Hey all, I’m looking to brew the extract American Rye ale kit, and looking through the ingredients there are no specialty grains included. Most of the simpler kits seem to have at least 1-1.5 lbs included.
Any recommendations on additions?
Also when using calcs (Beersmith) is there a way to mark a grain as a steeping addition?
Thanks!
The rye extract that NB sells contains pale malt and crystal malt as well as rye malt. You may not need to add anything else.
Thanks, Denny. I noticed the inclusion of various ingredients in the malt, but after reading in many places I noticed many sites recommend adding steeping grains to “brighten” or “liven” the brews flavor.
The NB Rye extract is:
70% 2-row.
20% malted rye
10% caramel 40
Which looks like a perfect grain bill for a Rye ale. I wouldn’t add anything else either.
I don’t know what you want to add to it but when using Beersmith when the type of brewing at the top center of the recipe window is set to extract it calculates any grain as being steeped.
Thanks, Glug. I wasn’t aware of that. Just a trial run of entering the NB bill of materials in to test the software.
I’m fairly certain I will be purchasing a license in the near future.
I like a little Gambrinus honey malt in mine. But be aware that with rye plus crystal (and Gambrinus is also a type of crystal malt), the resulting beer is going to be very thick and creamy, and you might want to bring the body down with about a half pound to a pound of simple white sugar or actual honey (in addition to honey malt). This will improve drinkability.
I think you’re going to like it, no matter whether you make changes or not. Good luck.
