This is the beer that drove me to partial mash as I tried a rye wit and loved it. My first attempt didn’t have nearly the rye punch I was looking for (used 18% rye). This is my second attempt for a 5.5 gal partial mash/partial boil:
I’ve read that over 25% rye can be way overboard (mine is 31%), but I just don’t see how as my 18% was there but in the background. I have considered backing off to 25% to see, but I’m not so sure 7% more will be quite the upfront flavor I’m looking for if 18% was so far in the back.
I’ve used up to 30% rye and I think the flavor is fine at that level - quite good in fact. The issue you might have is with lautering. Rye gets gummy, and depending on your crush it might stick. A beta gluten rest will help with that, or just add some rice hulls.
1/4 lb of rice hulls is way more than 2 handfuls, but your way should work. Two handfuls might be plenty, or it might not be enough. It depends on your crush and your equipment.
I reset my gap to 0.039" or the width of a piece of the MM2 that is apparently for another use. I had it set to an iTunes card which ended up being 0.029" and I conditioned my malt but I still had sparge issues.
I still condition my malts figuring it can’t hurt.
