Roggenbier Recipe Design

[ontum]

Hello,

I am trying my hand in creating and brewing a Roggenbier, even though I have never tasted one. I really like rye whisky and rye in my beers, like in Denny Conn's Rye IPA, so I thought I would go all out and make a rye beer. This is how I stumbled across the Roggenbier. I Have created this recipe by solely looking at the style guidelines of the beer and have not looked into other recipes. I am curious to what others think of this recipe and if anyone has made a good Roggenbier.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1007 German Ale (I have never used this, but I thought it would fit)
Yeast Starter: 1.4 liter for 24 hours
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5 (.5 for loss)
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBU: 29 (style guide says 20 max, but I am pushing it)
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90 (would 60 be better)
Color: 15.6
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 30 at 62 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): Nope

Malt Bill
7 lb Rye Malt
3.5 lb. Two Row
1.5 lb. Munich Malt
1.5 lb. White Wheat Malt
.5 lb. Chocolate Malt
1 lb. Rice Hulls

I'm not sure about the hops, but I'm thinking along these lines
Hops
.4 oz Chinook - FWH
.5 Simcoe - 15 Boil
.5 Simcoe - 0 Boil

The LHBS recommend decoction step mash in my cooler because I am using so much rye. This will be a first for me as I normally batch sparge.

Mash Steps
1. Add 1 qt per lb and rest at 113° and rest 15 minutes
2. Add .5 qt per lb of boiling water and hope for 130° and rest 15 minutes
3. Remove 1/3 of water added and boil for 10 minutes
4. Add back boiled wort and hope for mash temp of 150°
5. Rest 15 minutes and then recirculate with pump for 15 minuets
6. Drain to Kettle.
7. Batch sparge up to pre-boil volumn.

What do you think?

-
Craig

 

[giraffe]

That malt bill is slightly not traditional. A roggenbier is a dunkelweizen with all the wheat malt replaced by rye malt. So 50-70% rye. The rest a mix of munich style malts. And maybe 1% debittered black malt for color adjustment. (rice hulls are a good idea)

Use a hefe yeast. 3638 or 3068. The mash schedule looks good.

If you want finishing hops Id use something noble, or a domestic equivlent (like liberty) Id go 20 ibu or less. The chinook and simcoe are not going to play very well with the hefe yeast if you go that route, in my opinion. This style is about the yeast and the spiciness from the massive amount of rye. It doesnt need assertive hops at the party as well.

 

[ontum]

Thank you very much for the reply and advice.

I brewed the recipe that night and didn't see your posting until the next day. I will see how the beer turns out and then make adjustments. I would like to try and make the beer more traditional next time.

Because the rye is a smaller grain I milled the grain twice, once at .037 and once at .028. I got great efficiency with this and the decoction mash, but the sparge got stuck several times and took a long time. I almost gave up. The decoction went well until I was ready to drain off into the kettle. I stirred up the grain and did a vorlof for about a half gallon, but by this time the run off slowed significantly. After I let this drain a half gallon or so into the kettle, I pumped 170° water into the inlet of the MLT and vorlof again. I repeated this 6-7 times until I got my pre-boil volumn. I actually got 81% mash efficiency, which is great for me.

I created a 1.4L starter and lowered the fermentation chamber to 62°. The fermentation went crazy and overflowed my cup of sanitized/airlock several times. I have never had a fermentation as vigorous and active as this one. Hopefully the beer will turn out good, only time and taste buds will tell.

-
Craig

 

[sikkingj]

Since you are doing such a fine crush, you may want to use a bag to keep your sparge from sticking (for a bag think a 5-gallon paint strainer type bag).

Good luck with the brew!

 

[pdxal]

Since you are doing such a fine crush, you may want to use a bag to keep your sparge from sticking (for a bag think a 5-gallon paint strainer type bag).

Good luck with the brew!

Rye with a BIAB set up works well, but does drain a little slower than typical grain bills.
It isn't the fine crush, it is the rye that causes the stuck sparges. Rye is high in beta glucans that turn gooey and sticky when mashed. With a low percentage in the mash it shouldn't be an issue, but with a roggenbier it is likely to become one.