Denny Conn's Rye IPA

If you are a homebrewer you have probably at least heard of this recipe. It is a recipe by Denny Conn, who is pretty well known in homebrewing circles. This beer is basically a maltier version of a strong IPA, but it is interesting in that about 20% of the grain bill is malted rye, which gives the beer an extremely full mouthfeel and some spicy rye flavor (which compliments the spiciness of the Mt. Hood flavor hops). We have done this beer now 4 times, but it wasn't until the 4th batch that I felt we really had this recipe locked in. Denny recommends using Wyeast 1450 for this beer, which we finally got to use on batch 4. Prior to that we used Wyeast 1272, which I didn't much care for as it seemed to leave quite a bit of fruitiness even under relatively cool fermentation temps (~63 F). Also, the Columbus dry hops make this beer. Denny's recipe calls for 1 oz in the secondary and 1 in the keg, we just did 2 oz at the tail-end of secondary then bottled.

So, for batch 4 we were finally able to brew this beer properly, having access to WY1450 and plenty of Columbus hops. Here it is:

Denny Conn's Rye IPA v4
6 gal batch, brewed 9/6/09

12.25 lbs US 2-row
3.25 lbs Rye malt
1.25 lbs Crystal 60
0.5 lbs Carapils
0.5 lbs Wheat malt

1 oz Mt Hood (5.2% aa) First wort hop
2 oz Columbus (14.2 aa) 60 min
1 oz Mt. Hood 30 min
1 oz Mt. Hood 1 min
2 oz Columbus dry hop, 4 days from end of secondary

1.073 OG
1.012 FG
8.0% ABV
88 IBUs

Water profile: 128 ppm Ca++, 19 ppm Mg++, 48 ppm Cl-, 245 ppm SO4, 18 ppm Na+, 90 ppm bicarbonate

Yeast propagation: WY1450, 1 gal starter @ 1.040, 6 days old, constant shaking to aerate

Mash: Single infusion, 149 F, 1.75 qt/lb, 100 minutes. Batch sparged w/ 4 gal water at 190 F (2 rounds, 2 gallons per round, rest time 15 min). Preboil 10 gal @ 1.052, mash efficiency 83%.

Brewhouse result: ~6 gal cast-out vol., OG 1.074, brewhouse eff. 73%.

Fermentation: 61-62 F for first week, rise to 70 F during second week, drop to 68 F during dry hopping.

9/20 Racked to secondary, gravity at 1.024
9/23 1.020
9/20 1.016. Added a pack of Munton's dry yeast to make sure this attenuates fully. (WY1450 seems a little slow)
10/4 1.012, quite a bit of activity past few days. Began dry-hopping at 68 F.
10/7 Bottled, 1.012, target 2.1 vol CO2
10/30 Peaked

Review (10/31/09, bottled for ~3 weeks)

Aroma - Big, juicy Columbus aroma - dank, piney. Low fusels. Very clean. Some caramel malt in the background. A real hop-bomb.

Appearance - Giant white head, can get too big when pouring. Excellent retention. Poor clarity (note: this cleared up after a couple weeks in the fridge)

Flavor - Big & complex - spicy rye and hops up front, chewy, malty after, and a long lingering bitterness that is very pleasing.

Mouthfeel - Perfect carbonation, silky, creamy body. Lingering bitterness btwn sips.

Overall - Excellent. I think this is how this beer is supposed to be (previous batches were a little fusely or had a lesser hop aroma and bitterness). Improve clarity. Don't change anything else. Sort of like a baby barleywine.