Sustainor "Ryebock"?

[braufessor]

I have been looking for rye beer to brew, and this one caught my interest.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/sust ... n-kit.html

Couple questions -

I have a pound each of Sazz hops and Spalter hops - any thoughts on substituting for the sterling (which I do not have on hand)?

Also - is there a particular reason to use the US 2 row as opposed to a german pilsner malt? I have a 50lb sack of each, but would consider going with the pilsner unless there was a reason not to.

Has anyone brewed this? Opinions? Thoughts? Is the 3 pounds of rye too much/little, etc?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

[rustyhoover]

Saaz should be a perfectly acceptable sub for Sterling. I also believe you should be fine subbing pilsner for the two-row. Most people recommend a 90 minute boil for pils malt, as you probably know, which I don’t think should be a problem.

As far as the recipe overall, I have not made it or anything much like it. I believe that Denny usually states that rye doesn’t become all that noticeable until you hit 15% or so (although I’m sure it depends on the style and rest of the grainbill). If I were making it (and I might, sometime soon ) and had on hand what you do, I’d keep the rest of the grainbill as is.

Although I would have no problem dropping the carafoam if it’s not convenient to get. Can’t imagine that it would contribute much…