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January, 1994 Volume 17, Issue 2

Brewster's Corner

By Bruce Brazil

RAUCH und ROGGEN

Translation: Smoke and Rye.

Hugh Baird / Great Western Malting has a peat smoked malted barley. I’ve tried some and want to pass on some information about it. At the end of the malting process, the barley is dried over burning peat. The grain temperature is kept low enough so that the enzymes in the grain are not wiped out. Therefore, it could be used by itself in a mash.

The smoke flavor contained in the grain is INTENSE. I tried to make a Scotch Ale and wanted some smoke flavor in the background. With three pounds of peated malt out of a total of fifteen pounds of grain in a five gallon batch, I ended up with a brew that was completely dominated by the smoke flavor. I would suggest using a half pound as a starting point for a five gallon batch.

The Sept./Oct. issue of Brewing Techniques has and article on Rye beer and I recently won some rye flakes at one of our club raffles so guess what I brewed? The mash was three pounds of rye and nine pounds of pale malt. OG = 1.057 and FG = 1.012. Mash temperature was kept low, 147-152F. to produce more fermentables. I thought that the rye would have a flavor similar to most rye breads but it doesn’t. The distinctive flavor in the rye bread is from the caraway seeds in it. The final product has a distinct flavor, something like an American Wheat. The most unusual aspect of the beer is the mouth feel. It’s a creamy sensation.

The Brewing Techniques article stressed the point of sparging difficulties due to the high gluten content of the rye. I sparged in a net/bucket and this stuff really packs together. Slicing through the top of the grain bed did nothing to help the flow of sparge water. I had to actually scrape the bottom of the net several times to get the liquid through. Brewster’s suggestion: fill the sparge bucket with sparge temperature water to the level of the bottom of the net, and add some of the sparge water to the mash before dumping the mash into the sparge bucket. This may help to keep the grains suspended in the liquid and not pack together as much. Cal Trans might accept the spent grains to fill potholes in the freeway.

 


Updated: January 08, 1998.