Rye Pale Ale - help!

I'm looking to brew a red pale ale with a good amount of rye, but I'm having trouble with the grain bill and hop types. Please advise!! Here's what I have so far.

Per Beersmith:

3 gal
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.011
IBU: 35.8
SRM 15.4
ABV: 5.8%

5 lb 2-row
1 lb Munich
1 lb Rye
4 oz Chocolate Malt
4 oz Flaked Rye

Mash at 150 for 60 mins

.5 oz Centennial @ 60
.25 oz Cascade @ 15
.12 oz Perle @ 15
.25 oz Cascade @ 5
.12 oz Perle @ 5
.5 tsp fresh ginger @ 1

American Ale Yeast - #1056

Thanks!

 

I'd chuck some medium crystal in there. 60-80ish. Check out the terrapin rye recipe. Good solid beer

 

I'd say ditch the Munich, replace it with rye, or maybe replace it with half rye, half two row. I can't comment on flaked rye, but the chocolate malt is just for color I assume. I'd maybe swap chocolate malt for a type of crystal, or just add some crystal, and add the little bit of chocolate to hit the right color.

Oh, and be careful with the ginger! A tsp is probably just the right amount to use without it overpowering anything. I'm guessing a tsp of ginger maybe weighs a tenth to a quarter of an ounce. So you may not notice it all, actually.

Good luck and happy brewing!

 

I definitely agree with this. And then I would add a bit of crystal, probably 60L.

Also about the chocolate, it may be quite interesting for you to look into chocolate rye. Since you got the regular rye malt and the flaked rye, might as well put more depth to the rye with chocolate rye.

I read once (can't quote exactly) that by just putting rye malt into a recipe, you may not get what you want out of it. But the rye really shines nicely when you have various types of rye layered in. Hence the reason why I suggest chocolate rye. In any event, let us know how it goes!

 

Forgot about mentioning hops. The centennial and cascade looks like they'd be great! I cannot comment on the perle though because I have no experience with it. I would however suggest you do a flameout addition to try and get more aroma. And since this is supposed to be more of a pale ale, I would also think about doing a small dry hop. I personally think, and this is my opinion, that ahtanum would be awesome dry hopped with your combo of hops. I've used ahtanum as a dry hop many times and it is one of my favorites! A very bright hop, with a hint of pineyness and it shines through brilliantly!

Just this guys opinion though. Good luck anyway.

 

Thanks guys - here's what I've adjusted.

5.75 lb 2 Row
1.25 lb Rye malt
.5 lb Crystal 60
.33 lb Flaked Rye
.25 lb Chocolate Rye
.25 lb rice hulls

The additional grain bumped the OG 1.060, but it achieved the color I wanted, so I'm not sweating it.

Oh, and I changed the yeast to WLP001 - California Ale.

 

Looks like a great recipe to me!