Rye Hefeweizen - Dogfish Head...I think?

[Crumbscrapings]

Greetings, all!

I'm planning my next brew and was looking to try a clone of a great brew I had on tap last summer at a place in Denver which actually has a good selection of Dogfish Head on tap. The problem is that I lost the scrap of paper that had the name of it and I don't seem to find one matching its description on the Dogfish Head website.

1. Is anyone familiar with this beer?
2. Has anyone tried a Hefeweizen with Rye and have a recipe you can point me to?

I did search of the forum and other places online and cannot find this specific beer. I'm reasonably sure it wasn't a mirage...

Thank you!

 

[FarmerTed]

Are you sure it wasn't a Fate beer? They make a roggenbier, I think it's called The Norns, or something like that. Roggenbier's are German rye ales made with the same types of yeast used to make hefeweizens.

Edit: here's info about Norns.

 

[Crumbscrapings]

Are you sure it wasn't a Fate beer? They make a roggenbier, I think it's called The Norns, or something like that. Roggenbier's are German rye ales made with the same types of yeast used to make hefeweizens.

Edit: here's info about Norns.

Aren't roggenbiers usually darker or at least very rye forward? This one was definitely a cloudy light yellow-colored one using a hefeweizen yeast. You got all the usual banana/clove but also had a little spice to it from the rye.

 

[Talgrath]

You're talking about a roggenweizen, which is exactly what is sounds like, a rye and wheat beer, the yeast you use is indeed wheat beer yeast. There is this Roggenweizen from them listed on Beer Advocate: found here, but I'm not sure if that's what you drank or are talking about.

In any case, I myself make a Roggenweizen, I just started last fall, and it's a fairly tasty treat. I don't have the exact percentages in front of me right now, but I think i did about 40% wheat, 30% rye 20% pilsner for the malts and I hopped it just like a hefe and fermented it the same way. Big heads-up here: you will need a ton of rice hulls because this mash will be THICK due to the presence of both rye and wheat. I usually don't have problems with a stuck sparge with my setup and usually don't use more of a handful of rice hulls, but I recommend a full pound, a half-pound resulted in my first ever stuck sparge. Beyond that, the usual fun with rye scorching applies so be ready to clean, but otherwise it's simple and straight-forward.

 

[zmanzorro]

Roggenbier per BJCP 2015:

A dunkelweizen made with rye rather than wheat, but with a greater body and light finishing hops.

A more distinctive variant of a dunkelweizen using malted rye instead of malted wheat. American Rye Beers will not have the weizen yeast character, and likely more hops.

 

[zmanzorro]

Found this:
http://www.westword.com/restaurants/dogfish-head-and-prost-brewing-team-up-on-a-special-beer-for-avanti-6882080

No recipe but might be what you had.

 

[FarmerTed]

If you go up to The Post in Lafayette, maybe you could talk to Bryan Selders and get an idea of the recipe. He used to be the brewmaster at Dogfish. He was also going to do a course at Lafayette Homebrew on water chemistry (I think this weekend), so that might be a place to chat him up.

 

[Crumbscrapings]

Found this:
http://www.westword.com/restaurants/dogfish-head-and-prost-brewing-team-up-on-a-special-beer-for-avanti-6882080

No recipe but might be what you had.

Thanks Zmanzorro! I think you nailed it. That was where I drank this beer - I think my recollection of its color was just wrong. Appreciate you finding it! Now I can focus my efforts a bit more.

 

[Crumbscrapings]

You're talking about a roggenweizen, which is exactly what is sounds like, a rye and wheat beer, the yeast you use is indeed wheat beer yeast. There is this Roggenweizen from them listed on Beer Advocate: found here, but I'm not sure if that's what you drank or are talking about.

In any case, I myself make a Roggenweizen, I just started last fall, and it's a fairly tasty treat. I don't have the exact percentages in front of me right now, but I think i did about 40% wheat, 30% rye 20% pilsner for the malts and I hopped it just like a hefe and fermented it the same way. Big heads-up here: you will need a ton of rice hulls because this mash will be THICK due to the presence of both rye and wheat. I usually don't have problems with a stuck sparge with my setup and usually don't use more of a handful of rice hulls, but I recommend a full pound, a half-pound resulted in my first ever stuck sparge. Beyond that, the usual fun with rye scorching applies so be ready to clean, but otherwise it's simple and straight-forward.

Thanks Talgrath, I think you were right too. Also appreciate the recommendation on the rice hulls. Do you think lowering the rye to about 20% would still require them?

I like making some bread with the spent grain, but made the mistake of trying this with my last pumpkin batch where I used rice hulls in the mash - awful!

 

[Crumbscrapings]

If you go up to The Post in Lafayette, maybe you could talk to Bryan Selders and get an idea of the recipe. He used to be the brewmaster at Dogfish. He was also going to do a course at Lafayette Homebrew on water chemistry (I think this weekend), so that might be a place to chat him up.

Thanks for the thought FarmerTed. I actually used to live right down the street from Lafayette Homebrew, but not sure I can get up there this weekend.

 

[Talgrath]

Thanks Talgrath, I think you were right too. Also appreciate the recommendation on the rice hulls. Do you think lowering the rye to about 20% would still require them?

I like making some bread with the spent grain, but made the mistake of trying this with my last pumpkin batch where I used rice hulls in the mash - awful!

I'd say so, wheat is pretty thick too and having 60% of the mash be two thick grains could definitely be an issue, although to a lesser extent, maybe a half pound or so.