Rye Saison advise needed

[MikePote]

Recently (2-09 brewed, bottled 2-22, delicious as of about 3-8)I brewed a simple saison. Recipe as follows:

8lb pilsner
1lb wheat malt
1lb table sugar

.5 colombus @60 (26 IBU)

1/2 jar (9oz) marmalade @ 5

Ommegang yeast fermented @72 ambient - when this was fermenting my newborn slept to the sound of a blow dryer so I put the fermenter next to the blow dryer and a couple times a day it would get half hour or so of blow dryer treatment. I would say typical ferment temp was 75-80 with the occasional 85+.

OG: 1.056
FG: 1.008


I LOVE this beer but it is a little too saisony. I like this beer because it is out of the ordinary and is a good change of pace. I wanted to do something similar and was thinking if I substituted a couple pounds of the pils for a couple pounds of rye and fermented at ambient without the blow dryer treatment I would lose a little of the saison funk but because of the rye it would still be equally as different. I came up with the following:


Rye Saison:

6lbs Pilsner
2lb rye malt
1lb wheat malt
1lb table sugar

.5 East Kent Goldings 7.1%AA @60 (12 IBU)
.5 Mosaic 12.7%AA @20 (13 IBU)

9oz marmalade @5

Ommegang Yeast @ 68 degrees ambient

The hop choice is simply because that is what I have in my fridge. I am open to suggestions if you feel this is a bad choice. I was also considering .5lb of crystal 20 (also have it laying around). Let me know your thoughts on that. I am a fairly new brewer and this would be my first AG I didn't copy off of somebody else so any input is appreciated. Thanks!

-Mike

 

[14thstreet]

I would cut out the wheat and either add another lb of Pilsner or a lb of rye. That way you isolate what the rye brings to the beer and still be good comparison to your first beer. I would wait on the crystal 20 for the same reason. I believe in order to get "rye" you don't want to cover it with other character grains. The rye in rye IPAs are lost on me and the commercial versions rarely venture over 10% of the grain bill. 20% is a good start for your beer IMO.

 

[MikePote]

Done and done.

That was pretty much the "go for it" I was looking for. I will get rid of the wheat and skip the crystal.

If my wife will let me get away with it I am going to try to brew wednesday and will post preliminary results in 4 weeks. Thanks for the advise!

-Mike