What are you drinking right now?

Craigerrr said:
Finally came across an example of a Rye IPA, so I bought one. It was between okay and good. Maybe not the best example of the style. Quite dark in color.
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I brewed my rye ipa last fall and it was one of the best beers I've ever brewed. I can't wait to brew it again
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Bigbre04 said:
@Donoroto @Dave Y

This is my rye pale ale

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/embed/1607172

I liked it. it was not for everyone. i think i would have needed to compare a similar recipe without the rye side by side to be able to decern the actual rye character.

BUT this discussion did make me think it might be a cool addition to my basic golden lager in low levels. help with head and add a hint of spice. i currently add 12oz of choc malt (out of roughly 100lbs). Can i taste it? maybe??? but i think it brings something to the finish and the color.
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I use 9% pale rye malt in my hoppy golden ale. It adds body and some light bready and honey character

Spiciness doesn't come from rye malt. Most people associate the flavor/aroma of carroway seeds to rye because it's included in seeded rye bread, but the rye malt itself is sweet and bready without spice character.
 
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Dave Y said:
Looking at that, I'd think about swapping out the chocolate for chocolate rye and --maybe-- throw in a very little cara-rye. I wouldn't want to see a major color change and I'd want to keep the percentage on the low side; 3-5% total maybe. closer to 3% as you've got a good recipe already.

do you just throw the chocolate malt in the whole mash or add it late? On the lower ABV beers it's a juggling act to get that last minute addition in the mash, usually mash out if I just want color, no roast, etc. On ambers, dark beers and beers in the 5.5%& up range, I can mash darker malts a little longer and not pick up too much unwanted character.
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it doesnt really add alot of color, just a tiny amount and almost no flavor. it is probably there in the background, but it is very very subtle.

also its a medium chocolate(~350L) Bestmalz chocolate.

it goes in for the full mash. its only 12oz into 76 gals knocked out beer so very light. i could get away with some cararye(although i am not sure my supplier carries it? that sounds like a weyermann product).
Sunfire96 said:
I use 9% pale rye malt in my hoppy golden ale. It adds body and some light bready and honey character

Spiciness doesn't come from rye malt. Most people associate the flavor/aroma of carroway seeds to rye because it's included in seeded rye bread, but the rye malt itself is sweet and bready without spice character.
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this is my perception of it. maybe people confused the additional "earthiness" with spicy? I dont think that additional sweetness is what i want in the lager. i am really looking for more sulphury character, but i have yet to figure out how to achieve that with my super clean lager yeast and the spunding. also my water is on the high end of mineral content in general. hence only adding 20g cacl2 and 20g gyp to 80gals preboil.
 
Couldn't you get a Sulphury character by using a Kolsch yeast?
 
Sunfire96 said:
I use 9% pale rye malt in my hoppy golden ale. It adds body and some light bready and honey character

Spiciness doesn't come from rye malt. Most people associate the flavor/aroma of carroway seeds to rye because it's included in seeded rye bread, but the rye malt itself is sweet and bready without spice character.
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At 9% I'd agree. At 50%, I'm willing to debate that point.

Bigbre04 said:
...

it goes in for the full mash. its only 12oz into 76 gals knocked out beer so very light. i could get away with some cararye(although i am not sure my supplier carries it? that sounds like a weyermann product).

this is my perception of it. maybe people confused the additional "earthiness" with spicy? I dont think that additional sweetness is what i want in the lager. i am really looking for more sulphury character, but i have yet to figure out how to achieve that with my super clean lager yeast and the spunding. also my water is on the high end of mineral content in general. hence only adding 20g cacl2 and 20g gyp to 80gals preboil.
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That's a good point about 'earthiness'. Other descriptors might apply too. One word I might pick at higher percentages is 'harsh'. Some other words? unrefined, less refined, not smooth... Spicy might not be the best descriptor because it's not like a peppery spice, but it's definitely not the smooth, sweetness you'd get from say, maris otter.

If any of you make it to Mount Vernon and tour GW's distillery, they usually have some of the recreated rye mash bill available in both unaged / 'white dog' and aged 2 years in an oak barrel available. There's also some peach and apple brandy but for this discussion, we'll focus on his Excellency's rye. First, it's pricey, because it is the last wood fired distillery in the US. Mount Vernon's distillery makes their own tools, coops their own barrels with their tools, sources the wood for the fire, processes it and conducts the entire distillation process by hand with only one concession to the Fairfax county tyrant fire marshal, drying the grains has to be done on a heat plate :-/

Anyway, if you enjoy the smell - and taste of fresh cut grass, with a little dirt and spiciness thrown in, that's what it tastes like. So now you don't have to spend $60 for a shot of it at the MV inn or $109 for a 375ml bottle. Now, the aged rye is actually quite good if you like rye. Tasting this sort of helps understand some of the character you might get from rye in a beer, at least in higher percentages of the grist and much more muted. Though TBF, I've never had a beer taste like fresh cut grass ;-)
 
Bigbre04 said:
it doesnt really add alot of color, just a tiny amount and almost no flavor. it is probably there in the background, but it is very very subtle.

also its a medium chocolate(~350L) Bestmalz chocolate.

it goes in for the full mash. its only 12oz into 76 gals knocked out beer so very light. i could get away with some cararye(although i am not sure my supplier carries it? that sounds like a weyermann product).

this is my perception of it. maybe people confused the additional "earthiness" with spicy? I dont think that additional sweetness is what i want in the lager. i am really looking for more sulphury character, but i have yet to figure out how to achieve that with my super clean lager yeast and the spunding. also my water is on the high end of mineral content in general. hence only adding 20g cacl2 and 20g gyp to 80gals preboil.
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My most "lageriest" lager was when I actually committed to true noble hops instead of facsimiles from the US. What I thought I was lacking in my lagers was the sulphur character, turns out it was proper hops
 
Sunfire96 said:
My most "lageriest" lager was when I actually committed to true noble hops instead of facsimiles from the US. What I thought I was lacking in my lagers was the sulphur character, turns out it was proper hops
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that makes sense. nobles throw a very earthy spice that is pretty important in a lager.
Brew Cat said:
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Toasted Ale
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tell me about the toasted ale i am intree-geed
 
Bigbre04 said:
that makes sense. nobles throw a very earthy spice that is pretty important in a lager.

tell me about the toasted ale i am intree-geed
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The toasted ale is nothing special
I roasted my own malt with different malts and different roast level
Some I did in my smoker
Just playing around
Brewed 3 batches lowering the IBU
Trying to get a feel for the grain
This batch was good
I had a brewer friend over who tasted it and knew it had Cascade and something else
It's just a side project
I didn't tell him about it until after
 
Brew Cat said:
The toasted ale is nothing special
I roasted my own malt with different malts and different roast level
Some I did in my smoker
Just playing around
Brewed 3 batches lowering the IBU
Trying to get a feel for the grain
This batch was good
I had a brewer friend over who tasted it and knew it had Cascade and something else
It's just a side project
I didn't tell him about it until after
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very cool
 
Bigbre04 said:
@Daniel Parshley came and hung out on Friday last week! We were SLAMMED, but we still had some good chats. He brought his chocolate porter which was lovely!
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Returned home to the south Georgia fires. Just getting back to normal. Thank you for the fine hospitality and great food. We tried all 8 brews and tried the first sour I really liked. Neat place and you all should stop by if you ever are on Tybee Island, Georgia.
 
I’m drinking my bottled Delirium clone. It’s way under carbonated. Aside from that, it’s not bad. Not oxidized, clean tasting, just not enough fizz. I’ll have to check my kegging system for leaks. All in all, I think it’s great for a first run in the AIO system. Thanks for all the advice from everyone to help me brew this beer. I look forward to the next brew.

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