The style originated in Bavaria, southern Germany, and is brewed with the same type of yeast as a German Hefeweizen, resulting in a similar light, dry, spicy taste.
In some examples, the hops presence is pushed to the point where they resemble American India pale ales (IPAs).
[3] After a period of bad harvests, though, it was ruled that rye would be used only for baking bread, thus only barley was to be used for beer;[3] see the law known as the Reinheitsgebot.
In the late 1980s, the Spezialbrauerei Schierling near Regensburg created the first modern Roggenbier, Schierlinger Roggen, using a modified, patented mashing regimen to cope with the effects of the highly viscous rye wort.
[4] The modern version of Roggenbier is typically about 5% ABV and is fairly dark in colour.