I think I might brew today...

[jmartie13]

I'm home with the little one, it's raining and gross out, I have a spare 5g carboy and a quarter liter of yeast slurry I saved from bottling last weekend...

Looking through my grains and hops...I have 4 oz of cascade, 2 oz of Simcoe, 1 oz of perle, and

15lbs Maris Otter,
8lbs Rye malt
3lbs Flaked Rye
2lbs Crystal Rye
2lbs Crystal 40
1lb Munich
1lb Chocolate
0.5lb Carapils

It's looking like maybe a Pale Ale....I considered a MO cascade smash....thinking I need to use some rye....not sure. I've never used MO as a base for a lighter beer. If anyone wants to add their two cents I'm all ears.

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

Maris Otter is one of my favorite base malts. It is light but adds more character to a pale ale than does standard 2 row.

From those ingredients I would probably do a Pale Rye with the Maris Otter, and some of the Rye. How much of which rye I am not certain.

I would bitter with the Cascade and flavor and aroma with the Cascade and Simcoe. Timing? I'd have to research more.

 

[Homercidal]

Mo works great for a lighter beer base, IMO. I'd go with mostly MO, some Rye (As much as you think is reasonable. I have found rye is better when not overdone.) Maybe add the lb of Munich, or go without. I'd flip a coin on using .5 lb of crystal malt. Depends on if you like a slightly sweeter, caramelly pale ale, or a crisper, drier version. A lot of people are moving away from adding any crystal, but I still like some in my pale ales and IPAs (or not, they are both good to me!)

Carapils can add mouthfeel and head rentention, but you might not want it if you are adding crystal.

No experience with Perle, but I think you would do well with using a touch of Sincoe for bittering, and then a bunch of Simcoe and Cascade for late hops/dry hops.

 

[jmartie13]

That's the direction I'm leaning I think! Messing around in BeerSmith and currently have about 15% rye, 1.5lb of rye malt and 0.5lb of flaked.

 

[jmartie13]

Mo works great for a lighter beer base, IMO. I'd go with mostly MO, some Rye (As much as you think is reasonable. I have found rye is better when not overdone.) Maybe add the lb of Munich, or go without. I'd flip a coin on using .5 lb of crystal malt. Depends on if you like a slightly sweeter, caramelly pale ale, or a crisper, drier version. A lot of people are moving away from adding any crystal, but I still like some in my pale ales and IPAs (or not, they are both good to me!)

Carapils can add mouthfeel and head rentention, but you might not want it if you are adding crystal.

No experience with Perle, but I think you would do well with using a touch of Sincoe for bittering, and then a bunch of Simcoe and Cascade for late hops/dry hops.

I like both versions of PA and IPAs too! I'm currently at the crossroads of crystal or no crystal...I might have to flip a coin.

 

[kh54s10]

Rye to taste. I like rye so I go pretty strong. Did a 3 gallon BIAB Rye Brown Ale.

63.4% Maris Otter
26.1% Rye Malt
3.7% Chocolate
3.7% Special B
3.0% Roasted Barley

It was very good. Rye would stand out a lot more in a Pale ale though.

 

[Homercidal]

Here is a quick pic of a recipe I threw together in BS. I'd start at 10% rye unless you know you want more. I did more once and I won't do it again. I like rye, but at a certain point (I was close to 10% that time) it's just too much.

 

[jmartie13]

I use rye a lot, I've found 20-25% to be the sweet spot for my taste, My current recipe...

80% Maris Otter
10% Rye Malt
5% Flaked Rye
5% Crystal Rye

 

[jmartie13]

Here is a quick pic of a recipe I threw together in BS. I'd start at 10% rye unless you know you want more. I did more once and I won't do it again. I like rye, but at a certain point (I was close to 10% that time) it's just too much.

Nice! Mine isn't too far off...I may use some of that.

 

[jmartie13]

Homer, what do you like about the 10 minute boil time on hops?

 

[jmitchell3]

how about a rye american brown? those can be hoppy and you have a bit of chocolate, munich, and c40 for the color.

 

[jmartie13]

how about a rye american brown? those can be hoppy and you have a bit of chocolate, munich, and c40 for the color.

I like it! However, I have a brown dry hopping right now.

 

[Homercidal]

Homer, what do you like about the 10 minute boil time on hops?

Gets enough flavor into the beer without stripping too much aroma. This addition should be adjusted for personal preference for bitterness, and of course you could do 15, or 0, or whatever floats your boat. I just tend to add them when I add whirlfloc.

BE has been off on bitterness when doing late/steep hops additions. It seems it's been significantly less bitter than BS calculates, for me anyway. May be my own process contributing to that.

 

[jmartie13]

Just curious! I've gotten in the habit of doing a bittering addition, then 5min down to 170F with PAs and IPAs. I probably should experiment more with 30 through 10.

 

[jmartie13]

Draining the mash! I ended up going with

80% MO
15% Rye Malt/Flaked Rye
5% Crystal

Simcoe for bittering and simcoe/cascade from 5 minutes to flameout/steep.

WLP001