The brewers as they are discussing the ingredients in Royal Rye Wine Brew.On 6 July, Baltika's brewery in St. Petersburg hosted a collaborative brewing of a beer in honour of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark's visit to St. Petersburg. The Queen is scheduled to visit St. Petersburg in September.

 

A team of experienced brewers
Danish travelling brewer Mikkel Borg Bjergsø from Mikkeller brewery, Wolfgang Lindell from Carlsberg's Jacobsen brewery, and brewers from Baltika collaborated to produce the unique Royal Rye Wine beer.

 

Brewing with rye for the first time

While it is customary in some countries to produce a ‘barley wine’ variety of beer, it was no coincidence that rye was brewed for the first time here. Rye is one of the most popular cereals in Denmark: one needs only to remember the famous smørrebrød – rye bread sandwiches – which form a part of traditional Danish cuisine. Perhaps it is this love of black bread that brings Denmark and Russia closer together.

Ingredients that the brewers have prepared for the new brew

When beer meets wine
The brewers set themselves an ambitious goal: to brew a unique rye drink possessing the characteristics of both beer and wine. After lengthy preparation, the brewers gathered to agree on the drink's final recipe and its name on brewing day at the Baltika brewery in St. Petersburg.

“Collaborative brewing is a great opportunity to learn new skills and share experience with other brewing experts”, says Mikkel. “Today's brew is really complicated, but unique. This type of beer has never been brewed before, so it is going to be interesting and absolutely brand new.”

A unique recipe with unique ingredients
The basis for Royal Rye Wine was a rye malt, with the addition of a unique yeast culture developed at Baltika's laboratory. Specially for the brewing, Wolfgang Lindell brought rare Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand, which have the aroma of Sauvignon Blanc grapes. The drink also includes ingredients never used before in beer: grape leaves from the Abrau-Dyurso valley and grape juice. They lend the drink tartness and a rich ruby colour. In addition to the traditional stages of preparation, Royal Rye Wine will be aged in oak casks. The drink is expected to combine the Nordic character of rye beer and the sophistication of red wine.

 

Meet the Brewers:

 

Mikkel Borg Bjergsø (from Mikkeller brewery)

Here Mikkel Borg Bjergsø is pictured as he is putting Rye malt into the brew.

 Mikkel Borg Bjergsø is the father of collaborative brewing and one of the founders of Mikkeller, a Danish micro brewery brand.

Dubbed a 'gypsy brewer', he travels around the world and collaborates with other brewers to create experimental varieties.

He has taken part in over 200 collaborative brewings in breweries around Europe, including De Struise Brouwers (Belgium), Nøgne Ø (Norway) and BrewDog (Scotland), as well as at Three Floyds in the USA.

 

Wolfgang David Lindell (from Jacobsen Brewhouse) 
 

Wolfgang David Lindell, a brewer at Carlsberg's Jacobsen brewery in Copenhagen and a world-class beer expert, is the recipient of a number of prizes and awards.

For approximately three years he was head brewer at the Old Harbor Brewery in Puerto Rico. He has also worked at the Airbräu brewery (Munich, Germany) and is a member of the American Brewers Guild.

He will also be part of the jury of The World Beer Cup 2012, a prestigious international competition.

 

Here Wolfgang David Lindell is pictured while putting grape leaves into the brew.