“Necessity is the mother of invention,” they say, and it’s true. It’s also true that there’s a BJCP category called Alternative Grain Beer—but that’s not the necessity that led to this invention. Instead, one crisp fall day, I was sitting down to plan brews for upcoming Christmas parties when I thought, “Well, how about a ‘red’ beer, you know, for the holidays?” Kitschy, yes, but appropriate. Alliteration and available ingredients took over, and soon I’d worked up a recipe for Rudolph’s Reindeer Red Rye. (And it turned out to be a solid entry for that BJCP category.)
Style: Specialty categories such as Alternative Grain can encourage some tasty beers that we might not otherwise have brewed. In this case, changing out some base grains can lead to fun takes on existing styles. The guidelines say that the beer should feature the alternative grain or be enhanced by it; they also say that the grain should be noticeable in the aroma. In competition, we also need to identify the base style; evident grain aroma might not work well in an American pale ale—but it’s absolutely in-line with American amber ales, which should have a significant amount of malt flavor along with hop flavor.
Ingredients: I based this recipe on my Iron Dice American Amber (available at beerandbrewing.com), with modifications to emphasize the rye character. That includes adjusting the base to incorporate a significant chunk of rye malt. To that we add a nice portion of Maris Otter and some Munich, both of which impart some richness and bready character to complement and bulk up the rye’s own lightly spicy and bready flavors. We round out the grist with lighter layers of Caramunich, British Crystal 45°L, and Briess Extra Special roast malt. The first two contribute toast and caramel, while the Extra Special is the secret ingredient—it adds a dry-leaves, light-spice, camping-in-the-woods flavor that’s perfect for augmenting the rye. Our final color should be a nice, rich, reddish amber.
The hopping changes, too, moving away from aroma hops to focus on flavor. We want something spicy and woodsy—and if ever there was a time for Northern Brewer, this is it. Add 25 IBUs of anything to start, then two later additions of Northern Brewer. The spice is nice, evoking rye in the flavor; Northern Brewer also can feature some pine and citrus character, and that’s fine for the base style. Finally, on yeast, I’ll stick with my trusty German Ale strain.
Process: If you’re not a brew-in-a-bag type, consider adding rice hulls to the mash—rye tends to get gummy and cause a stuck mash. Fermentation is straightforward: Go at 65°F (18°C) for about a week, then it can free-rise to about 68°F (20°C) or a couple degrees warmer for another week. At that point, you should be fully attenuated and ready to crash and package.
Alternative grain beers don’t need to be excessively complicated or weird to be successful. But they can show how base grains can make a significant difference in flavor—often for the better. Enjoy, especially if you’re making this for the holidays!