Beer Forum

I am going to make a Rye Kölsch on Monday, and I am trying to decide what percentage of rye to use to get a nice subtle rye character. I am considering a 90% pilsner 10% rye grain bill, but I think that may be a bit too heavy handed with the rye. Anybody have experience using rye in lighter beers than pale ales where you want the character to come through rather subtly?

I use about 9.5% rye in my rye cream ale. A bunch of folks on here have brewed it recently and can attest that 10% would not be too heavy handed.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Can you describe the rye character you get from that percentage? And is it malted or flaked rye?

I heard that you had a rye cream ale recipe, but couldn't find it in a search, is there a thread concerning it? I think that would be a great source for my recipe.

Here is a link to the recipe and discussion. http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/phpBB2 ... 6129#76129

The rye adds to the complexity of flavor. Adds some spicyness that works well with the saaz hops. The rye also adds to head retention.

My next batch of it will be with the pacman yeast and with Sterling instead of saaz.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Chris, I'm one of the recent brewers that Boog spoke of. I can attest that the 9.5% rye is not too much in this particular beer. However - there is also about 9.5% of corn - which is also has a powerful flavor. The two complement each other quite well, and together - play well with the Saaz and Northern Brewer. This is a very complex tasting beer. One thing that is unmistakable is the lingering rye spicyness in the finish.

I did an Irish Red with about 7% of Rye. It was just perceptible - but it also had a bit of Victory and Munich to play off. I would still tone it down a little bit for a Kolsch. There's not much to balance it off of then. I would recommend 5% for the first attempt.


Mylo

Sounds like good advice to me, and I was also concerned about the lack of other malts for the rye to play off of, as well as a lack of late hops.

My local homebrew shop does not carry rye malt. Can I just use rye from the bulk store?

imacoming wrote:My local homebrew shop does not carry rye malt. Can I just use rye from the bulk store?

This would be similar to using unmalted wheat. It will have a little different flavor but would work. You will need to mill it and then do a cereal mash to gelatinize the starches in the rye so the enzymes in the rest of your mash can work on those starches. When you boil that unmalted rye, be sure to add some malted grain to it so the cereal mash doesn't turn into wallpaper paste.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company