a boring beer?

Well, it's a new year and it's my second brew of the year. I took advantage of no hangover and a quiet (everyone was sick) house to brew on New Year's Day. No surprise, a pilsner. A second pitch of the Wyeast specialty yeast, Rasenmaher. 50F in the basement brewery and it's chugging along nicely.

Today's brew is one I've been grumbling about internally for a while. Our homebrew club has in internal competition in which the winner names the next year's challenge. This year: American rye. Admittedly, I have all I can do to brew enough for us to have homebrew on tap most of the time. Therefore I tend to brew what I/we like. Lots of pilsner, pale ales, Irish red, some dark and or smokey beers. This is not a beer I would brew ordinarily. I like rye. I really enjoy the extra tang it adds to a beer. So when I do use it it's usually in a specialty brew, like a red rye Pilsner or in a smoked porter, or an American amber. American rye, as a style, is pretty boring. Not much color, body or bitterness. Yawn. But, it's a challenge. Okay. Rye beer, in particular, rye beers done with a high percentage of rye in the mash is a challenge. Gummy, gluey, sticky, and the dread stuck mash are all usually a part of any brewers discussion of rye. So I guess the challenge will be, how much rye do I dare?

48% is the number. Using rice hulls and a slight modification to my typical procedure, sparging in progress.

Since I don't normally do a mash out, I mashed on the thick side and layered the mash with hot water as I transferred it into the lauter tun. 1/2 pound of rice hulls as well. Wort is running very well and I have a lovely golden color.

The picture to the right is from Friday. A hawk is dining on a bluejay in the driveway. Gorey but fascinating to watch. I've never been so close to a hawk before. He/she was very intent on the meal. But it glared at me as the camera beeped as it powered up. I was inside. That's some fine hearing.