I’ve been wanting to brew NB’s Roggenbier recipe, as the description sounds really interesting. Problem is, I’ve never had a roggenbier, and I’d hate to go through the trouble of brewing a batch of something I may not like. Is anybody familiar with this recipe, and if so, is there a commercial brew that comes close to it that I could try before brewing? All the rye beers I’ve found at the bottle shops are either RyePA’s or Rye-porters, nothing with as rye-heavy of malt bills as a roggenbier.
Rouge has one that I know of off the top of my head as does Bear Republic. They are the two larger companies that I can think of. I have Iron Hill Brewery in my area and they have a pretty tasty one, but I do not think that they are national.
I like the spiciness with the sour finish that a Roggenbier has. It’s a very a good beer to brew, but I think it takes some time to condition if memory serves me correctly.
Thanks for the feedback! Are Roggenbiers typically supposed to have a somewhat sour finish? I didn’t see that in the kit’s description.
I’ve brewed many rye beers. The only spiciness I get from mine is from the use of noble Hallertau hops. I don’t find rye itself to be spicy at all. Also have not noticed sourness. It is bready and earthy, and has a very full, thick, creamy character that you can’t get from any other grain. I love it, but it might not be to everyone’s liking. One of my all-time favorite homebrew recipes is linked here (use 40% rye malt instead of wheat):
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=77133&p=722621&hilit=honey+wheat#p722621By the way… you’ll want to add a pound of rice hulls on top of everything else, as rye is very sticky.
I would wholly and equivocally say do NOT use Rogue’s beer (Rogue-en-beer or some other annoying brand name) as an example of the style. That beer is a complete mess of flavors. I also did not note any sourness in my roggenbier or in the style guidelines.
Roggenbier in my mind is basically a hefe with rye subbed for the wheat. It tastes to me like a lighter-abv version of a weizenbock. I made one a few years back with Hefe I yeast, primarily to grow up yeast for a weizenbock. It is an awesome style. Great for fall.
As Dave said, I would definitely incorporate rice hulls, and after my last one, which was a complete b1tch to lauter, I would also consider a short protein rest.
Just brew it. You’ll like it :mrgreen:
[quote=“Pietro”]I would wholly and equivocally say do NOT use Rogue’s beer (Rogue-en-beer or some other annoying brand name) as an example of the style. That beer is a complete mess of flavors. I also did not note any sourness in my roggenbier or in the style guidelines.
Roggenbier in my mind is basically a hefe with rye subbed for the wheat. It tastes to me like a lighter-abv version of a weizenbock. I made one a few years back with Hefe I yeast, primarily to grow up yeast for a weizenbock. It is an awesome style. Great for fall.
As Dave said, I would definitely incorporate rice hulls, and after my last one, which was a complete b1tch to lauter, I would also consider a short protein rest.
Just brew it. You’ll like it :mrgreen: [/quote]
Oh, interesting. I was under the impression that Roggenbier was brewed with lager yeast. I wonder if I’m getting that mixed up with Rauchbier. Either way, it sounds like a nice style since I love hefes…I’d probably love Roggenbier.
Thanks for all the feedback! I’m assuming that rice hulls won’t be necessary if doing BIAB?
Not sure… if you plan to sparge the bag at all then yes, hulls will be necessary. If you just pull the bag and drain and do not rinse at all, then no.
Absolutely still use rice hulls and a short protein rest (some may disagree, but I would), or your efficiency will be horrible. My roggen was BIAB, and I didn’t use ENOUGH rice hulls, and it was a gloppy mess when I pulled the bag out…
That’s good experience, Pietro – thanks. I’ll keep it in mind since I’m almost exclusively BIAB these days and will brew more rye beers in future.
