Roggen Weizen, often confused with Pokemon Roggenrola, has a cult following. It’s a favourite amongst brewers and those in the know. When we bring it to Festivals or Farmers Markets it’s always the beer that people say “oooh I really like that one.”
But if you don’t fall into the groups above or don’t happen to come upon it accidentally the likelihood of your everyday beer drinker picking it off the shelf is rare. Because really, what is Roggen Weizen?
Well lucky for you I’m about to spit some knowledge.
In German, Roggen means Rye and Weizen is Wheat. So a Roggen Weizen is, you guessed it, a Rye Wheat beer. We ferment it with our Hefeweizen yeast which helps gives off those phenols and fruity esters that are reminiscent to a traditional Hefeweizen. Lots of banana and clove notes. I describe it as Banana Cream Pie because it sounds amazing.
BJCP has this to say about Roggen Weizen: “A specialty German rye beer originally brewed in Regensburg, Bavaria. Never a widely popular style, it has all but disappeared in modern times.”
So this is probably the problem with people picking up Roggen Weizen off the shelf. It was never really that popular and no one makes it now, they especially don’t brew it “in Modern Times” (see what I did there?) and in reality it’s just a weird style with a weird name. So why still make it?
It tastes f*cking delicious.
So delicious in fact that our 2016 Roggen Weizen won Gold at the BC Beer Awards in the Specialty Beer category. (It’s hard to type with one hand while patting myself on the back with the other). We think the 2017 version is even better and hope that you do to!
To enjoy your Roggen Weizen to its full extent remember to rouse your yeast and get all that yeasty goodness back into the beer. I even wrote a blog last year on how to do this. A blog in which I lead off with stating, “Believe it or not, some beers are meant to be hazy.” Holy shit have we come along way in just a year. It also goes to show that the Germans, in reality, created the haze craze centuries ago. #rouseyourroggen #hazecraze
Roggen Weizen is available now and has shipped BC wide. Even you folks in Alberta might get your hands on some.
That’s all for now!
Cheers,
Jorden
