Homebrew Summer: Rowley’s Last Rye’d

There are some constants in life. Death will come for all of us. So, too, will the IRS. And when our Homebrew Summer program puts out its annual call for beer recipes, local homebrewer Jared Rowley will be the first to send his in. That sort of responsiveness is impressive, but pales in comparison to the fact that, every year since we launched this initiative back in 2021, one of his recipes has been selected for large-scale production by a commercial brewery. This year it was Kris Ketcham, the 20-year vet at the helm of Stone Brewing‘s Liberty Station brewhouse, that kept this eager amateur’s streak alive by selecting the recipe for his rye-infused extra pale ale, Rowley’s Last Ryde. Will this be his “last ride”? Only time will tell, but just in case, you can get a taste of his pro-am creation at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station, and download the recipe for it below.

Jared Rowley
Homebrewer

I’m so excited to be participating in Homebrew Summer for the fifth year in a row! I’ve had awesome experiences at Deft Brewing, White Labs, BLAH Brewing and Burning Beard Brewing in previous years, and this year was no different. I was incredibly excited and honored when I learned Kris had selected my recipe. I went with this rye XPA because it’s the type of beer I want to drink all the time, especially in the summer. This is a modified version of my rye pale ale recipe, which I’ve had pretty good success with at homebrewing competitions. I changed up the malt bill by removing the little bit of caramel malt and worked with Kris to switch the hops around to mesh better with the rye malt. He had great suggestions for the hops, including using some I had never used before like CGX Nelson. The brew day was a lot of fun and sweaty work. My wife and son even got to come by towards the end to check things out. It was cool to be able to show Taylor everything and he even got to draw a “T” on the fermentation tank the beer went into. Kris really went above and beyond all my expectations, and this was definitely one of the highlights of my homebrewing career.

Kris Ketcham
Sr. Manager Brewing & Innovation – Liberty Station, Stone Brewing

There were some great recipe submissions this year, but ultimately I chose a style I love to brew and drink. While I’ve brewed with rye multiple times, it’s been out of sight, out of mind for us over the past five years, probably due to the slow lautering process and nightmares from our eight-day lauter rye wine/triple IPA years back. To ensure the beer was as “extra pale” as possible, we used Weyermann’s Extra Pale Premium Pilsner malt along with Weyermann’s Pale Rye Malt. The hop load was quite massive for our kettle, so we switched to using Nelson Sauvin CGX for more impact with less volume and substituted New Zealand Cascade for American Cascade. Jared was great to work with. He did everything asked of him and added some extra salt to the mash tun with all the hot, physical labor we put him through. At one point, we cranked up some Metal Warrior so he could hear what (Stone co-founder) Greg Koch has been up to of late.

Any tips for homebrewers using this recipe?
I’d recommend using filtering aids like rice hulls, beta glucanase or another enzyme you’re comfortable with to help with the lauter. Also, remember that brewing should be simple and easy. Don’t overcomplicate it by trying to reinvent something new without experience. And if you’re entering competitions and don’t agree with the judging results, I’d recommend keeping an open mind and rebrewing with the feedback in mind. You’d be surprised how small tweaks and attention to simple details will raise your beer to the next level.

New homebrew recipes and pro-am beer release information will be posted to our site throughout the summer, so check back with San Diego Beer News on a regular basis (or subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter and we’ll send all the recipes and release information straight to your inbox). Cheers and happy homebrewing!

Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station is located at 2816 Historic Decatur Road in Point Loma