Rockit Cup Rye Pale Ale Brewday

Ah, Rockit Cup,why are you so delightful? I mean, besides the fact that you bring beer into my life. Any who, here it is, this month’s delightful installment, almost four weeks ahead of when I need it. It’s like a Christmas miracle in late May, the kind that everyone loves. Oh, and Chris Wyatt, there is a secret surprise below for you.

146. Rockit Cup Rye Pale Ale

7 ½ lbs. Breiss 2-row

2 lbs. Breiss Rye

¾ lb. Breiss Crystal 20 L

¼ lb. Breiss Carapils

¼ lb. Breiss White Wheat

Mash @ 150° F for 60 minutes w/ 3 gallons of RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 1 ¾  gallons @ 1.080

Batch sparge @ 168° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 4 gallons @ 1.034

Collected 5 ¾ gallons; added ¾ gallons RO water, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:

w/45 to go: ½ oz. Columbus leaf 13.0% AA

w/30 to go: ½ oz. Cascade leaf 7.7% AA

w/10 to go: 1 oz. Cascade leaf 7.7% AA

w/5 to go: 1 oz. Columbus leaf 13.0% AA

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled, and pitched Wyeast 1056 (You get that, Wyatt? I cheated!)

Brewed: 5/18/2013

Secondary: 6/3/2013 @ 1.010; dry hopped with 1 ½ oz. Columbus leaf 13.0% AA & ½ oz. Cascade leaf 7.7% AA

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.010

Tasting Notes (8/10/2013): So I almost drank all of this before I got around to typing notes up on it (this is my last deuce deuce), which is not surprising given that this is a delicious and very drinkable beer—this is what I would call another Rockit Cup success. While 

Guess who grabbed
the wrong cap?

it is not as fresh and chewy as it was during the first month, it still maintains all of the others hallmarks of a delicious and drinkable beer. The beer pours a hazy tan copper with a mousse-y white head that refuses to leave, while the nose is a pungent spicy evergreen followed by herbal citrus that it almost minty. Flavors start with spicy rye followed by a hint of caramel sweetness before the herbal and evergreen hop flavors flex their muscles—the spicy resin hop flavors offer a pleasant transition in conjunction with the rye spiciness in the front before heading into the dank and herbal pine finish that features just a hint of lingering mintiness. The mouthfeel is chewy and rounded, and while the carbonation is a bit high—it borders on spritzy—the carbonic bite helps in the finish to offer a definitive closure to things. The herbal and minty hop characteristics also remind me of Millenium, albeit in a bit more aggressive form here. Still, this beer s a solid and drinkable pleasure—nice work, Travis!