What to do with old DME? Rye?

[ajwillys]

Hi all,
I have a 5.5 lbs of light DME that I 'inherited' that I am told is pretty old but the exact age is unknown. Its still sealed and seems fluffy so I want to try making something with it but don't want to invest too much into it in case it's bad. What I mean is I'd like it to be somewhat cheap and fast.

I'm leaning towards doing a Rye Pale Ale but I'm hoping one of you has a somewhat simple recipe for me. Something like this:

5.5 lbs. Light DME (old preferred )
3 lbs. Rye Malt


Some hops at some intervals

Some cheap dry yeast

 

[ajwillys]

OK, I've been looking into this a little more and I've realized that the yeast I'm currently fermenting with will work for a decent yeast (WYeast 3068 Weihenstephan) so I'm just gonna pitch onto that... which I need to figure out how to do

Here's what I'm leaning towards now:

El Cheapo Rye :fro:
5.5 lbs. Light DME (old preferred )
3 lbs. Rye Malt
Some Flaked Rye or a darkening malt?? (I have some 'coffee' malt)

1 oz. Nugget (60 Min) (Maybe less??)
.5 oz. Cascade?? (15 Min)
.5 oz. Cascade?? (Flameout)

Yeast: WYeast 3068

FYI, these are my predicted values for this recipe:

Original Gravity 1.060
Terminal Gravity 1.014
Color 6.67 °SRM (Should it be darker??)
Bitterness 52.6 IBU
Alcohol (%volume) 6.1 % :rockin:

 

[HarvInSTL]

Just my 2cents here. (Which considering the current exchange rate isn't worth much)

I'd drop the flaked rye and the 3068 yeast. Banana and clove doesn't sound appealing (at least to me) in a Rye PA.

I say stick with the DME & malted rye you have. Add .25# Carapils and stick with the 50-55 IBU's of hops you have.

As far as the yeast goes, grab a cheap pack of US-05 and you should be good to go. And if you have any extra Cascade, I'd dry hop it for a few days before kegging/bottling it.

 

[ajwillys]

Thanks for the reply. I initially was thinking 3068 was bad too but then I read some Rye recipes that used it (Roggenbier). I'm not familiar with that style so I figured what the heck. :cross:

Your two cents sound good so I think I'll take you up on it. I don't have any hops yet so I'll have to buy whatever I use for this recipe. I'm not crazy cheap though, so I can buy some if it would be worth it for dryhopping. I guess by dryhopping time, I would know if the old DME had ruined everything.

El Cheapo Rye
5.5 lbs. Light DME (old preferred ) $Free
3 lbs. Rye Malt $6
.25 lb. Carapils $2

1 oz. Nugget (60 Min) $4
.5 oz. Cascade (15 Min) $2
.5 oz. Cascade (Flameout) $2

Yeast: US-05 $2

New Numbers:
Original Gravity 1.062
Terminal Gravity 1.013
Color 8.35 °SRM
Bitterness 52.2 IBU
Alcohol (%volume) 6.5 % :rockin:


Does this look good? $18 is cheap enough that I will happy if it's drinkable despite the old DME.

 

[HarvInSTL]

I can't say that I've used 3068 with that little of Rye. Most Roggenbiers have at least 50% rye.

Really what yeast and hops you use are going to be dicated by if you want to make a Rye PA or a Roggenbier.

If you want to make a RyePA your last post looks good. If you want to make a Roggenbier, I'd make a few changes.

Then again if you have more than one fermenter you could always just split the batch between half US-05 and half with the 3068 slurry.

I think you did a great job picking some spicy hops and they should work well with the Rye. I used 3lbs of Rye in my last RyeIIPA and will be upping it to 4-5lbs next time.

 

[DeathBrewer]

just in case you don't know, you'll have to mash that rye.

basically, just steep the rye and carapils in a little over a gallon of water at 150-160°F for 30 minutes or so. then toss the grains and add to the rest of the water then start your boil.

other than that, it looks good

 

[ajwillys]

Thanks for the excellent advice!! I'm glad you like my hop selection because this is the first recipe I've (somewhat) concocted from scratch and hops are what worry me most. Now, I'm pretty excited to see what turns out.

Deathbrewer, thanks for the tip on mashing. I was planning on doing it anyways, but its good to have a reminder.