Zoigl

By far one of my favorite alltime beer drinking experiences was my brief trip to the German Oberpfalz towns of Windischeschenbach (Eschawo for short) and Neuhaus.  These towns have proudly preserved a very old tradition of communal brewing and the corresponding Zoigl stubes that serve the Zoigl beer that they brew.  Currently this Zoigl bier culture is preserved in 5 towns in the Oberpfalz region.  This region is a bit south and west of Upper Franconia and about a 1.5 hour drive from the city of Bamberg.  It lies very close to the border of the Czech Republic.  I believe from Eschawo it is about a 20 minute drive to the border.  The 5 towns where Zoigl can be experienced are the aformentioned Eschawo and Neuhaus and also Falkenberg, Mittereich, and Eslarn.  Eschawo and Neuhaus are towns that are next to each separated by a small river and a steep uphill walk.  One can walk from Eschawo to Neuhaus in about 20-30 minutes and work off a bit of the beer on the way up as it is a rather steep walk.

Luckily for beer tourists like myself they have made it very easy and convenient to find the information you need to be in the right place at the right time.  Here are a few websites one can explore to find the Zoigl Stubes and their locations.

http://www.zoigl.de/

http://www.zoiglschanktermine.info.ms/

http://www.zoiglbier.de/

You'll notice if you click on the Kalendar part of the last website that schedules are posted so that you will know what Stube is open on any given weekend.  Typically they are open Friday until Tuesday (with some exceptions) and typically only one Stube per town is open each weekend with the exception of Zoigl festivals in the Fall where they are all open.  So it is handy to know the schedule and the locations given on these websites.

It is my understanding that each town has preserved one Zoigl brewery that is shared by the various braumeisters in producing the beer for their stube.  I also understand from someone that has spent a lot of time in Eschawo that the brew day is very much a community experience.  Brew day involves more than just commercial brewing.  It involves socializing, drinking Zoigl while watching the brewers do their work, food, etc.  I've not experience a Zoigl brew day yet but I have enjoyed first hand the experience of spending hours on end at Zoigl Stubes on their assigned day and I can say that this is also a very community orientated/social experience.  One that I will never forget and hope to enjoy many times more in the years to come.

But first things first.  We have to get there.  First of all I'll give thanks to a fellow German beer fan Jimbo for presenting the opportunity to divert from Franconia for a day and make the excursion out to Zoigland.  It was not originally in my plans but when the opportunity was presented to me I'm glad I jumped on it.  The drive out from Bamberg is really beautiful.  We crossed right through the Franconian Switzerland and made a stop therein at the lovely town of Pottenstein.  Pottenstein is home to two brilliant Franconian breweries.  Brauerei Mager and Brauerei Hufheisen.  I had been here before with Isa and Dorff but Jimbo had not been before so this was a midday stop to try these excellent beers.  I was driving so I took some bottles home with me rather than drink them there. 

First stop was Brauerei Mager:

Mager is an old fashioned kind of place with one of the best Helles beers I've ever tasted.  They also brew an excellent Dunkle bier and a bock during bock season.

It has the classic style Ausschank:

Helles bier:

Right on the same street about 100 yards or less away is Brauerei Hufheisen.

Hufheisen has a more modern brewpub look and feel to it on the inside with the brewing equipment in plain view inside the Gastatte.  They've also got a nice mural in the entrance hallway.

We sat out in the bier garden in back that had a view up a hill of some very old building

Anyhow after our stop in Pottenstein we made the rest of the excursion to Eschawo crossing through mostly forest, hill, and farmland along the way.  Neither Eschawo nor Neuhaus are very large towns but there is enough there for good accomodations.  We stayed at the Oberpfalzer Hof hotel.  It was good value for the money and they serve Zoigl beer as well.  We didn't bother to have one there but instead headed right out to the first Zoigl Stube of the visit.  Right outside the hotel was a huge maypole in the town square.  I couldn't even get the entire thing inside the photo:

Just a few blocks from the hotel is the Schlosshof Zoigl Stube.

Here is the street approaching the Stube.  You can see the sign hanging over the top of the building:

The first thing you see upon entering is the bier garden where we sat.

The weather actually turned quite nice and the bier garden filled up.  To the left is the Stube and it was quite full inside and there were some musicians playing live Oompah music.  I almost wished we sat inside for the locals sounded as if they were having a really good time singing along and making toasts.  But we enjoyed listening to them from the garden and very soon the first Zoigl bier arrived:

My first ever Zoigl beer.  All I can say is Wow!  It tastes every bit as good as it looks.  I was really impressed.  Well the beer was a home run so how about the food.  I order the Ribchen plate (pork ribs basically):

Once again.  Wow!!  I do not exagerrate when I say this was the best plate of ribs I've ever tasted.  These people have got an expert handle on beer and pork.  We spent hours at this place.  Four hours according to Jimbo's account.  It really was hard to leave.  I must have had 7 or 8 of those beers and could have easily kept going but we really wanted also to check out the Zoigl in Neuhaus so we managed to tear ouselves away and make the uphill walk to Neuhaus.

Above is a photo of one of the other Zoigle Stube that was not open on this particular weekend.

We managed to make it up to Neuhaus right at sundown.  It's a pretty little town with 5 Zoigl Stube's in it's own right.  We would visit Kack'n. 

Kack'n also has a bier garden in their courtyard but this time we elected to sit inside.  The atmosphere was very much like sitting inside a family's rather large kitchen. 

It is a family operation for sure.  Beer and food are served by the grandfather, daughter, grandson, etc.  This picture is the grandson getting a tray from mom to deliver.  At one point we watched the grandfather (also shown with back turned) showing his grandson how to pour a beer correctly.  The beer here was a bit different but also very good.

I think we arrived here at about 8:30pm.  We didn't leave until 3am!!  It was impossible to leave with the friendliness and hospitality of the locals and the family members that sat with us throughout the night.  The grandfather sat down with us for a bit and we learned that he is a braumeister of 38 years experience!  By the end of the night we were sitting with a few locals, the son, I think the daughter at one point, and the town sherriff!  Around midnight we order what we thought would be our final beer and asked for a Schnitt (a half measure that they wind up filling 3/4 full anyhow).  But as soon as we finished that we were offered a free shot of locally distilled schnapps and another Schnitt on the house.  Well at that point we gave up trying to leave and just stayed for a couple more hours.  Luckily the son was kind enough to give us a ride back to our hotel so that we didn't have to roll down the hill to Eschawo at 3am in the morning.

What a night!  What a great experience.  I can't wait to visit again.

Roppelt's and Kreuzberg Disneyland

It's inevitable that when I visit Franconia I have to spend a day at Roppelt's keller.  It's still my favorite bier keller.  Mind you, I'm still searching for one I like better.  I haven't quite found it yet.  The one in Wettelsheim (will be in a future blot post) came pretty damn close though.  Still for me the atmosphere and the hoppy keller bier of Roppelts is yet to be beat.

This time around I opted to stay in a hotel within walking distance of the keller so I didn't have to rush to get back to Bamberg at the end of the day and pay for a taxi fare like I have in the past.  I wanted to just relax and spend all day at Roppelt's and the three kellers on the Kreuzberg hill.  Josh and Cat Heath came with me on this excursion and also stayed at the hotel.

Hotel Rittmayer in nearby Willersdorf is a nice little hotel in a small village.  It used to be a brewery as you can see from the picture below.  Now they don't brew anymore but the rooms are decent and cheap and they've got a beer garden and pub/restaurant that serve beer from nearby Brauerei Rittmayer in Hallerndorf.  I assume there is a some relation between the Rittmayer's in Willersdorf and the ones in Hallerndorf.

I will definately stay in this hotel again as it really was convenient to the nearby kellers.  We enjoyed a nightcap keller bier in the hotel garden after we got back from the kellers.  There were a few other people at a nearby table and one of the guys at that table couldn't stop hiccuping loudly.  It was all we could stand not to burst out laughing with each hiccup.  Fuck sake hold your breath dude!

After checking in and getting settled we began our walk towards Roppelt's Keller in Stieberlimbach.  It was about a 3km walk along a country road.

It wasn't long before Stiebarlimbach came into view.

As we entered the village and turned right towards the keller we passed Roppelt's Brauerei.

It was busy even though it was just a Tuesday afternoon.  The weather was perfect.  It was probably the nicest day of the trip.  Here you can see the beer line at the keller.

Mmmmm Roppelt's Kellerbier.  One of my alltime favorites:

After a few beers and some food I noticed a local that frequents the Franconian Beer Guide message board sitting a few tables away with some other locals.  Not being known for my shyness I walked right over and introduced myself.  A little while later we were invited to join them at the table and had a couple more beers and very enjoyable chat with the older couple at the table and Nick.  The woman was proud to show us her liter krug and the wooden bier deckel complete with cloth carry pouch to keep the bugs out of it.  Now there is a woman that is a bier keller veteran and truly loves to spend her afternoons there.  I wish I had gotten a picture of these folks as they were really funny and delightful to drink beer with.

We did, however, manage to get a picture of Josh and Nick right before we headed up the hill to the Kreuzberg Kellers.

It's really difficult to describe to someone that hasn't been there the sheer beauty of the Franconian bier keller scene.  The idea of just being able to go through a stroll through the woods and bier kellers magically appear before you at some point really has to be experienced to appreciate.  Nevertheless I took some pictures of our walk up the hill.  This walk begins behind Roppel's keller with a small wood foot bridge over a stream:

Then the ascent begins on a clearly marked and wide path through the forest.  I'm not exactly sure how long it is.  I think about a 1/4 to no more than 1/2 mile all steadily uphill:

Then like magic you 3 bier kellers appear in front of you.  Starting with Rittmayer's Keller:

Rittmayer's have a few different beers from their brewery in Hallerndorf nearby.  The one I enjoy the most is their Kellerbier but they also have a Rauchbier for those inclined to have a smoked beer.  I believe I had one of those as well:

Just like Roppelt's the kellers up on the hill were also very busy.

The most packed was the Lieberth Keller next to Rittmayer.  It's the smallest keller and we only found a couple of tables still open.  First time I visited Lieberth I was a bit dissapointed with the beer.  But for some reason I enjoyed it a lot more this time around.  It was quite nice actually and I understand they pour it right from the barrel here whereas the other Kreuzberg kellers are keg driven.

The more beers I had the worse my picture taking became.  I guess I lost interest.  I only snapped on photo of the final keller of the day called Friedel's Keller but now I guess they go by the name Brauhaus Am Kreuzberg.  It used to be a brewery in a small, nearby village of Schnaid and this was their keller but they have since sold the brewery in Schnaid and moved it up here on the hill.  It's a much bigger complex now and they brew a lot of different beers on top of the Zwickl bier that they traditionally served here.  It resembles more of a modern, almost American style brewpub nowadays than a traditional bier keller.  Still even if some of the beers the brew are not great it's still fun to hang out here and try them.  I tend to stick mostly with the Zwickl when I come here because it is the best beer they serve but I did try a few others.



At any rate, perhaps we were enjoying ourselves too much because it seems we lost track of time and suddenly it became dark.  It also became overcast which helped the darkness progress faster.  Luckily the trail back to Stiebarlimbach was easy to follow even in the dark.  We were assisted by the lightning in the distance that lit up the trail every now and then to confirm we were on the right path.  Well it wasn't hard, it's straight down after all and soon enough you could see the light from Roppelt's keller letting us know we were almost there.  The walk back in a thunderstorm was a bit hairy.  Walking along an open road while lightning strikes not far away was not on my to do list for this trip but we made it to the hotel okay.  One thing I noted as we walked past fields of barley in the rain was the smell coming off the wet barley.  It was slightly similar to that smell you get when you mash grains when homebrewing.  Nice!  It was just another day in beer paradise.

Next up an excursion to Zoigland.