Improving body & head retention in rye beer.

[ElMatador]

Hello, I recently brewed a Rye beer using roughly 50% rye malt. The end result had a nice flavor, but it was extremely thin, had NO head retention and almost no aroma. The actual grain bill comprised of Werermann's Rye (47.8%), Vienna (23.6%), Chocolate Rye (0.5%), C-120 (7.9%), C-90 (4.4%), CaraRed (7.9%), Rice Hulls, (7.9%). I used a singe temperature infusion mash, at 158 F for 90 minutes, with 1.25 quarts of water per pound of grain. I looked up the malt specs for Werermann's Rye malt, and it has total a protein content of 9.0-10.0, a soluble protein content of 0, an S/T of 45-50, and diastatic power of >200WK. According to http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/bmg/noonan.html “The [S/T] is an important indicator of malt modification. The higher the number, the more highly modified the malt. Malts destined for infusion mashing should have an [S/T] of 36-42%, or up to 45% for light-bodied beer. At a percentage much over 45% [S/T], the beer will be thin in body and mouth-feel.” The same article then claims “Brewers can accommodate increases in total protein and [S/T] by adding or modifying low-temperature rests.” This is contrary to what I read in http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter14-4.html which claims that “Fully-modified malts have already made use of these enzymes and do not benefit from more time spent in the protein rest regime. In fact, using a protein rest on fully modified malts tends to remove most of the body of a beer, leaving it thin and watery.” I want to brew a second batch of this beer, and hope to improve the body and head retention. I do not know what techniques and/or ingredients can be used to accomplish this goal. I have considered replacing the Vienna malt with a different base grain, adding a protein rest, using a different brand of rye malt, using a mixture of all these or something else entirely. Can anyone give me some advice, thank you.

 

[kblankenship11]

I guess I've never used rye in such a high percentage to run into this problem. If the malt is anything like pils malt a protein rest would be beneficial. I also like to use Weyermann Carafoam if I know I'm making a lager with floor-malted grain that would lack protein of a UK or US 2-row malt.

The last Bohemian pilsner I did a protein rest and used carafoam and got a super awesome head on it. Maybe swap some of your Vienna with some carafoam?

Since the body was so thin perhaps your mash pH was low or sulfate/chloride level was on the higher side? What's your source water profile?

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Drop the vienna and use munich for body, it won't make it too much darker and will be fuller. For retention try a small amount of carafoam (6ozs or so in a 5-gallon batch) as well as a small portion of oats (1/4-1/2lb simpsons golden naked oats are my favorite). Should have plenty of body as well as head. You could also fool around with mashing a tad thicker, but you're already pretty thick at 1.25qt/lb, so it may be negligible. Only good I've heard coming from protein rests with rye is a less finicky and troublesome runoff, but never tried it.

 

[ElMatador]

What's your source water profile?

My local water profile is: Ca = 50, Mg, = 6, Na = 22, Cl = 21, SO4 = 60 & Alkalinity = 136. However, for this batch I used bottled spring water, because the tap water in my area can contribute a “rubber band” flavor.