The Royal 'We'

[VonRunkel]

Full disclosure: I already did this...

I was looking for a new and exciting take on a ryePA so I thought about what rye meant to me. I immediately thought of spice and rye bread and that got the ball rolling on a recipe. Using a basic RyePA recipe with a few substitutions for flavor (MO instead of 2row) and about twice the number of hops (8 oz of palisades when all was said and done) I had a nice generic RyePA.

Now comes the fun part. To differentiate my bear from the rest I put about 2oz fresh cracked multicolor pepper and about an oz of toasted caraway into the secondary in 2 bursts, half at a time and 2 weeks apart so I could judge the flavor.

No realm questions here, just thought I would share. If there is interest I will post the recipe and any tasting notes when the time comes

Mahalo

 

[ChefRex]

I'd like to see the recipe and your opinion on the taste.
Sounds interesting.

 

[VonRunkel]

I will try and remember to get it up when I get home.

 

[VonRunkel]

Here is the recipe, I made ~6 gallons and then made a second running beer with this as well.

37.5% 2 row
25% Marris Otter
18.75% rye malt
6.25% crystal rye
6.25% crystal 90
6.25% honey malt

Mash @145- 30 minutes then decoct up to 155 for 30 minutes
Mash out at 170 for 15 minutes

1 oz warrior 60 min
1 oz palisades 60 min
1 oz warrior F.O.
1 oz Palisades F.O.
.5 oz crushed multigrain peppercorns at F.O

6 oz Palisades in secondary for first DH (2 weeks)
.5 oz toasted caraway seeds in first DH
1 oz crushed multigrain peppercorns in first DH

.5 oz toasted caraway seeds in second DH (2 weeks)
1 oz crushed multigrain peppercorns in second DH

 

[VonRunkel]

As far as tasting notes--

I tasted after the first DH and didn't note any caraway or pepper. Hops came through smoothly.

 

[badlee]

Did you add the caraway whole or crushed?
I love caraway in potato salad,but the flavour only seems to come out when the seeds are broken.

Sent from my GT-I8552B using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Hopinista]

This sounds really cool, like it'd go really well with cured meats and mustard

 

[VonRunkel]

I added them whole. I didn't think of crushing them. We will see if they come through, and if not then I will crush some and see what happens. Thanks for the advice!

Maybe some corned beef and cabbage are in my future... Use some of this to cook the beef... Could be fun.

 

[rolewiii]

Going nuts and throwing stuff like caraway and pepper into a ryePA is what makes homebrewing special. Keep it up. Let us know how it all comes out.

 

[VonRunkel]

Thanks man! That's why I love it. Some people will say things like "if you put that much [insert ingredient] in there you will ruin your beer." to them I say " if you want a boring beer then feel free to brew safely, but if you want something truly unique and outstanding you need to be willing to fail, learn from it and fail in bigger and new exciting ways. Now risk means no reward."

 

[prohl84]

if you put that much [insert ingredient] in there you will ruin your beer." to them I say " if you want a boring beer then feel free to brew safely, but if you want something truly unique and outstanding you need to be willing to fail, learn from it and fail in bigger and new exciting ways. Now risk means no reward."

I mostly agree with this- but some spices can easily be overdone... nutmeg comes to mind. If it takes 2 batches to get the spices right regardless of whether you're heavy handed or conservative with them- at least the conservative beers have a better chance of being drinkable. A boring brew feels like less of a failure than a dumper.

+1 on crushing spices- it releases the oils.

Caraway is not my favorite but I never thought to toast it. Interested in hearing the final results. Pepper in a ryepa sounds like a fantastic idea.

 

[VonRunkel]

I am all about listening and learning from experience, don't get me wrong. My stand is that the best way to see what works is by knowing what doesn't work. It is a fuzzy like I know.

My goal in adding the caraway was to bring out the flavor of a nice rye bread. As I said before, I may end up adding some.more if the flavor isn't quite right.

I am pretty stoked about this beer and about the feedback. Thanks guys!

 

[VonRunkel]

Dudes. This thing is amazing.

The only complaint I have is that there isn't enough hop aroma, but the caraway came through super subtly(aroma mostly), the pepper is up front but not over powering and as you drink it the flavor kind of divides itself and you get a showcase of the whole gambit.

And this is right out of the car boy. I can't wait to see what it does when carbonated!

Next time I will cut back on the caraway and crack what I do put in it, and maybe use whole leaf hops.