Cover Crop Rye Ale - More of the Brewing Proccess

As my earlier post indicated, I brewed this beer on Monday, February 7. It was a "partial mash" with the grain bill consisting of Munich malt, crystal malt, rye Malt (3 lbs), Simpsons Naked Oats, carapils malt, and flaked wheat malt -- almost 6 pounds of grain.

I ended up using 3 gallons of water to steep the grain for about 45 - 60 minutes at close to 150 degrees (perhaps slightly higher). The recipe called for steeping for only 30 minutes, but I decided to up this, hoping to extract more sugars and complex flavors from the malt.

6 pounds of dry malt extract were then added to the boil, as well as the hops (Perle, Columbus, and Cascade). Perle and Columbus at the beginning; Cascade @ 30 and 55 minutes into the hour boil. After the boil I added 3 pounds of clover honey.

After cooling and aerating the wort, I took an original gravity reading. My reading? 1.090 YIKES! The recipe said for me to expect an OG of 1.065-69. Now I know I added the honey and steeped the grains longer than called for. But it appears that I extract way more sugar than I had anticipated. I was thinking I would test between 1.070 and 1.080.

Now I was concerned about blowing out my yeast with such a high potential alcohol content. I used the Wyeast 1056 American Ale strain and utilized a yest starter (.75 litres of wort) 2 days prior to brewing. I was hopeful that I now had a big enough batch of yeast to do the job on this bigger than expected beer.

So, I aerated the hell out of the wort, and pitched the yeast and the liquid starter into the fermenter (which I learned later was another mistake).

In the morning I had that wonderful bubbling sound coming from my air lock and a complaint from my wife that it smelled like a brewery in my brew room.

After 9 days, the activity has died down considerably. Now was the time to see if I had to deal with a stuck fermentation or if everything was A-OK. Drum roll please . . . .

A-OK! My gravity reading on Day 9 was 1.010. The recipe called for a final gravity between 1.015 and 1.018. So while there may be some lingering simple sugars waiting to be eaten by my yeast, for the most part the fermentation is complete. Time to dry hop with a combination of Columbus, Citra and Simcoe. My Citra and Simcoe have been sitting around for a while, so I hope they add to the flavor of the brew. The Columbus came with the kit (now, where did I put that half ounce of hops?)

The best news is that the beer is absolutely delicious. I ended up drinking the entire sample I tested. The late addition of honey really adds a flowery sweetness to the finish. I think that the dry hopping with all of the mango and citrus notes should play well against the honey and rye. Even flat and room temperature, I just loved the way this beer tastes.

If my readings are in the ball park, the beer should be right around 8% alcohol. According to Wyeast, their American Ale strain has a tolerance up to 11% alcohol. So I think I am okay on that end.

All in all, a good day with good news.