Vern's Rye

Grain bills and instruction for all manner of alcoholic beverages.

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vernue
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Vern's Rye

Post by vernue »

Vern’s Rye – Made with unmalted rye, using both enzymes to convert the corn and malted barley to convert the rye. This recipe gives an earthy full-bodied rye whiskey. While you may have heard that a rye has a spicier flavor and there is some spice here, you are going to get the earthier tones from unmalted rye more than the spice of malted rye. It is a totally different taste, but it is sooooo good.

5 k unmalted rye (or a tad more, just so I can call it a rye whiskey)
3 k cornmeal
2 k. malted barley

I heat 12 l water to seriously boiling and pour it on the corn meal, stir with a drill and paddle, add HTL in the appropriate amount and stir til smooth. Let it sit covered for 90 minutes, stirring a coupla times in the meanwhile. At 150, add the Sebstar GL.

In the meanwhile….

Heat up the rye inside 28 l water to 40C, hold for 90 min. at least, raise it to 70C, hold for 30 min., let it cool to 60C and add malt. Cover for at least 90 minutes, stirring a few times.

The 90 minutes at 40C is a beta-glucan rest. I would also add seb-flow (I didn’t have it then, but I do now). Any aid to working with rye is welcome. According to many opinions, rye should not be cooked to over 70C. I don’t know about that, but I can attest to the powerful flavor of doing it this way.

Dump both into a fermenter, wait til morning, and pitch. It’s true – you have two different processes going on at once, but if you have ever cooked dinner for a lot of people, you’ll know how to organize your time. It seems like a P-I-T-A, but when you taste the results, you’ll do it again. And again. And again.

If you squeeze the mash in a mop squeezer, you will still experience the slimy nature of rye, but it will not be as bad as it usually is. The beta-glucan rest really does help. You’ll get much more out of your rye mash than you usually do.

When I run this through the still – I’m using propane – I put a thin pizza stone over the flame so it does not scorch. Rye just loves to scorch. You can heat the mash up with the top off and stir until it is hot, but it will still want to cause problems. I’ve have good results using a thin pizza stone or a thin piece of refectory brick.

I’m drinking 2 month old as I write and it is so good!!! It is the only whiskey I’ve made that is really drinkable – for me – at cask strength. Sweet and earthy and complex, even young.
Both me and my whiskey are ageing. I hope my whiskey finishes first.
5 g. clawhammer
50 l. homemade pot still
5 l alembic for alchemy and experiments
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MichiganCornhusker
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Re: Vern's Rye

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Nice work Vern!

Yeah, I’ve had good luck without rye scorching but these days I just use my steamer to strip.

I made something kinda similar last year, but with malted rye. I want to do one this year with the raw grain.

I sure do like rye, whether it’s more or less than 50% of the grain bill. Glad yours turned out to your liking. :thumbup:
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vernue
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Re: Vern's Rye

Post by vernue »

I could not have had the success I had without the your help and that of other experienced distillers on this forum. Thanks!
Both me and my whiskey are ageing. I hope my whiskey finishes first.
5 g. clawhammer
50 l. homemade pot still
5 l alembic for alchemy and experiments
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