I have done some research and can not dig up too many recipes for a German Roggenbier. Does anyone have a good recipe for one that they have successfully used before. I was thinking along the lines of: 55% Rye 20% Pilsen 15% Munich 10% White Wheat Plenty of rice hulls! OG: 1.051 Double decoction mash at 122, 147, and 156 then lauter and batch sparge at 168. Bitter to about 15 ibus. WLP300 fermented at about 70 degrees. As a note, I have never had a Roggenbier before but it is a style that intrigues me and I will be doing a 3 gallon batch for this one as a tester to see if I like what I can create. That said, I really do not know exactly what I am looking for, just a good (and different) beer as I have been only brewing some form of pale ales recently. All help is greatly appreciated.
Closest I've come has been 20% rye in a dunkelweizen-type (two partial mash batches before I went to all-grain). That being said, I preferred the one I made with 380 to the 300. Also, a bit of saaz or tettnang late is tasty.
Troegs made Scratch 28 awhile back - and it was a fantastic roggen. It was my first as well. Here are the brewery's notes regarding the composition: For Scratch #28, the Tröegs team decided to brew a beer to celebrate the early spring weather. The resulting brew is a take on the Roggenbier style—an uncommon German ale brewed with a portion of rye malt and a weizenbier yeast strain. Scratch #28 is loosely based on our own Dreamweaver Wheat beer recipe, but with several significant changes. First, rye malt makes up 25% of the malt bill, replacing a portion of white wheat. Malted rye gives the Troggen Roggen a spiciness, creamy mouth feel, and fantastic head retention properties. Second, lightly toasted Munich and Vienna malts contribute color and a pleasant breadiness. The Andechs Weizen yeast strain offers a clove and banana profile slightly different from our house weizen strain, and the addition of Hersbrucker and Crystal hops in the hopback give a spicy and lightly citrus end-note to the beer. As always, malted wheat gives the beer a tasty doughy flavor and thirst-quenching tartness. Unfiltered, the Troggen Roggen is a cloudy amber-orange brew meant to be drunk fresh, and in warm weather. Tröegs wheat beer fans, you’re on notice!
It might help to do a Beta Glucan rest in the 104 -112F range, to take care of some of the rye stickiness.
I have never brewed a Roggenbier but the recipe in Brewing Classic Styles ‘looks’ tasty: 45% Rye 25% Munich 23% Pilsner 7% CaraMunich 2 ounces of Carafa Special II OG: 1.054 1 ounce of Tettnang (4 AAU) at boil for bittering 0.3 ounce Czech Sazz with 15 minutes left in boil Yeast: WY3068/WLP300 Cheers!
Should I do the Beta Glucan rest for all of the grains or just the rye? Also, will the rest significantly decrease the amount of rice hulls I need to use? I like the idea of doing the B-G rest to make lautering easier as I have heard rye is one of the most annoying grains to deal with.
Less banana, a little bit of stone fruit, some vanilla. A little less intense, lets the rye stand out a bit more. 300 is just banana and clove to me.
I would do the rest for 30 minutes, but I would still use the rice hulls with that much rye. Never done over about 25% and it can give me problems on a system with a false bottom. Braided hose is said to have an easier sparge.
I use a rectangular cooler with a braided hose so hopefully that is working in my favor... I will definitely keep the rice hulls in there. Is doing the B-G rest for 30 minutes going to kill the head retention, or given the yeast choice and with that much rye/potentially wheat too should that not be an issue?
The Beta Glucan rest will not hurt head retention. The 122 rest is a protein rest, and that might, but with that much wheat and rye probably not.
Alright, I was reading a lot about the protein rest (on other forums) with head retention issues and saw a lot of B-G rest info mixed in with it so I was not sure. Thanks for the info and help!
I brewed an imperial roggenbier (8 %) some time a go. Had the bad idea of using a new mash tun for it and the sparge was a disaster. being that said, I have had success even with 100 % rye so you probably will be fine. Like some one said, definitively use a beta-glucan rest (~ 100 F) and just put lots of rice hulks. also plan for a very high water to grain ration at mash out. I don't think a B-G rest is going to kill your head retention, that would be more likely with a protein rest. about the recipe what i remember is roggenbiers are like a dunkel weisse with the wheat malt replaced by rye malt. so some caramunich and some low amount of carafa would be up to style.
I brewed a rye porter using some cararye and chocolate rye, had a nice dry, earthy, spicy character with very little roast at 7% chocolate rye. Might be nice to use that stuff.
