LONDON DRY RYE AMBER ALE

I call this one London Dry, because like another drink by that name, it contains yummy juniper berries. When done correctly, this beer has the toasty, caramel flavours of a good amber ale, along wit h a fruity, ginlike aftertaste that is enhanced by the spicy notes from the rye flakes. Delicious!

Nuts & bolts
Batch size: 19 litres
Pre-boil gravity: 1.050
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.017
ABV: 5.7%

Mash ingredients
Pale malt 2.4kg
Pilsner malt 1.3kg
Flaked rye 800g (get this at a health food store or use
malted rye)
Crystal malt 600g
Melanoidin malt 200g
Chocolate malt 50g

Boil ingredients
Apollo [17% AA] 12g @ 40 minutes
Cascade [6% AA] 28g @ 20 minutes
Crushed fresh or dried juniper berries 90g @ 10 minutes
(look for these in supermarkets in the spices aisle)
Cascade [6% AA] 25g @ 0 minutes
Saaz [3.5% AA] 20g @ 0 minutes

Ferment ingredients
English ale yeast or similar

Method:
Mash: You can include a protein rest at 51°C for 20 minutes, then raise the mash temperature (gently) to 67°C and hold for 75 minutes. Mash out at 75°C for 10 minutes.

Boil: The 60 minute boil proceeds normally, just remember to add those juniper berries at the ten minute mark, lightly crushed in a mortar and pest le (or use a rolling pin).

Cooling and fermentation: When you splash the chilled wort into the fermenter, use a strainer like a sieve (sterilised of course) to catch the juniper berries. You could leave them in, but I’ve found it does little for the final product. This beer really benefits from a cool fermentation, between 14 and 16°C . Be sur e to use an ale yeast that can operate at that temperature (some English Ale yeasts, like Nottingham, work well at low temperatures).