Roggenbier

Roggenbier—A Rare Style Returns to the Civil Life
A Block Restaurant Exclusive

​Spicy, complex Roggenbiers were once commonplace in Bavaria, way back in the Middle Ages. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Beer, it was the Reinheitsgebot (Germany Purity Law) of 1516 that put the kibosh on using rye malt for beer. Apparently these tasty brews didn’t make a comeback until the 1980s. But as with anything beer related, the history turns out to be far from certain. The purity law seemed to be primarily directed at bottom-fermenting beers (lagers) not top-fermenting ales (like Roggenbier).
 
Some suggest that the law was originally created, not just to ensure the quality of beer, but also to make sure there was plenty of wheat and rye to use in bread baking, bread being the culinary mainstay for European peasants for hundreds of years. And coincidentally, when all the rye was baked into bread instead of being added to the mash tun, cases of ergotism went through the roof.
 
Ergot is a type of fungus that infects various grains, especially rye. Ergotism could cause hallucinations, convulsions, and burning sensations in the extremites (thus the medieval nickname for ergotism, “Saint Anthony’s Fire”), not to mention death. And it would be an ergot alkaloid that was first used by Albert Hofmann to create the first laboratory LSD.
 
Esoteric history aside, Roggenbier returned to a handful of German breweries toward the end of the twentieth century. Intrepid American craft brewers were ready to give it a go as well.
 
So what is a Roggenbier? The style typically contains at least 30% rye malt and is generally fermented with a wheat-beer yeast strain. Our version, which we brew as an exclusive for the Block Restaurant, uses 40% rye, including some flaked and chocolate rye, on a mixed base of pilsner, Munich, and Vienna malt. It’s fermented with the same Weihenstephan yeast strain we use for our German wheat and finished with saphir hops. This one-of-a-kind brew is dark and spicy with a slightly sweet under-note and a dry finish.
 
This year, brew day went off without a hitch. The first batch, on the other hand … Let’s just say the brewers struggled with a nine-hour stuck mash. Rye is notorious in the mash tun, basically making a sticky porridge. We use plenty of rice hulls to keep the grain bed from being too dense. Maybe this is the real reason why those Bavarian brewers took a few-hundred-year break from brewing it. It can be temperamental, but its complex, spicy flavor makes it worth it.
 
If you haven’t tried this delicious taste of brewing history, head on down to the Civil Life for a pint. Or if you find yourself in the Central West End or Webster Groves, visit our friends at the Block Restaurant. They’ll be happy to pour you a pint of this exclusive ale. Either way, see you soon at the Civil Life.