My club is doing a intra-club competition every one is supposed to brew an American pale ale. i decided to brew my rye pale ale because its yummy. Although I have brew it a few times before I recently upgraded my brew house to brew 5 gallons instead of 2.5, and the beer had a more rye flavor than I intended. To be fair the bit I tried was my gravity sample, so it might get covered up after I carbonate. The question is does the 18b guideline allow for a little rye flavor, its not an overly powerful rye flavor its just a little more than noticeable.
The rye should not be able to be picked out above the overall malt quality of the beer; if it does then you may have used a smidge too much, but who cares? It’s about the fun of brewing and it’s an internal competition (just don’t pass along the recipe until required :D). Also, malt qualities tend to mellow/fade a bit in the initial weeks after packaging so it may become much less noticeable.
It doesn’t cover the overall malt flavor but its definitely there, but I guess you are right it is about the fun. Plus it is still really good, just more rye than I intended.