Steve's Rye Amber Ale

A rye amber ale for Steve at Barismo.

Several new techniques are being attempted with this one, even though it's not really for us. First off, we milled the rye separately and are allowing it to kind of "pre-convert" for 15 minutes, then adding the rest of the grain. and striking in as normal with a traditional protein rest schedule. The second thing we're trying is a whirlpool hop stage at flame-out.

3/1/15: Brewed this today. Went off pretty well, no real major hangups despite introducing a couple new techniques. No idea if either is going to have an appreciable influence on the finished beer, but we'll have to see. Hit our OG spot-on and it seems like it's going to ferment perfectly well. More updates soon.

3/8/15: Thiefed sample for gravity reading and tasting. Nailed the FG - 1.012, attenuation only 1pt better than anticipated. Final abv should be 4.99%. Pre-conditioning tasting notes:
Subtle, quaffable. Solid stylepiece highlighting balance almost to a flaw; mild malt breadiness, just enough hops, could use a bit more. I think our cascade being lower AA than anticipated cost us a few ibus. Drinks like a commercial amber without the nasty adjunct taste of stale corn. Would crush this on a summer's day. Going to carb heavy to add mouthfeel and hopefully make the beer more interesting.

3-22-15: Bottled into 12oz bottles. Added .75 cups corn sugar to prime. Pipetted 2mL of yeast into each bottle. Yielded exactly 48 bottles, and one bomber which will be ours.