Rye Beer

Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:37 am

I am planning a rye beer. None of the books I have had a style i was interested in so I found one on the internet. Not too good on the planning stages I copied down the grain bill but forgot to put down hops and yeast. When I went back to find the recipie I couldn't find one with the same grain bill. Here's what I have

1.5 # - Light Dry Extract
3.3 # - Light Extract Briess
1.0 # - rye malt
0.5 # - roasted barley
0.5 # - vienna malt
0.5 # - munich malt

I was thinking of shooting for about 31 IBUs. Any suggestions on hops? I like hoppy beers but don't want to overwhelm the rye. I also have no idea what style this is so suggestions on yeast would be much appreciated.

Thanks

bottled:
Apricot Wheat
Russian Imperial Stout
IPA

Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:55 am

I just made a few dark rye beers like your recipe with three different yeasts... the Hefe was the best tasting. Use something like Spalter for hops.

Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:48 am

I'd say it's sort of a big Dry Irish Rye Stout. I'd use EKG or Fuggles to continue that style, and Irish Ale yeast. 31 IBUs sounds ok to me. There isn't much caramel sweetness in the grain bill, so it's going to taste dry and malty, accentuating the bitterness.

Don't forget, this needs to be a mini mash, as all 3 of those grains need to be mashed. [edit - took out part about DP of rye. checked and DP of Briess' rye malt is 105. Plenty of DP to convert themselves.]

HTH-

Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:16 am

This looks to me like sort of a schwarzbier or almost an altbier, but too full-bodied to fit into either style very well. With all of that roasted barley, you won't be able to detect the rye in the flavor -- it takes a lot of rye (closer to 40%) to really get the rye flavor, if that's what you want -- but what the rye will do for you at 14% is give you a very full-bodied, chewy character, with superb head retention. I love rye and am beginning to use it in most of my beers, if not for the flavor then for the head and body.

As far as I'm concerned, German hops are the only way to go. Hallertauer, Spalt, and Tettnanger are all excellent choices. Or try EKG or Fuggles for a little different effect. Spicy is good in a rye beer, and all of these hops have spiciness to some degree.

Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:16 am

Thanks to all. I think I will go the Irish route. I have stepped up the rye and lowered the roasted barley. Going with Fuggles and Hallertau. Both also confirmed by my LHBS.