I’ve never brewed with rye before and I’d like to start getting a feel for it. I think what I’m going to start with is a variation on my typical American Amber, but with rye instead of Munich malt and CTZ instead of Centennial, my thinking there being that a more pungent hop might complement the rye mouthfeel. I’m open to suggestions from the more rye-sperienced though.
75% US Pale
14% Weyermann Malted Rye
7% UK Medium Xtal
3.5% UK Extra Dark Xtal
25 g CTZ at 60 min (~30 IBU)
20 g each CTZ and Willamette at 15 min
20 g each CTZ and Willamette at whirlpool
20 g each CTZ and Willamette dry hop
Wyeast 1272
OG 1.061, FG 1.014 (or at least it would be for the base recipe)
45ish IBU, 14ish SRM
I think you’re only looking for comments on the rye part, but I like that part as is (though Ill bet denny comes in to say 20%+), I’ve had some beers with only 8-10% rye where you definitely got it.
I just think the whirlpool hops should be doubled and the dryhops doubled, if not tripled.
I was gonna say that much hops would put it into IPA territory.
I would suggest more rye, at least 25%. Its one of my favorite malts and my rye beers are usually the most popular ones I have on tap here. Right now I have a rye stout that’s a real favorite.
so for an IPA i do per 10gal: 6-8oz whirlpool and 6oz dry hop. so for pales and ambers i do about half that, you’re only doing a 1/2oz - just looks awfully low to me ;D
Yeah, it wasn’t at all clear that I meant 15 grams of each. So ~1.1 oz at whirlpool and dry hop, for a 5.5 gal batch. That’s half of what I’d typically use in an IPA.
Edit: I just got home and checked my recipe, and it’s actually 40 g (~1.4 oz) per addition.
It seems like most recipes are in the 15-25% range (Denny’s RIPA is ~17%), and I know that a lot of commercial examples are too much for me, so I wanted to hit the low end of the range and bump it up next time if needed.
Mostly I’m wondering if other adjustments to the specialty malts and/or hops might highlight the rye.
My rye APA has 15% and after a couple weeks of conditioning it is barely noticeable in my opinion. I have never done a rye beer with less IBUs but it seems like the bitterness from the hops and rye kind of blend together to where you cannot tell which is which. I am sure this is not the experience of most…
Totally forgot to update this… I brewed the recipe more or less as written but called an audible and switched the CTZ back to Centennial. FG ended up at 1.011, which I think helped keep it from being syrupy. It was quite good, but still too much rye for my tastes. I personally would probably go with 10% next time. I really started enjoying it once the rye flavor started to mellow - i.e. the last three pints.
I am brewing a contract rye right now for a local pub. The recipe came from a local homebrewer and it is less hoppy than I expected or thought it should have been but turned out really great. You could clearly taste the rye. Got me thinking maybe a lot of rye beers are a little out of balance…
