Lawnmower RyePA

[Onkel_Udo]

I had gone through two iterations of this no-style beer before landing on this tasty soon to be "new" third house beer. It is not easy to pigeonhole nor do I want to but this is tasty. Recipe is for 9 gallons but I had a higher than planned absorption rate and ended at a around 8.5 gallons.

Grain
6.0 lb Pale Malt
5.0 lb Munich Light (Briess)
4.5 lb Flaked Rye
6.0 oz Special B

Hops
1.0 oz Magnum (US) pellets 60 min
1.0 oz Centennial leaf 10 min
1.0 oz Centennial leaf 0 min
2.0 oz Centennial leaf dry hop 7 days

Yeast S-04 at 62 f for 5 days ramping up to 70 f for following 5 days. OG 1.044 and FG of 1.013. Carb'ed at about 1.9 volumes.

The spicy rye, slightly oily mouth feel, beautiful color and honestly refreshing hop balance (I am not a hohead) just touch something in my soul. At about 4 % alcohol, it is relaxing to have a few sitting on the deck watching the dogs play on a spring day.

 

[mongoose33]

Did you need to add rice hulls along w/ that 4.5 pounds of Flaked Rye?

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Did you need to add rice hulls along w/ that 4.5 pounds of Flaked Rye?

I BiaB so, no. That said, flake grains never required them in my 3-tier either but I never tried this high a percentage.

This beer is disappearing fast and my renter comment it was his favorite so far...he is not expert judge but he has tried everything I have made in the last 16 months.

 

[mongoose33]

I have most of the ingredients but not enough flaked rye. I do have some rye malt; what kind of substitution of rye malt for flaked rye do you think would be warranted?

I brew 5-gallon batches, I have 12 ounces of flaked rye, and 12 pounds of rye malt. I also have a lot of maris otter which I would be inclined to substitute for the pale malt. I have some munich malt (can't remember which offhand).

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I have most of the ingredients but not enough flaked rye. I do have some rye malt; what kind of substitution of rye malt for flaked rye do you think would be warranted?

I brew 5-gallon batches, I have 12 ounces of flaked rye, and 12 pounds of rye malt. I also have a lot of maris otter which I would be inclined to substitute for the pale malt. I have some munich malt (can't remember which offhand).

I am a pretty "loose" brewer so I would say 1-to-1 substitutions on all of it is fine. That said, I have been told by others that the rye "character" is a little stronger in the malt verses flaked so unless you already know you are a fan, maybe dial that back a bit and substitute your MO for say a pound of the rye.

I was personally after a strong, but not overpowering, rye flavor and I certainly achieved it. The first version was only about 25% rye and did not have that spicy, oily character as much as I would have liked.

I guess I should shoot a picture to post when I get home tonight because it is disappearing fast!

PS: Are you recalculating this for a smaller batch size out of curiosity? If so, keep in mind my comments were based on the original 9 gallon finished batch size. Also, as you probably know, rye is a tough grain to will fine so keep an eye on the crush for the rye and possible run it through a second time or adjust the gap.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I did forget to mention I had a pretty high absorption rate probably mostly to do with the flaked rye but keep it in mind.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Brewed this yesterday and had a couple of misses due to a minor change in equipment. Also went all rye malt instead of flake rye.

My grind was super fine and since the grain had just come from my car at 70+ f instead of 55 f from my basement and I forgot to calibrate my thermometer so I ended up at 158 f but stirred it down to 156 f inside of 5 minutes.

That grind also skyrocketed my efficiency to about 77% so watered it down just enough to hit my target gravity to end up about a gallon long on volume which is fine.

Because of the high mash temp I figured I would do a split fermentation with US-05 and S-04. I rarely like the effects of US-05 on anything but the lightest of beers so this should be interesting...and I hate waiting for it to drop.