Thanks, Dave. I always appreciate your comments. You may not know me, but I used to hang out on NB's forum a few years ago. Went into exile for whatever reason and I've recently resurfaced.
Checked the fermenter this morning and the yeast is sure chewing things up, so I'll have beer one way or another. This recipe was from 2010. I went back and checked the 2011 recipe (same guys) and they increased the rice hulls to 2 lbs. They changed more than that, so I don't know if it was just because of the rye. I have my opinion, though
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Thanks for the re-assurance on the 'slickness.' Not having brewed a rye before, that really threw me. I've read about brewing rye, but that particular detail escaped me. I thought maybe it was just a high protein level and it would come out in the break. I'm anticipating quite the trub level when I rack this off, but that's only my guess based on what I saw go in the fermenter.
On the protein rest, I haven't done one in ages. But, being a new process I thought I'd just follow the recipe as given. What do you think of the high mash temp after the decoction? The recipe called for 30 mins at 165 and that seemed really high. I only hit 160 and since I was already uncomfortable being that high I just left it. Do you think 153 or so would have been more appropriate? What am I trying to accomplish at 160 - 165 other than really increase the un-fermentable sugars?