does rye malt always have a gray-blueish tint to it?

Ingredients
1

Brewing with rye malt for only the second time, and it seems like it has a blue-ish gray-ish powdery tint to it, looks almost like a mold, but it doesn’t really flake off or dust off; it seems integral to the grain. I can’t remember seeing this before, but I only used rye last summer for the first time and may have missed it?

A quick Google image search shows some pictures with this stuff on the grain, and some without… the grain smells fine and tastes fine so I think it IS fine… but any more knowledge on this situation would be appreciated.

BTW it is Canada Malting Rye Malt, from Rebel Brewer, got it shipped in about 2 weeks ago.

-red

2

Not rye specifically, but I feel like I’ve seen other malts with this. Hard to tell without seeing what you’ve got myself.

3

Mine looks like this:

4

Yeah, that doesn’t look normal…at least compared to the domestic rye that I use.  Who knows, though.  Maybe those Canadians grow their grain blue?

5

Well it must be somewhat common, because I stole that image off Google, where about 50% of the pictures from various LHBS’s look like that…

6

Maybe it is “normal”  :o  I just haven’t ever seen blue grain when browsing around Northern Brewer’s grain bins.

7

looks normal to me.

my folks grow rye on the farm.  looks like that.

8

That’s what all the rye I’ve ever used has looked like.

Paul

9

Rye are you so worried about this?  :smiley:

Don’t forget to tip the wait staff.

10

My my Bo, aren’t don’t we have a rye sense of humor

11

Rye just couldn’t help it.

12

Looks normal to me.

13

I was perusing the Northern Brewer catalog and noticed that their rye malt picture looks similar.

14

It could be ergot, in which I wouldn’t brew with it (but would definitely eat it). ;D

15

Beat me to it.

16

I don’t think it’s ergot. I think some types of rye are just intersting colors. The flaked rye I brewed with the other day had a blue/green tint to it’s ‘husk’ bits as well.

and I would not recommend eating ergot laden rye. Go find a hippy who’s holding if you want that kind of fun.

17

Fixed it ;D

18

I’m with the "it’s normal’ crowd.  Every batch of rye I’ve bought, from different suppliers, looks bluish to me.

19

Thanks for all the input.  I’ll be drinking the beer in about a week, so I’m either going to hallucinate marvelously  :o  and possibly die  :-[, or I’ll just have a nice beer  :D.

20

Every rye I have ever bought looks like that and it makes the best American Rye!  Not to worry!