Why Rye, why?

This week presented itself with a number of obstacles and challenges. Beyond a few mechanical issues that we overcame the biggest issue came on Tuesday trying to brew a new double I.P.A. with 33% Rye malt. Yeah, that's not a typo, its just the insanity that brewers sometimes take on when trying to push the boundaries of their brew houses. For those of you who don't know Rye lacks a husk, which makes this grain very difficult (read" gummy and slow) to work with. Normally our beers take about 1-2 hours to lauter (transfer wort from mash tun to kettle) but this particular brew topped out at 4 hours and 47 minutes. No worries however since the only thing damaged in this experiment was my patience at times, the beer itself hopped with Chinook,Columbus and Sorachi Ace is safely fermenting away.

Look for this new this I.P.A. in early June, and I have no doubt it will go down quicker for those who drink it then how it acted in the brew house.

Cheers,
Mike