I have some leftover Wyeast Kolsch yeast and was thinking of what to brew. I like the idea of doing a kolsch style with some rye added in - anyone every tried this?
I was thinking 10% rye malt, 5% flaked rye, and the rest pilsner malt. bitter to ~30 ibu with a late charge of liberty.
whaddya think?
IMO, you need at least 15% rye to be able to taste it.
Try the following recipe. Probably my favorite recipe that I’ve ever developed – call it my “house beer” if you like. I’ve played around with the recipe over the years, but it’s awesome with rye, and it uses Kolsch yeast. Either the Wyeast or White Labs Kolsch yeasts will produce excellent results.
By the way… I’ll trump Denny and recommend you go up to 30-40% rye for the best effect.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=77133&p=722621&hilit=honey+wheat#p722621[quote=“dmtaylo2”]Try the following recipe. Probably my favorite recipe that I’ve ever developed – call it my “house beer” if you like. I’ve played around with the recipe over the years, but it’s awesome with rye, and it uses Kolsch yeast. Either the Wyeast or White Labs Kolsch yeasts will produce excellent results.
By the way… I’ll trump Denny and recommend you go up to 30-40% rye for the best effect.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=77133&p=722621&hilit=honey+wheat#p722621[/quote]Yeah, that’s a good suggestion, Dave. I was just speaking to the minimum for my taste threshold.
Yep. Understand.
Not too long ago I brewed a rye bitter with 20% and thought that was a good amount as the beer came out pretty good. I wouldn’t go any lower.
You could also throw some raw unmalted flaked rye in there. Being a less processed ingredient, it might add something different that the malted version doesn’t, and it might also help with body. Personally, I’d use some of both and see what happens. I know that wouldn’t be “kosher” :lol: by German standards for this style, but it could add some extra character.
FWIW, I find I don’t get as much flavor from flaked rye as malted.
FWIW, I find I don’t get as much flavor from flaked rye as malted.[/quote]
Good to know. Rye is one of those grains I haven’t gotten around to experimenting with yet. It’s one of those things that don’t necessarily inspire me tremendously- I guess because I haven’t had any rye beers yet that really blew me away- but I’ve been meaning to do something with it anyway, just to say I tried it. Actually, the only idea I’ve come up with for it is a rye bock. I’ve never seen that done, and I think it would be really interesting. What irritates me is that there hasn’t been a genuine German roggenbier available in my area for at least a decade, and I never got around to trying one when it was available. I don’t know why that style disappeared from the radar, but I’d really like to see it come back, so that I can finally check it off the list of beer styles to try.
Not too long ago I brewed a rye bitter with 20% and thought that was a good amount as the beer came out pretty good. I wouldn’t go any lower.[/quote]
In the fall I’m planning a rye porter and 20% of the base grain will be rye, I’ll also be replacing the light chocolate malt with chocolate rye and useing some crystal rye in place of the regular crystal. I might also add some caraway seeds.
FWIW, I find I don’t get as much flavor from flaked rye as malted.[/quote]
Good to know. Rye is one of those grains I haven’t gotten around to experimenting with yet. It’s one of those things that don’t necessarily inspire me tremendously- I guess because I haven’t had any rye beers yet that really blew me away- but I’ve been meaning to do something with it anyway, just to say I tried it. Actually, the only idea I’ve come up with for it is a rye bock. I’ve never seen that done, and I think it would be really interesting. What irritates me is that there hasn’t been a genuine German roggenbier available in my area for at least a decade, and I never got around to trying one when it was available. I don’t know why that style disappeared from the radar, but I’d really like to see it come back, so that I can finally check it off the list of beer styles to try.[/quote]
Sorry to burst your bubble, but rye bock has been done. I’ve made one myself. It’s a style that rye really works well with IMO. Or you could try a Rye IPA…I think I’ve seen a recipe for that! 
A bit off topic, but are the stuck sparge concerns a bit overblown then? I’ve been warned to avoid going over 15% rye, but I’ve pushed it to 20% a few times already without any problems. Basically I think everything is better with rye, so this is good news to me.
A bit off topic, but are the stuck sparge concerns a bit overblown then? I’ve been warned to avoid going over 15% rye, but I’ve pushed it to 20% a few times already without any problems. Basically I think everything is better with rye, so this is good news to me.[/quote]
It all depends on your lautering system. With the SS hose braid I use, I’ve done 456 batches without a stuck runoff, no matter how much wheat or rye I use. No protein or beta glucan rest, either.
Two words: Rice hulls. If you’re concerned at all, throw a pound of rice hulls in the mash and you won’t have any problems. That’s what I do for my 40% rye beers. I haven’t tried it without.
Man, a lb. is a lot. Usually a handful or so is enough. Be sure to wash the hulls first and wet them thoroughly before using so they don’t absorb too much mash water.
FWIW, I did a roggenbier last fall as a starter and I brew in a bag. Used about a pound of rice hulls to 12# total grist, and getting the wort out was still a sludgy goopy, sticky mess (I tend to squeeze the bag to get better efficiency). I personally will not do a rye-heavy beer without a protein/beta glucan rest, as I think even with those, it will still retain plenty of body/head-forming protein.
Roggenbier can be a great style though. I think it really balances out the hefe yeast characteristics if you have a richer body with more complex malt flavors. Mine turned out like a slightly richer dunkelweizen with less alcohol.
I think Rogue-en-bier (or however the H they spell it) sucks though.
Which goes to my point about lauter design. Whether or not you need hulls is pretty much dependent on your equipment.
[quote=“Denny”]
Sorry to burst your bubble, but rye bock has been done. I’ve made one myself. It’s a style that rye really works well with IMO. Or you could try a Rye IPA…I think I’ve seen a recipe for that! [/quote]
Where in the world did you see something like that?
Here’s this one again, since the old link is broken. In past I used rye instead of wheat, and added some honey at flameout. This is an updated version without the honey and trying wheat instead of rye. But of course, do whatever you like, play around with it. It always seems to come out pretty darn tasty.
Cheers.
