger, right? Any suggestions for me? Thanks for the recipe!

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Did you use rice hulls? They act as a grain bed filter and keep the mash from getting all gummed up.

DoctorDuvel said:

Did you use rice hulls? They act as a grain bed filter and keep the mash from getting all gummed up.

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I planned on using 1 lb when I brew this this weekend, that sound about right?

I have been growing a 3qt starter since Monday!

Should say... I am doing a 10G batch

DoctorDuvel said:

Did you use rice hulls? They act as a grain bed filter and keep the mash from getting all gummed up.

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I did not. I read this thread before brewing and didn't notice a mention of them. If anyone is out there planning this brew, pick up some rice hulls, STAT!

Like I said, I've never had this happen before, but I did use a new LHBS. It's a very reputable place, though, and I'm sure their mill was calibrated well. The crush looked great, actually.

I just stepped my starter up to a 4qt, so I should be in great shape by brew day.

Anybody recc the amount of rice hulls to use? Just checking that a lb for a 10G batch sounds about right. Don't want to break my no stuck sparge run!

they say rice hulls should not exceed 10% of the grain bill, beersmith says 5% - i'm not sure what kind of bad things happen when you go beyond that, you can probably find that answer somewhere around here...2lbs of rice hulls for a 10-gallon batch sounds reasonable, but you should check the numbers...and probably do a search and see what people say who have a lot of experience with them

Thanks Doc!

The grain bill for a double batch is about 32lbs. So that means I could likely use up to 3.2lbs but the 10% rule and 1.6 by BeerSmith. However the Rye and rice are only ~7lbs of the grain bill, so I think 3.2 lbs is a bit much. heck, there are 22lbs of 2row with hulls in there to help out

Denny said:

It can't be done and keep it the same beer.

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Sure you could. Make a smaller batch! (in regards to having a smaller grain bill) - sorry just realized I responded to a very very old post!

FYI - I went with 1lb of rice hulls for the 10G batch and no stuck sparge. It seemed to flow out slower than a typical first runnings (I am a batch sparger), but flow it did.

Looking forward to the end result - thanks for the recipe Denny!

Sterling is kinda in the ballpark. You;d be better off with Hallertauer if you can't get Mt. Hood.

VanHolton said:

Denny, you're a batch sparger, right? Any suggestions for me? Thanks for the recipe!

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Yes, I am, but I'm afraid I can't help you much. I've made dozens and dozens of batches of it and never had a stuck runoff. Are you using a good quality braid for lautering?

Denny,
I'm using a false bottom in a ten gallon igloo cooler. Perhaps my crush is too fine. It hasn't changed in the last 30 batches, however, Wry Smile just got stuck. That's ok. The numbers weren't affected much. I got somewhere around 6 gallons at 1.078 OG. I can't wait to taste this!

Do people typcially dry hop this with 1oz of columbus? Or is dry hopping skipped?

yes, dry hopping is important in this beer

Jboggeye said:

yes, dry hopping is important in this beer

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Thought so - being an IPA and all. Dry hop I shall...

Thanks

Just dry hopped and checked my FG, and I'm at 1.025! It's been three weeks, so I figure it's done, but I'll check next week when I rack it off the dry hops. It started at 1.078, so I think I'm in the ball park, but it still seems high.

Yeah, 1.025 is a bit high. I shoot for 1.013 from an OG of 1.073.

Yes, dry hop the beer...it isn't the same otherwise. I sometimes do an oz. in the fermenter for a week or 2, than another oz. in the keg.