Roggenbier

This is actually a first for me as I haven't yet had the pleasure of using an ingredient that, to me, Denny Conn made famous. Denny, also of the batch sparging fame, has won a few awards for his Rye IPA, if memory serves me, and it was the mention of "spiciness" that the rye added that made this beer interesting to me.

In the years that I spent haunting the Goose Island on Clybourn (who, by the way, have reached an agreement to renew their lease, thereby avoiding the need to find a new locale and resort to the one location in Wrigleyville) I seem to recall them making a few different beers with rye, one of which I believe was a Roggenbier. The number of different beers required to earn my Goose Island MBA was substantial, and I'm certain I've forgotten at least half of them. But I digress....

My recent "studies" of German beers have taken me into some areas I've never delved, but others that just hadn't been visited in quite some time, one of them being Dunkelweizens. This Roggenbier was a 5 gallon batch, using 11.5 pounds of grain, of which almost 44% was made up of Rye Malt. Definitely a difference there. I made a conscious effort to be as careful as possible with my volumes, because of late I'd been lax and just kept running my sparge until I hit around 1.010 on the second runnings. This led to larger than planned for batch sizes and lower gravities. I'd also tried to recirculate as much as possible to put the clearest possible wort in the boil, but with a weizen I guess it isn't as critical. I'm using the WYeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat yeast, which I haven't had any experience with, but so far is running like a champ. A 1000 ml starter had fermentation going within 3 hours of pitching and is already kicking out great banana and clove aromas. I tend to run my weizens in the higher end of the temperature range for these very reasons.

Had some crazy numbers come out of the efficiency calculations, but I use those generally as a ballpark to see if I was somewhere in the right process consistency. This seems to be my biggest weakness, and part of that is because of my setup, which I am constantly tweaking to improve. Who knows, maybe some day I'll hit the jackpot and can afford one of these.

11-29-2008 Roggenbier

A ProMash Brewing Session Report

Brewing Date: Saturday November 29, 2008
Head Brewer: Mike Ring
Recipe: Roggenbier

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
17-B Wheat Beer, Bavarian Dunkelweizen

Min OG: 1.040 Max OG: 1.056
Min IBU: 10 Max IBU: 20
Min Clr: 10 Max Clr: 23 Color in SRM, Lovibond


Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 11.50
Anticipated OG: 1.058 Plato: 14.25
Anticipated SRM: 13.9
Anticipated IBU: 21.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Actual OG: 1.062 Plato: 15.21
Estimated Alc by Weight: 5.16 by Volume: 6.60 From Measured Gravities.

Actual Mash System Efficiency: 96 %
Anticipated Points From Mash: 57.90
Actual Points From Mash: 74.38


Pre-Boil Amounts
Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour

Raw Pre-Boil Amounts - only targeted volume/gravity and evaporation
rate taken into account:

Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.47 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.045 SG 11.13 Plato

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
43.5 5.00 lbs. Rye Malt America 1.030 4
34.8 4.00 lbs. Munich Malt Germany 1.037 8
17.4 2.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
2.2 0.25 lbs. Chocolate Rye Malt Germany 1.029 260
2.2 0.25 lbs. Caramel Wheat Germany 1.035 46

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
1.00 oz. Mt. Hood Pellet 5.20 16.9 60 min

Extras
Amount Name Type Time
0.25 Lbs Rice Hulls Other 60 Min.(mash)
1.00 Tbsp 5.2 Mash Stabilizer Other 60 Min.(mash)
1.00 Tsp WYeast Yeast Nutrient Other 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
WYeast 3638 Bavarian Wheat


Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Single Step
Heat Type: Direct (HERMS)
Grain Lbs: 11.50
Water Qts: 15.53 Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 3.88 Before Additional Infusions
Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.35 Before Additional Infusions
Tun Thermal Mass: 0.25
Grain Temp: 68 F Before Additional Infusions

Rest Temp Time
Dough In: 170 0 Min
Saccharification Rest: 152 60 Min
Mash-out Rest: 168 5 Min
Sparge: 170 0 Min

Total Mash Volume Gal: 4.80 - After Additional Infusions

Runnings Stopped At: 1.010 SG 2.56 Plato

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.

Efficiency Specifics
Recipe Efficiency Setting: 75 %

At 100 percent extraction from the maximum mash potential:
Total Points: 77.20
Points From Mash: 77.20
Points From Extract/Sugar: 0.00

With the recipe efficiency setting, you should have achieved:
Total Points: 57.90
Points From Mash: 57.90
Points From Extract/Sugar: 0.00

Actuals achieved were:
Actual Points From Mash: 74.38
Actual Mash System Efficiency: 96 %

Generated with ProMash Brewing Software