Beer Forum

I'm getting ready for AHA Big Brew tomorrow (5-4-2013). Im teaming up with a local brewery to do a small 3BBL batch of an American Pale Ale. They're gonna mash in their tun but then we're gonna run the wort of into all the homebrewer's kettles. I want to change the beer up a bit and make mine into a rye IPA. So essentially all I want to do is boost the hops and add rye malt in my 15 gallon kettle. I know rye should be mashed, but I don't really feel like doing a mini mash on the side. Can I just steep the rye malt in my kettle to get the desired flavor and aroma profile from the rye?

No, rye is chock full of starch and needs mashing or else you will have a very unstable, starchy beer.

If you only want to steep to make it different without a mini-mash, why not throw some chocolate and carafa special II into a grain bag and turn it into a CDA?

my .02

You could try some rye extract. I think I've heard of something called Rye Malt Syrup. That might work.

Steeping rye would be like steeping any starchy grain... you'll get whatever flavors you're able to rinse off, but won't get the full goodness of it.

Thanks guys. I took your advice and left out the rye.