Evaluation, please, on a rye IPA recipe

[John Sand]

I'm a firm believer in trying a well liked recipe before making changes so I agree to let it roll.
I just made one from HBT that goes back to 2008. It's not bad in any way, just not nearly as good as all the reports. Ya pays ya money and ya takes ya chances.

Next to my own recipes, this one is probably my riskiest. Any other HBT recipes I've used have hundreds of replies and five stars.
I'll report the results.

[Rebel_B]

I have a Rye IPA in my regular rotation that is 77% Pale, 7-1/2% Rye, 7-1/2% Flaked Rye, 6% Wheat, 1% Crystal 40L, & 1% Victory malts. It is well liked, and visitors always drink more than one if these.

[FedoraDave]

All of these replies let me know I'm on the right track. There may be some minor tweaking of the recipe down the road, but I think I'll split the rye malt/flaked rye 50/50 and keep the rest as-is.

Thanks for the input, everyone! I'm eager to try this, but it won't be brewed for at least another month.

[John Sand]

Update: I'm drinking mine now. It's good, not sweet, but not too much rye flavor either. The rye flakes weren't very fresh. It tastes like a hoppy pale. My wife (taster) likes it too, no one else has tried it yet.

[Beer-lord]

I've been waiting to hear more on the rye recipes. I've been working on one on and off for 2 months and keep waffling back and forth on the rye ratio. I'm pretty much down with my hops but like Rebel, I like to use both the rye malt AND the flakes in my RyePA's with some white wheat but I don't normally use any crystal in mine.

Dave, have you brewed yours yet? I am going to be only weeks away.

[dbrowning]

I love RYE
Ive used as much as 50%
With different mixes of malt and flaked
By far my favorite hop for Rye PA is Liberty
Ive used Citra, Cascade, Challenger and Cluster.
And used Magnum as bittering hop a coule of times
but the more liberty the better
And the best Ive made is all liberty

[Ibasterd]

Dave, I'm no expert but here is a recipe that is just now ready to drink. I've only had one a few days ago. My recipe is for a 2 gallon BIAB, so I thought it might apply since I think that's what you are doing, more or less. From the one, young sample I had, it was very good. Mine is lighter on the hops as it's not an rye I.P.A, but a R.PA. (I did not dry hop). As I recall, mine was fairly sweet with not too much rye spicyiness, and A nice floral hop aroma. Good luck with yours.

FERMENTABLES:
3 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (67.6%)
1 lb - American - Rye (22.5%)
0.25 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 40L (5.6%)
3 oz - American - White Wheat (4.2%)

HOPS:
0.38 oz - Liberty, Type: Pellet, AA: 5.2, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 22.39
0.33 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.7, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 11.8
0.33 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.7, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 6.49
0.33 oz - Centennial, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.7, Use: flameout

[FedoraDave]

I've been waiting to hear more on the rye recipes. I've been working on one on and off for 2 months and keep waffling back and forth on the rye ratio. I'm pretty much down with my hops but like Rebel, I like to use both the rye malt AND the flakes in my RyePA's with some white wheat but I don't normally use any crystal in mine.

Dave, have you brewed yours yet? I am going to be only weeks away.

Yes, I've brewed this, and kegged it, and I'm drinking one now! Only a week in the keg, so it's a young 'un yet, but pretty good.

My evaluation? I'm not sure what to expect, as I'm not perceiving a really strong rye flavor, although the commercial RyePAs that I've had were the same; not a really strong rye presence, but still different from a standard IPA. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe it'll become more prominent as it conditions.

Thing is, when I was getting the ingredients for it, the LHBS guy told me, "This is going to be a really rye-heavy beer! Not that that's a bad thing, if that's what you're going after, and personally I like a lot of rye. I'm just saying." So there you go. Again, maybe it's me. Maybe my taster is off, or maybe I was expecting something different - more like rye bread, which I really like. So I don't know. Maybe I should go out and get some commercial RyePAs and do a side-by-side.

Bottom line is this, as of 3/15/15: It's still a little young. It's still a really good beer that I'm pleased with, and I'm the only one who matters. I'd make it again, and probably will.

[mashani]

For the best rye flavor, a mixture of malted rye and flaked rye seems to work best for me. Just malted rye is more mellow. Some flaked rye seems to make it "pop".

For the record I've used as much as 60% rye (in my Roggenbier). You could taste the rye in that for sure, but it was delicious, and by no means "too much".

[Beer-lord]

For the best rye flavor, a mixture of malted rye and flaked rye seems to work best for me. Just malted rye is more mellow. Some flaked rye seems to make it "pop".

For the record I've used as much as 60% rye (in my Roggenbier). You could taste the rye in that for sure, but it was delicious, and by no means "too much".

I approve this message!
I actually think the flaked rye is where the best flavor is and helps to push the spicy type flavor of the rye.

[jimjohson]

he got me whooped. the CC was the highest rye for me it was only 28%(malted I haven't tried flaked yet).

[FedoraDave]

I've been drinking this on a fairly regular basis over the past couple of weeks now, and it's a very good beer. I might increase the rye (both malted and flaked a little next time, along with a slight increase in the hops. But there's nothing wrong with this beer as it stands. I just think it could be a little more aggressive.

[John Sand]

Dave, I just finished the 2.5 gal keg. It was good, my friends liked it, but not noticeably rye. Next time more rye.