Help with Roggenweizen Recipe?

I made a Rye IPA a few batches ago, and it has turned out as one of my favorite beers to date. I only used 1lb of flaked rye, so the rye is there but not overpowering. Browsing through the recipe db, I saw a rye wheat from Ryanh1801. Cheesefood brought up the point that this was actually called a roggenweizen. A word I have never heard before . I better make one.

I have never been a big wheat beer fan, as most are fairly bland (Yeah, Im a hophead). Talking with Wortmonger offline (PM, thank you sir) I shared my ideas for a recipe, and he gave me some pointers, so I am going to post my current attempt at a recipe and see if anyone else has some ideas.


5 Gallon Batch
OG - shooting for 1.055 - 1.060
IBU - shooting for about 20 - 30 ?

40% Pale 2row
25% Wheat Malt
25% Rye Malt
10% Crystal 10

Hops, not sure... Have a few oz on hand of Columbus, Cascade, Amarillo, Simcoe, EKG, Sterling, Wilamette. What goes good in a roggenweizen?

Picked up a pack of Safale-06 last time through the LHBS, figured I would use that to give it a whirl. My beers made with dry yeast (Nottingham, S-04, S-05) seem to turn out better than liquid, so I might try to stick with what has been working for me.

Wortmonger brought up a good point, about stuck sparge with that much wheat and rye. I have a 10G rectangular igloo maxcold with 1/2" plumbing and a SS Braid from a hot water heater line (big). In my extensive experience (of one whole AG batch), it seems to drain quickly. Should I be concerned with a stuck sparge?

Thanks all for any ideas, recommendations, and guidance

out of those hop options, i'd use the willamette just for bittering.

that sounds great. i love rye and i've made a couple of rye weizens myself...nice and spicy and tasty.

if you're concerned about a stuck sparge, use some rice hulls. i've never had a problem with my false bottom.

Thanks for the input, but I have a couple n00b questions...

So just one bittering addition at 60 minutes? No later additions?

What IBU range do you normally do for your rye-weizen?

I would opt for bitter hops (60 minutes) and a tiny bit for flavouring hops as well (10 to 15 minutes).

But that's just my opinion.

Check the style guidelines for this beer. To make it to style, it's basically a dunkleweizen with rye instead of wheat.

Try here as well: http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Roggenbier.html

Technically it's called a Roggenbier, not Roggenweizen, but the two could certainly be interchangable.

A Roggenbier is a Dunkelweizen that uses rye malt in place of all of the wheat malt and is usually comprised of at least 50% rye malt in the grist. This is a traditional German weizen, so using WLP300 or the Wyeast equivilant would be appropriate. Using a neutral yeast will not yield the banana/close aroma and profile that is traditional with the beers in this style category.

Aubie Stout said:

Check the style guidelines for this beer. To make it to style, it's basically a dunkleweizen with rye instead of wheat.

Try here as well: http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Roggenbier.html

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I actually read that page when I was googling around. There is surprisingly few hits for "roggenweizen" but many for roggenbier. One of the first things on that page says:

Germanbeerinstitute said:

"Roggenbier is a medieval ale usually made from a grain bill of about half barley malt and equal portions of wheat and rye malts."

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Which led me to my current grain %'s.

Seems like I may have been a little high on the IBU scale for the style, so I think I will back it off a bit to 12 - 15 IBU using just wilamette.

I am also starting to think that the crystal might be out of place here too. Will the wheat and rye be enough to give sufficient body?

Thanks everyone for your insight!

I have a beer planned that is almost identical to yours. I hope to brew it next week. I want my IBU's higher than the style guidelines recommend (it'll end up a hybrid due to IBU's and the SRM). Since that will throw it out of style, I figured to use Amer. Wheat yeast instead of the 3068 yeast.

Here's Jamil's take on that beer: http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/Roggenbier.html

Well, let me know how it turns out. I think I am going to be in acquire mode for the next week, and then traveling to Amsterdam for 2 weeks for work .

I wont get around to brewing until the end of the month. Let us know how it goes.

Ordered stuff today from Austin Homebrew. Should be here for the week runs out and I hope to have it fermenting by the weekend.

Here's the bill:

1.0 lbs rice hulls
4.5 lbs white wheat
3.5 lbs two row
2.5 lbs rye malt
.25 lbs chocolate rye
.25 lbs chocolate wheat

.50 oz Amarillo FWH
.50 Amarillo 20mins
.50 Amarillo 5mins

OG: 1.054
IBU's: 27.4

White Labs Amer Hefe Yeast 320


I wanted a dark spicy hefe beer. I hope the Amarillo complements the rye the way I think it will. The chocolates are strictly for color, but I thought it cool to have both wheat and rye since they are the base of the beer.

That sounds great!

I too have ordered a bunch of ingredients, however I probably wont be brewing until the 27th or so.

I have not finalized my recipe yet. My first rye beer was a bit overpowered by the citrusy flavor of columbus and cascades (2 oz ea, +DH on cascades). It was a much higher gravity/IBU beer though. I think the flavors go well together, so I think the Amarillos should be great. Might have to think about going that direction instead of the Wilamettes.

Oh, and what type of MLT do you use? I forgot to order rice hulls. May have to run down to the not so L HBS before I brew.

s3n8 said:

Oh, and what type of MLT do you use? I forgot to order rice hulls. May have to run down to the not so L HBS before I brew.

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Did a batch with 3 pounds of flaked rye a couple of week ago. No problem with lauter in my 48 quart Rubbermaid with a braided strand and no rice hulls.

I have a big rectangular cooler for my MLT. I've heard of stuck sparges using rye and wheat in these quantities. I've never used rice hulls before, but I guess you have to sometime right?

Mine might be done by the 27th. At least I should have an idea of how it tastes by then.......

Brew it up today. Everything went better than expected. I didn't have any sparging issues. I think the two row and rice hulls kept everything nice and neat. The wort was a little sweeter and a little less spicy than I had anticipated. Oh well, I can't wait to try the finished product.

Aubie Stout said:

Brew it up today. Everything went better than expected. I didn't have any sparging issues. I think the two row and rice hulls kept everything nice and neat. The wort was a little sweeter and a little less spicy than I had anticipated. Oh well, I can't wait to try the finished product.

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Cool I have this roggenbier in the pipes coming up... Excited to try it.. I like you brewed a rye IPA and I'm loving it now that I'm drinking it regularly... I've developed quite a fondness to the spicy notes in the rye!

Rockin RoggenBier
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 7/4/2008
Style: Roggenbier (German Rye Beer) Brewer: Scott Brandewie
Batch Size: 6.00 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 7.94 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: Brew Pot (15 Gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (10 Gal)
Actual Efficiency: 13.29 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 44.02 %
3.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 25.68 %
3.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 22.01 %
1.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 7.34 %
0.13 lb Carafa Special (400.0 SRM) Grain 0.95 %
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 13.4 IBU
0.30 oz Sterling [5.30 %] (15 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) Yeast-Wheat

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.056 SG (1.046-1.056 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.010-1.014 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Color: 15.0 SRM (14.0-19.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 15.5 IBU (10.0-20.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 6.1 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.52 % (4.50-6.00 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 0.65 %
Actual Calories: 43 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 13.63 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.32 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 17.04 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.5-2.9 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 4.5 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

Transferred to secondary today. I'm gonna like this one a lot......

ohiodad said:

Cool I have this roggenbier in the pipes coming up... Excited to try it.. I like you brewed a rye IPA and I'm loving it now that I'm drinking it regularly... I've developed quite a fondness to the spicy notes in the rye!

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I'd like to see that recipe if you have it.

Here is the recipe I brewed up yesterday...I pitched the WB-06 despite what I have read here and other places. Bubbling happily this morning with about 1" krausen on top. Temp is about 66 in the carboy (thanks to ice packs & water bath).

Weiz-Rye Roggenbier
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 6/29/2008
Style: Roggenbier (German Rye Beer) Brewer:
Batch Size: 5.50 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 7.00 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 84.0 % Equipment: Brew Pot (15 gal) and Cooler (48 qt)
Actual Efficiency: 84.0 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 32.0 %
4.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 32.0 %
4.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 32.0 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 4.0 %
1.00 oz Williamette [4.60%] (60 min) Hops 14.2 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [4.60%] (15 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
1 Pkgs WB-06 Wheat Beer Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.066 SG (1.046-1.056 SG)
Measured Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.017 SG (1.010-1.014 SG)
Measured Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Color: 10.5 SRM (14.0-19.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 21.2 IBU (10.0-20.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 1.7 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 6.4 % (4.5-6.0 %)
Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.7 %
Actual Calories: 298 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 9.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 12.50 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 5.00 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 15.63 qt of water at 168.2 F 153.0 F 60 min
Sparge Add 10.00 qt of water at 180.0 F 168.0 F 5 min
Sparge Add 10.00 qt of water at 175.0 F 168.0 F 5 min


Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Corn Sugar Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.5-2.9 vols)
Estimated Priming Weight: 4.2 oz Temperature at Bottling: 60.0 F
Primer Used: - Age for: 4.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 52.0 F

Oh, one more thing to add...

Rice hulls next time i use this much wheat or rye.

sparging took forever. Should have listened to everyones advice. When I took everything apart to clean, I noticed the barb fitting on the outside of the cooler had gunked up which probably caused my slow sparge, the braid worked fine.

There was also a very fine residue on top of the grain bed when done sparging. Chalk this up to experience.

Took a sample last night, SG is about 1.011. I am guessing this one is done, but I think I will let it go another week or so. It was very cloudy, quite a bit more than I expected. This yeast does not seem to want to floc at all, krausen dropped 3 days ago, and I could barely see the submerged part of my hydrometer in the test jar.

Might have to get the cold water bath going again to help it along.

Very tasty though. I will definitely be enjoying this one in August.

Mine turned out fantastic. I highly recommend the Amarillo hops with this brew. The only thing I will adjust for next time is my efficiency. Normally I get around 75%, this beer I got 62%......

Next time I will clean up my efficiency and add a little more Amarillo to this brew. Maybe even dry hop it......

I have been thinking about dry hopping mine. Gonna be gone again next week, really dont have much time to bottle before then... This gives me a reason to secondary. Ounce of Amarillo it is

Has anyone tried juniper berries with the rye? I've been thinking of doing one along the lines of OP's grain bill but using .5-1.0 oz of dried berries in the boil...

Bottled my franken-roggen-weizen.

I am glad I decided to dry hop this one. Think it is gonna be a favorite.

b767fo said:

Has anyone tried juniper berries with the rye? I've been thinking of doing one along the lines of OP's grain bill but using .5-1.0 oz of dried berries in the boil...

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I never have, but if you do, let us know how it turns out.

I enjoy the juniper flavor in Gin, but think it might be easy to over-do.