Rye Pale Ale #2

I have some rye left over, and while I'm saving the dark rye for a sahti, I wanted to see if I could make a spicy, peppery rye pale ale.  My first attempt at a rye PA turned out okay, so I wanted to see if I could do something a bit better.  I thought I'd give it a shot by using some rye grain in a partial mash, as well as trying out a different yeast.

Brew Day: 2 July 2015

Partial Mash (2.5 qt water, strike temp: 156F, 1 hr mash time)
0.5 lb 2-row
0.35 lb Rahr red wheat
0.35 lb Weyermann German Rye malt

Just shy of 1 hr, cycle wort through cooler manually several times. For the boil, heat 3 qt water to 170 F; once mash time is complete, move muslin bag of grain to kettle, steep for 10 min.  Add wort, DME, bring wort to a boil.

Boil time: 45 min (5 qt total volume)
1 lb Pilsen DME (@ 45 min)
7 g German Tettnang (@ 45 min)

Yeast: Safbrew T-58

Once the boil completed, the wort was placed in an ice bath until it reached 80 F, transferred to the fermenter, aerated, and about 1/2 of the packet of yeast was pitched.

Rye Ale, fermenting

About 10 or so hours after putting the fermenter in a safe location, this is what the beer looks like (left).  Not bad, particularly since this is the first time I've used this yeast.

So, this beer is relying less on the hops and more on the rye and yeast for a bit of spice.

...and I thought I'd share something, because these images are funny, as well as likely very true for most home brewers...

Rye Ale, 8 July

Addendum, 8 July: To the right is a picture of the rye ale as of 8 July (the day I bottled the ginger beer).   It's looking pretty good, with a yellow hue that I haven't seen before, but that's not a bad thing.  The cap on the airlock floats just a bit, so I know that there's some gas being produced.  I'll be bottling in another 8 days or so, and this one should be ready to try around the end of the month.  Based on some of the recipes I've seen for tripels that use the same yeast, however, letting the bottle sit much longer may produce some interesting results.

16 July, pre-bottling

Addendum, 16 July:  I moved the fermenter to the bar area where I do my bottling this morning, and the picture to the left shows that its a nice golden color.

Tasting notes, 1 Aug: Hazy, pale straw yellow color, non-persistent head, no lacing.  Very light, easy to drink, good flavor.  Mild fruit flavor, most likely from the yeast.  Terri said that this is likely her favorite thus far.  Frank tried one tonight as well, and enjoyed it...which was high praise, indeed, because he started off with a barleywine ale that I had available.  The beer is not spicy or peppery at all; rather, it's light, and easy to drink.  Definitely a keeper.

With respect to the recipe, I think that I'll do next time is back off of the wheat malt a bit, and maybe put a touch of carapils in there.  I'll also bitter it with something with a higher alpha acid, and move the Tettnang hop addition later in the boil.

Addendum, 20 Aug: Terri still really likes this one, and had one tonight, and then we split one.  This one is still a hazy witbier, with a slightly sweet, yet mild, finish.  I fully agree with the recommendations regarding the yeast made in this blog post.