Rye... Worth it? Def my new enemy.
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:02 pmSo i bought a bag of rye a while back.
I'd dabbled in it before, rye beer, a mostly corn whiskey with a major rye component... but all previous recipes had a good chunk of malted barley as well. (hulls. remember this for later.)
So i thought i'd dive in and throw together a big 18kg rye and 2kg ale malt.
Easy. Right?
Kind of.
I'm very relaxed with everything related to this hobby. Some people will cry if they saw what i do. It ain't no Virginia backwoods - only because it's in my backyard. :laughing-rolling:
So after grinding, i brought 20L of water up to 70 C, added it to the fermenter, stirred in 1kg of ale malt and 9kg of rye malt, then brought another 20L of water up tot he same temp and threw it in with the previous lot and then stirred in the same amount of grain. Boiled some water and added it to the lot so it sat around the 65 C mark.
So i'm pretty sure the next day i added more cold water and pitched the yeast. (In the morning?) I came home to find it had exploded during the day. And i thought there was HEAPS of headroom!
(i'm not exactly sure the total volume, but there was probably 70L after a light squeezing.)
I am also fairly busy during the week, so it got infected. not a big issue, i expect it, and don't mind, and am pretty sure it doesn't come over in the final. So i've embraced that white moonscape of sour love!
The fermented liquid was very thick when i siphoned the first lot off.
Then there was the residue that stuck to everything.
So squeezing the grain for the second charge, i thinned it out a little with water.
So then the distilling began. Strip it all out then combine for a hybrid (CM?) pot run.
Foam city.
I watched it so very carefully before i put the copper on the keg and ran it very slow and when it perked up i turned it down straight away. When i thought i was safe i turned it up a little but no, a tiny puke. all good. flame off, then flame back on after a little rest. Had to strip it slow.
The second charge was much more forgiving due to the higher water content. All stripped out now waiting for time to do the final run.
It tastes alright this far, so i'm looking forward to having half white and half oaked. But man... if i do all rye again, SOOOOO much rice hulls are going in! Even maybe off grain fermenting!
Rye is a kent.
I thought corn was bad.
I'd dabbled in it before, rye beer, a mostly corn whiskey with a major rye component... but all previous recipes had a good chunk of malted barley as well. (hulls. remember this for later.)
So i thought i'd dive in and throw together a big 18kg rye and 2kg ale malt.
Easy. Right?
Kind of.
I'm very relaxed with everything related to this hobby. Some people will cry if they saw what i do. It ain't no Virginia backwoods - only because it's in my backyard. :laughing-rolling:
So after grinding, i brought 20L of water up to 70 C, added it to the fermenter, stirred in 1kg of ale malt and 9kg of rye malt, then brought another 20L of water up tot he same temp and threw it in with the previous lot and then stirred in the same amount of grain. Boiled some water and added it to the lot so it sat around the 65 C mark.
So i'm pretty sure the next day i added more cold water and pitched the yeast. (In the morning?) I came home to find it had exploded during the day. And i thought there was HEAPS of headroom!
(i'm not exactly sure the total volume, but there was probably 70L after a light squeezing.)
I am also fairly busy during the week, so it got infected. not a big issue, i expect it, and don't mind, and am pretty sure it doesn't come over in the final. So i've embraced that white moonscape of sour love!
The fermented liquid was very thick when i siphoned the first lot off.
Then there was the residue that stuck to everything.
So squeezing the grain for the second charge, i thinned it out a little with water.
So then the distilling began. Strip it all out then combine for a hybrid (CM?) pot run.
Foam city.
I watched it so very carefully before i put the copper on the keg and ran it very slow and when it perked up i turned it down straight away. When i thought i was safe i turned it up a little but no, a tiny puke. all good. flame off, then flame back on after a little rest. Had to strip it slow.
The second charge was much more forgiving due to the higher water content. All stripped out now waiting for time to do the final run.
It tastes alright this far, so i'm looking forward to having half white and half oaked. But man... if i do all rye again, SOOOOO much rice hulls are going in! Even maybe off grain fermenting!
Rye is a kent.
I thought corn was bad.