Stoked to try Rye Malt for first time!

[jjones17]

Howdy all!!!

I just got 5 lbs of rye malt in the mail, and I am stoked to try it! What types of malts does it go well with? I am a big melanoidin fan, and love a big biscuity beer. I also like hops... heck I like all beer. What I am thinking, is that Rye malt is a character malt of its own - and maybe I do not need melanoidin flavours along side this. Am I way off if I make a recipe using some Amarillo flavouring, some medium crystal malts, and some rye malt with 2 row as a base? Perhaps a 153-154 mash? Thinking IPAish.

Or, am I actually better off adding some melanoidin flavors? Like toasted malts, munich, biscuit, etc... Anyway, just a guy whos excited about this, and looking to hear all my fellow homebrewers thoughts on this fine looking character malt!

 

[Walker]

I'd suggest trying to make a simple pale ale at first with some rye in it. That will let you really appreciate what the rye brings to the table without having it mingled with too many other flavors. Once you have your bearings, then you can start mixing it with other stuff.

One tip: get some rice hulls for your mash if you plan to use a bunch of rye in the mash. It can get sticky.

 

[jjones17]

I'd suggest trying to make a simple pale ale at first with some rye in it. That will let you really appreciate what the rye brings to the table without having it mingled with too many other flavors. Once you have your bearings, then you can start mixing it with other stuff.

One tip: get some rice hulls for your mash if you plan to use a bunch of rye in the mash. It can get sticky.

Good suggestion, I think I will do this. Perhaps a nice fuggles APA, with some crystal 40. Maybe I will use a pound or so of the Rye malt. That should likely be enough to appreciate it?

 

[Walker]

Good suggestion, I think I will do this. Perhaps a nice fuggles APA, with some crystal 40. Maybe I will use a pound or so of the Rye malt. That should likely be enough to appreciate it?

Yeah, that sounds like it'll probably be good. Guidelines I have seen suggest using rye as 10%-20% of the grain bill, but I'm sure there are homebrewers who use a hell of a lot more than that.

 

[whatsleftofyou]

Am I way off if I make a recipe using some Amarillo flavouring, some medium crystal malts, and some rye malt with 2 row as a base? Perhaps a 153-154 mash? Thinking IPAish.

This sounds very much like Founder's Red's Rye, which is great. I make a porter with it that always turns out great as well.

 

[david_42]

I think 15-20% rye and no more than 1/2 lb of C40L with Fuggles will give you a nice brew. My Bent Rod Rye is a small beer derivative from Hop Rod Rye. It gets made in the Spring with whatever leftover hops (<1 oz) I have in the freezer.

 

[ReverseMonk]

Rye is one of my favorite ingredients. I've used it in percentages as high as 33% and never had trouble sparging (but I have a very well built MLT and manifold). If your prone to stuck or slow sparges, definitely use some rice hulls as mentioned above.

Rye (for me) has a nice earthy, spicy character that goes well with lots of different hops (Fuggles or Amarillo should be great). Use a simple grain bill to let the Rye shine. I would use about 20%- 25% to really get a nice rye character.

 

[jacksonbrown]

I love rye! Great for pales and porters and even stouts. David 42's suggestions is a pretty good starting point. Also search the recipe forum, there are some good ones, including my Rock-n-Rye Amber in my drop-down (now called Southern Sky). Cheers!
EDIT: And don't forget to try a classic - Denny Conn's Rye IPA, it's fan-freaking-tastic!

 

[beerandcoding]

I brewed a Rye Beer on Sunday that was a cross between Mike Flynn's Light Rye Ale (in the Wheat & Rye Beer recipe area) and Surly's Surlyfest. Surly uses a grainbill of just Vienna and Rye Malt for their brew, and Sterling hops for all addition.

My recipe was:

7 lbs Vienna
2 lbs Rye Malt
1 lbs Flaked Rye
1 lbs Flaked Corn

.5 oz Cascade @ 60
.5 oz Cascade @ 30
.5 oz Mt. Hood @ 30
.5 oz Mt. Hood @ 15

Safale US-05

Cheers!
Kevin

 

[tlarham]

I used Rye for the first time last brew session -- Rye Cream Ale. Just racked to secondary -- I only used .5 lbs and I could taste it quite nicely. Can't wait to keg it. So little didn't need any rice hulls (only 5%). Next time I use it will be for an IPA in larger percentages.

Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
6.00 lb       Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain        60.00 %       
2.00 lb       Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)                    Grain        20.00 %       
1.00 lb       Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)              Grain        10.00 %       
0.50 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)     Grain        5.00 %        
0.50 lb       Rye Malt (4.7 SRM)                        Grain        5.00 %        
0.85 oz       Cascade [5.40 %]  (60 min)                Hops         16.6 IBU      
0.50 oz       Cascade [5.40 %]  (2 min)                 Hops         0.8 IBU       
0.28 tsp      Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)                Misc                       
1 Pkgs        Nottingham (Danstar #-)                   Yeast-Ale

I was looking for that dry crisp character for the cream ale.

 

[Teacher]

Rye is a wonderful, complex ingredient that can be used in pretty much any style, as far as I'm concerned (though I might think twice about using it in a Scottish ale). It adds a considerable amount of flexibility to your repetoire. Try it in anything you want: porters, stouts, pales, Belgians (I made a simple Belgian-inspired ale using 20 percent rye, and it was extremely tasty), "wheats"...whatever! And don't forget to try out flaked rye, too, which is spicier and less malty.