Dark rye recipe thoughts?

[brycelarson]

Thoughts on this recipe?

5 lbs Pale Malt
3 lbs Rye Malt
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L
1 lbs Munich Malt - 20L
4.0 ozOats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.4 %
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 22.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [4.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 9.5 IBUs
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 -
1.00 oz Willamette [4.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 5.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Northwest Ale (Wyeast Labs #1332) [124.21 ml]

 

[Yooper]

Hmm- that's 30% rye? That's alot if you're not really really into rye. I also don't think I like a pound of crystal 120L- that's pretty raisiny and burnt sugar-y. I'd cut the rye to 20% or so, and the crystal 120L to no more than about 6 ounces.

Why the oats? They won't hurt, I'm just wondering about the goal of them.

 

[brycelarson]

Yeah, I've never done a big rye bill before. I like rye beers but wasn't sure how far to go.

I'm a sucker for the mouth feel that a bit of oats brings - I tend to use them in many of my beers.

right on the 120 - I think I ended up pushing that one higher than I intended for color.

 

[Yooper]

Yeah, I've never done a big rye bill before. I like rye beers but wasn't sure how far to go.

I'm a sucker for the mouth feel that a bit of oats brings - I tend to use them in many of my beers.

right on the 120 - I think I ended up pushing that one higher than I intended for color.

Hmm. for a darker color, one thing that I like is darker Munich malt. It's called Dark Munich, or Munich II. You don't want to go overboard on that, but a pound or so would give you a deeper color and a heavier malt flavor and aroma if you want to keep a darker color. I even like pale chocolate malt (not the regular stuff) in some beers for a darker color and just a wee tiny bit of roast/fullness.

Edit- now I see that you already have dark Munich. Sorry about that! I like it.

 

[brycelarson]

yeah, Northern Brewer lists their dark munich at 15.5. I've used it - love the flavor but it's not getting me the color I want.

I see the pale chocolate on the NB site - 180 - 200 L - that might be a great option.

As for the amount of Rye - I figure for a beer with rye I want enough to really get the flavor in the forefront. Is 20 going to get me there?

 

[Yooper]

y
As for the amount of Rye - I figure for a beer with rye I want enough to really get the flavor in the forefront. Is 20 going to get me there?

It's hard to say what you'd like- but you very well might like it to be a higher percentage if you really want it in the forefront. I really like it at 20%, but you may like it higher of course. I found that at 20% that I can really taste it, and find it very noticeable. But it's not overwhelming to my non-rye-loving husband, and he'll drink one of my rye APAs (but not more than one!), with 20% rye. I could drink it all night, and love it.

 

[bleme]

I've only made one rye beer, with 1.5 lbs of rye. It was noticeable but I wouldn't mind more. My LHBS said that I would need rice hulls with 2 pounds are more. Not sure how good his advice is though.

 

[brycelarson]

It's hard to say what you'd like- but you very well might like it to be a higher percentage if you really want it in the forefront. I really like it at 20%, but you may like it higher of course. I found that at 20% that I can really taste it, and find it very noticeable. But it's not overwhelming to my non-rye-loving husband, and he'll drink one of my rye APAs (but not more than one!), with 20% rye. I could drink it all night, and love it.

Sounds like 20 is a good starting point. I'll do that and adjust later for myself. This beer is for public consumption.

I've only made one rye beer, with 1.5 lbs of rye. It was noticeable but I wouldn't mind more. My LHBS said that I would need rice hulls with 2 pounds are more. Not sure how good his advice is though.

they're cheap. I can toss some in just to be safe. Does Rye not have hulls?

 

[Yooper]

Sounds like 20 is a good starting point. I'll do that and adjust later for myself. This beer is for public consumption.



they're cheap. I can toss some in just to be safe. Does Rye not have hulls?

Rye is very much like wheat, and it gets very sticky/gummy. The rice hulls help alot with lautering.

 

[brycelarson]

got it. I've done plenty of wheat beers.

Thanks. I'm going to mull this recipe over for a couple of days - I'll be back with an update later.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is what dark malts I can use to get the color up into the teens - and that will match the Rye flavor-wise. Any suggestions? Would roasted barley be too much?

 

[Yooper]

got it. I've done plenty of wheat beers.

Thanks. I'm going to mull this recipe over for a couple of days - I'll be back with an update later.

The one thing I'm trying to figure out is what dark malts I can use to get the color up into the teens - and that will match the Rye flavor-wise. Any suggestions? Would roasted barley be too much?

A very small amount of roasted would be ok. A better choice might be a little sinimar or dehusked carafa II.

 

[brycelarson]

I'm unfamiliar with sinimar - what's that?

 

[MrOH]

you could always try some chocolate rye for color. I've found that it lends a "pumpernickel" type flavor