All the talk about Denny’s Rye IPA and Rye APA flung a craving on to try to brew one.
Here is what I have so far. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated!
Rye Pale Ale
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 12/31/2010
Style: American Pale Ale Brewer: Dano
Batch Size: 5.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 6.20 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: My All Grain Equipment
Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 54.17 %
4 lbs 12.0 oz Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 39.58 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 6.25 %
0.50 oz Citra [11.10 %] (Dry Hop, add to keg)
1.50 oz Citra [11.10 %] (20 min) Hops 34.5 IBU
1.50 oz Citra [11.10 %] (5 min) Hops 11.4 IBU
1.00 tsp Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter 1 L] Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.060 SG (1.045-1.060 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.060 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.010-1.015 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Color: 8.7 SRM (5.0-14.0 SRM) Color
Bitterness: 45.8 IBU (30.0-45.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 16.7 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.95 % (4.50-6.00 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.00 %
Actual Calories: 269 cal/pint
Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 5.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 12.00 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 65.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 3.14 gal
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 18.00 qt of water at 164.8 F 154.0 F 60 min
Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
I keep hearing about JZ talk about doing all of the hop additions late so I wanted to give it a try.
Without knowing anything about your water it’s hard to say for certain, but in general you might want to make sure you have enough sulfates for the hops to really shine.
Since distilled water is just water, you should probably be adding back more minerals than just your Calcium Chloride. The brewing process wants more minerals.
If the only real problem with your tap water is chlorine/chloramines, I’d go ahead and use it to brew with. Just add 1/4 of a Campden tablet to 5 gallons and all the chlorine/chloramines go poof - gone.
I could be wrong, but I think almost 40% Rye might be too much. I made a Rye PA with around 20% Rye and I could taste the rye just fine. I do think the Citra hops will go good with the Rye.
40% was the highest I’ve gone, and I did it just to see what I thought. I liked it and will try at least 50% next time. Probably I’ll keep upping it til I hit a level that I don’t care for.
My rye IPA uses about 20% and I find it more rye flavorful than most of the commercial examples. I guess it also depends on the type of hops you use, because some varieties seem to accentuate the rye flavor. Do you agree with that, Denny?
I talked to my LHBS about the water chemistry here. I was informed that the local water minus the chlorine was really good for pale ales and IPA’s. So I went to HD and bought a carbon filter. Hopefully this will help me.
I have a American rye I’m working on. Drinking it I thought it could use a slice of orange like many might put in a wheat beer. I don’t like fruit in beer. I think a hop like Summit will go well. It’s like sweet tangerine to me. I’ll drop the Sterling in that recipe for Summit net time.
I like to keep 15 gallons in water bottles. My water is good for most beers but has chlorine. The chlorine will dissipate in time. If I fill them after every brew it’s usually ready for the next brew. Campden tablets would be nice sometimes.
Didn’t you say earlier that they “have/are going chloramines”? Be aware that your HD carbon filter will take care of chlorine but not chloramines. Chloramines require something like five minutes of contact time with a carbon block (not your regular activated charcoal) filter.
Much simpler to just go with the Campden tablets. And your purchase isn’t wasted since filtering first is never a bad idea.
I’m not sure about accentuating the flavor of rye by hop variety. I thought you’d know. The last Rye IPA I made I used all cascades at about 68 BU’s. I really liked it. It scored well at competition (40.5 avg) and had good notes about Rye flavor. The previous Rye IPA I used Amarillo, Ahtanum, Chinook, Newport and Amarillo (62 BU’s). It was pretty good, too, but my tasting notes are blank. Before that I used Cascades and Ahtanum (53 BU’s). I like to mix up the hops and tend to use citrusy ones because it’s an American IPA after all.
Since I make 10 gallons, I usually split it into two fermenters and pitch one with a Belgian yeast for variety.
I made a Rye APA with all Amarillo and dry hopped with Cascade and it turned out fantastic (around 45 IBU’s). What Belgian yeast do you use and how do you like the results? That sounds interesting.
I think the “dankness” of Columbus hops goes really with the rye flavor. I generally use Am. “C” hops, often with German hops in the background, for rye beers and I like the combination. Guess I’m kinda in a rut and probably should experiment a bit more to see about your hypothesis.