Thoughts on Lagering Rye IPA?

senfo · Mar 31, 2013

Has anybody tried a lager yeast on an imperial rye IPA? I'm looking for a good, clean finish and I'm considering doing something a little out of the norm.

The IPA I'm brewing has an IBU rating of about 70 and an OG of 1.082. I was thinking of trying WLP800 or WLP815, leaning more towards WLP815.

Thoughts?

Reno_eNVy · Mar 31, 2013

Hmm, sounds really interesting. I've had the pleasure of drinking an India Pale Lager (can't remember which) and it's quite good. And the pepper notes from the rye will go great with the crisp, clean lager characteristic. I'd say mash on the lower side so you can get it decently dry.

I'd say WLP815 would be great. Thanks for providing links, by the way... it's rather handy. But depending on how long you lager it you may want to dry-hop as a lot of aroma will have faded.

Good luck and keep us posted! :mug:

forstmeister · Mar 31, 2013

You may lose a lot of hop bitterness and aroma during lagering, assuming you actually do a proper lagering. Dry hopping may be the best way to overcome that.

senfo · Mar 31, 2013

Good call on the dry hopping. I was planning on dry hopping with Falconer's Flight and Chinook, but I hadn't considered the fade during lagering. I'll definitely keep this in mind.

With such a high starting gravity, I'm expecting it to lager for at least 8 weeks. Would you recommend dry hopping at the beginning of the lagering stage (when I transfer into a lagering keg)? I guess it would be counterproductive to dry hop mid lager, but maybe I'm wrong.

Reno_eNVy · Mar 31, 2013

You're going to want to dry-hop 3-14 days before you bottle or keg. Less time if you want more floral aromas/flavors (kinda similar to what you'd get from a flameout addition) and more time if you want some green/dank/vegetative flavors and aromas to go along with it.

senfo · Mar 31, 2013

Thank you very much for the tips. I'll definitely keep you posted.

passedpawn · Mar 31, 2013

Hard to get a clean finish with a lot of rye in there. Try replacing some of the base grain with sugar to bring the FG down and it will be an easier beer to digest. A rye IIPA is a thick beer and, at least for me, hard to drink more than one. I've made quite a few (got one on tap right now).