adding a little rye to McDole Amber?

[jimlin]

I probably should just leave well enough alone, but I have really enjoyed the few beers I've tried that have some rye in them.

This is going to be my 2nd AG batch. (JZ APA is in the fermenter at the moment) Looking for something that's not too high gravity, and Tasty's American Amber recipe looks great. Grist I have is:
2-row: 10 lb
C40: 1.5 lb
Carapils: 1 lb
Wheat malt: 0.5 lb
Roasted Barley: 0.15 lb

These are modified weights from his 12 gal recipe after I entered it into BeerAlchemy and adjusted to my volumes (staring with 7 gal in kettle, boiling off 1 gal, leaving 1/2 gal in the kettle)

IF I wanted to add a little rye spiciness to this, would I removed some 2-row and make it up with rye? I understand rye can help with head retention, so perhaps remove some of the carapils, too?

[dmtaylor]

Ditch the Carapils, and replace 25-30% of the base malt with rye. Then you'll taste it. In my experience, rye is not spicy at all. Chew up some raw rye and see for yourself what it tastes like -- bread. If you want spiciness, add some caraway seeds. Just sayin'.

[jimlin]

Thanks Dave. Maybe spice is the wrong word... there seems to be a bite of a bite in the finish the adds something a little different than I get in any other beers.

So you're talking about 2.5-3 pounds of rye to replace that same amount of 2-row? Not used to using it, so I wasn't sure how much to use.

[dmtaylor]

Yep. I'd go all out and go for about 3 pounds or even 4. Be aware that rye malt is very small and very very hard. You'll need to either set your mill gap tighter than normal in order to break it up, or mill it 2 or 3 times until it's all cracked. Also, it's sticky in the mash so you should add a pound of rice hulls to the mash to avoid a stuck sparge.

[jimlin]

Yep. I'd go all out and go for about 3 pounds or even 4. Be aware that rye malt is very small and very very hard. You'll need to either set your mill gap tighter than normal in order to break it up, or mill it 2 or 3 times until it's all cracked. Also, it's sticky in the mash so you should add a pound of rice hulls to the mash to avoid a stuck sparge.

thanks again, Dave. I knew rye was like wheat in that rice hulls were a wise choice, but I forgot about the milling. I'll be using the LHBS's mill as I don't have one yet, so I might just stick to the McDole recipe for this batch. I suppose, I mess with a good thing?!

Then I can do it with rye another time and compare.

Just got to find the time to brew, dangit!

(first gotta bottle the APA that's dryhopping with Amarillo leaf right now)

[scotchpine]

I think this would be a good one to add some rye to. It sounds close to the batch I have in the fermenter right now. I also added 4oz of fresh Cascade cones harvested off my vines at FO. Can't wait to taste it!

[jimlin]

I think this would be a good one to add some rye to. It sounds close to the batch I have in the fermenter right now. I also added 4oz of fresh Cascade cones harvested off my vines at FO. Can't wait to taste it!

mmmm fresh cascade

I picked up the ingredients this weekend for Tasty's recipe and will skip the rye on this one. Then, I can try it with rye the next time.

Given the difference in crushing rye, and that I'd be using the lhbs's mill, would I just run it through the mill a few times?

[dmtaylor]

Run it through once and see how it looks. If you find kernels that are still uncrushed, run it through again and repeat until it's 95% broken up.