Our seventh attempt with the brewpot would be a rye ale recipe. I've always enjoyed Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye, and we needed another ale that would feature the hops we loved, but a different style than IPA. This recipe fit the order; a beer with lots of hops but with some different ingredients.
The most unusual addition was the inclusion of both rye malt and flaked rye. While we did use several pounds of malted barley (not counting the extract), the rye has a distinct spiciness that is unique. The flaked rye (see picture above) looks just like rolled oats, but I wouldn't eat it for breakfast. After using over 4 pounds of grain for our pre-boil mash, the wort was thick like stew before straining the grains out. Afterwards, the wort ended up with a light muddy-brown color and a fantastic smell. We used a small amount of Columbus hops for bittering and a larger amount for aroma. We'll use Centennial and Amarillo for the dry-hop. Our sample taken for gravity reading had a significant amount of sediment at the bottom, which I can only assume came from the flaked rye. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.
We also bottled our Porter on Saturday, and, man is this going to be fantastic! We drank the test sample for our gravity reading and were very impressed with this recipe. I think three to four weeks in a bottle will make this beer outstanding.
