Do Rye and Wheat mix?

[Psilocide]

I've noticed that I almost never see mash bills with both rye and wheat - only one or the other.
Does anyone know why? Do they mix poorly or anything, or just tradition?

[Hambone]

I guess it's relatively opposite effects: smooth vs spicy. That said, you never know unless you try, which I haven't...

[NZChris]

Try blends of rye whiskey and wheat whiskey to see if you can find a ratio you like. If you find something, try that ratio in your grain bill.

[HDNB]

most canadian factory ryes are said to be as little as 5-15% rye...leaving wheat, barley or corn for filler. since wheat is the most neutral, i'd suppose it's used liberally. plus it's cheap as guts here. prolly even cheaper than corn here based on supply.

[seabass]

Yes.

Any combination of them can be good. Figure out what you want to make and do it. If it's just base malt, any combination of malted barley, wheat, and rye can produce an interesting product.

[Twisted Brick]

Yes, a bourbon mash bill contains a majority of corn, but at one time a number of distillers started offering 4-grain expressions that included wheat and rye. You might want to try one of these for reference before deciding on a grain bill.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

I completely forgot that I put this post up a while ago. I think wheat and rye go very well together. I almost made a 5 gallon batch of this recipe, but am doing a barrel of sundae bourbon as it's my FIL favorite. But check out this recipe

CROW Bourbon

I promise, it won't disappoint.

-SCD

[Psilocide]

Really appreciated everyone - I didnt know about the 4-grain bourbons, so I'm definitely going to have to go out and do some taste-testing.
That Crow bourbon recipe looks interesting as well - reading that has me thinking about adding toasted oats as well.

[Bushman]

Haven’t tried that combination thanks for the feedback SCD. I love the taste of rye (some don’t) but it doesn’t yield as much as barley but the combination I also like is a bourbon made from rye and corn.

[SaltyStaves]

A couple of years back, I did separate ferments for Corn, Barley, Rye and Wheat. I stripped them all and then blended the low wines to make various 'mash bills'. Made many different combinations which I then used in separate spirit runs after a short marrying period. I ended up with left overs of the various low wines, so I combined all four and ran them. It turned out great. Much more complex and fruity/floral than all the rest of the combos that only featured three grains.

[Hambone]

A couple of years back, I did separate ferments for Corn, Barley, Rye and Wheat. I stripped them all and then blended the low wines to make various 'mash bills'. Made many different combinations which I then used in separate spirit runs after a short marrying period. I ended up with left overs of the various low wines, so I combined all four and ran them. It turned out great. Much more complex and fruity/floral than all the rest of the combos that only featured three grains.

Is the resultant mix of low wines a real approximation of a grain bill? I've always expected an "alchemy" in mashing together vs separately and mixing....

[SaltyStaves]

Is the resultant mix of low wines a real approximation of a grain bill? I've always expected an "alchemy" in mashing together vs separately and mixing....

Its a good proxy of a Canadian style. Different for sure, but you get to play around with the balance without committing to a big mash bill that doesn't work out to your liking.

[Hambone]

It's a good idea...I never knew if it would really translate...

[NZChris]

I reckon you should take your finest cuts from each grain and blend them to please your palate, rather than experimenting with various grain bills in the mash and accepting the 'average'.

[Nanacooks]

I ran across the topic of English Whisky today and how they either did or are still trying to get their own geographic classification like Scotch and IRISH, etc. as I was looking I came across these guys they do a barley, wheat, rye blend that sounds fantastic.
https://copperrivetdistillery.com/our-s ... in-whisky/

[dukethebeagle120]

Haven’t tried that combination thanks for the feedback SCD. I love the taste of rye (some don’t) but it doesn’t yield as much as barley but the combination I also like is a bourbon made from rye and corn.

No you don't get the yield.
No biggie though.
Even if you get less it's worth the work

[dukethebeagle120]

Haven’t tried that combination thanks for the feedback SCD. I love the taste of rye (some don’t) but it doesn’t yield as much as barley but the combination I also like is a bourbon made from rye and corn.

No you don't get the yield.
No biggie though.
Even if you get less it's worth the work
Rye whiskey is my favorite

[dukethebeagle120]

Haven’t tried that combination thanks for the feedback SCD. I love the taste of rye (some don’t) but it doesn’t yield as much as barley but the combination I also like is a bourbon made from rye and corn.

No you don't get the yield.
No biggie though.
Even if you get less it's worth the work
Rye whiskey is my favorite

[Renhoekk]

If you would like to sample a rye and wheat whiskey, have a look in the shops for Kozuba High Wheat Rye Whiskey. It’s 65% rye and 35% wheat.

My view of the Kozuba is that the wheat definitely softens out the rye, but it also tastes less mature than its 6 years. It starts off sweet and ends with an earthy breadiness.

I haven’t experimented with that kind of mash bill myself, but it seems like a combination you could work with to get some interesting results. It’s just annoying that it can take years to realise the outcome of any whiskey experiments

[Whiskey Mindset]

I am actually making a rye whiskey with wheat and malt, all my corn got weevils in it. It’s a 65% Rye mash bill and 17.5% wheat and 17.5% malt. I just started running through the still today. Fingers crossed it turns out good, I’m making it for my brother in law.