Kubelbier
Brauerei Hofstetten / Krammer

KubelbierKubelbier
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From:
Brauerei Hofstetten / Krammer
 
Austria
Style:
Kellerbier / Zwickelbier
Ranked #76
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
86
Ranked #20,089
Avg:
3.79 | pDev: 9.76%
Reviews:
57
Ratings:
90
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 10, 2023
Added:
Jun 09, 2009
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  2
Unfiltered, Unpasteurized & Bottle Conditioned

Kuebelbier is brewed according to the historic beer style: Zwickelbier. Zwickelbier comes from the Franconia region in Germany and dates back beyond the Middle Ages. The name “Zwickelbier” stems from the sampling mug (”Zwickel” in German) mounted at the outside of the tank for assessing the brew’s progress during fermentation. The Zwickelbier style is an unfiltered lager beer (Bottom-fermenting) that traditionally is served as soon as fermentation is complete.

Kuebelbier is brewed as a pilsner and is then bottled directly from the cellars without any filtration allowing all the yeast and natural substances to enter the bottle. Unlike Kellerbier, the maturation casks of Zwickelbier are bunged (”gespundet" in German) just before the end of the fermentation. This builds up effervescence in the brew. Our Kuebelbier is a very unique interpretation of this classic style to add robustness & character. It is quite hoppy at around 35 IBU.

The beer pours a cloudy orange-yellowish color with a nice white head. The unqiue attributes of the style come through on the palate as the flavors imparted by the yeast compliment the hop character and carbonation in the beer to create a unqiuely robust yet refreshing beer.
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Ratings by pat61:
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Reviewed by pat61 from Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
It pours a cloudy golden color and produces a nice thick head that stays around. This is a surprisingly smooth beer with good body and nice malt flavors. The hops provide some balance but the malt dominates. It is not highly carbonated but is refreshing.
May 27, 2015
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.5 by trevorpost from Pennsylvania

Jun 10, 2023
Photo of LukeGude
Rated by LukeGude from Iowa

3.87/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Can from John’s poured into glass. It’s got that German zwickelbier flavor - yeast/hay? Drinkable second beer.
May 13, 2023
 
Rated: 3.92 by Boone757 from Virginia

Feb 17, 2023
 
Rated: 3.81 by shelby415 from Oregon

Jul 11, 2022
Photo of flgimp
Rated by flgimp from Pennsylvania

4.1/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Radom pick on a tour thru Liechtenstein…. A pleasant surprise! Great refreshing, balanced taste.
Jun 11, 2022
Photo of Beginner2
Reviewed by Beginner2 from Illinois

3.78/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
I was saving this for lunch; but I find myself drinking rarely at lunch. (Am I getting too old for this career?)
Topic at hand... Kubelbier is largely as I remember the style (having only 12.) But the finish seems to have a little bit of a lingering hops finish, like a pils.

I'm glad that the BA Notes for Kubelbier goes into more depth about the difference between a Zwickel and a Keller. Now that I know, I'll look for it. For now, Kubel Looks slightly above average... now that I know it's unfiltered and cloudy is OK. Smells and Tastes and really the Feel are all typical for a lager... adding the dry-fish hoppy finish noted above.

Bottom-line: Kubel was enjoyable with an below average dinner, so would also have been good with lunch !

I've only had Granitbock from Hofstetten and didn't give them a micro-review. So I went on their website (and found the English at the bottom of the homepage) and see that they are family-owned for seven generations and the brewery has been on that site for six centuries. Better yet, they still seem to be having fun. And for that, I give them decent Overall Hugs.
Jan 02, 2022
Photo of TheBigBoy
Rated by TheBigBoy from Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -20.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Fairly monotone, subtle on flavor, little on nose, smooth and drinks like a European lager. Not enough or anything striking to go for another.
Nov 06, 2021
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.54/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)...
L- Pale straw, cloudy, pours with a 5mm fine-bubble white head. ps@+10mins holds well.
S- Mild, just some grain for me.
T- Decent bitter hops and brightness from the front of the first sip onwards. There is sufficient malts to provide balance, though net-net it remains... bright and hoppy.
F- Lovely beer to have on a hot day, refreshing yet in possession of a pair of nuts.
O- Very nice, an uncomplicated recipe executed with good balance. It's of a trad style ie no gimmicks or youthful aspects so it doesn't possess drama. Some might not consider that buying this at export prices (outside Austria) justifies itself. Indeed as decent as it is I would not buy it again at this UK price.
Review1960/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the lables to see what I missed! ==> Ah-ha Zwickelbier, that makes sense. It's organic too.
500ml bottle £3.45 BB: 11/07/2021 Bought from TremblingMadness, York/UK as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London.
Jul 14, 2021
 
Rated: 4 by paulish from New York

Nov 27, 2020
Photo of Czequershuus
Reviewed by Czequershuus from Minnesota

4.23/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This beer pours a pale gold with a solid head. The aroma has a depth to it - black pepper, old leather, wet earth, fresh baked bread, and a yeasty, dusty hint. The flavor is again replete with a certain richness - golden roasted grains, granola, old leather, there is almost a send of fruit rind, though no fruit flesh is present, and a dusty flavor - maybe underripe pear? Also, a rich pastry crust flavor. The mouthfeel is medium verging on full, with voluminous carbonation and a dusty, almost tannic finish. Overall a wonderful and different beer - certainly not crisp, but not flabby either. It has a full, rounded, earth character, bold and distinct.
Nov 24, 2020
Photo of FBarber
Reviewed by FBarber from Illinois

4.26/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours a cloudy yellow-orange color. Nice thick two finger white head slowly dissipates leaving some splotchy foam on top of the beer.

Aroma has notes of rich sweat bready malts, lightly floral hops, and a bit of the bread dough yeast you often get from this style.

Taste has notes of rich bready malts, some light straw and barley notes, with a robust hop character on the back end. Slight sweetness from the malts definitely comes through here. The hop character is pronounced, but not overly bitter - its just got this nice balanced bitterness on the back end.

Feel is medium to full bodied, chewy, and yet, with vibrant carbonation, it stays somehow quite crisp.

Overall this is a delicious zwickel - really well crafted and spot on for the style.
Oct 09, 2020
 
Rated: 4.24 by Jsalz21 from New Jersey

Oct 05, 2020
 
Rated: 3.65 by RochefortChris from North Carolina

Jul 23, 2020
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.13/5  rDev -17.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
16oz can from Brewers Haven. Medium golden pour, foamy head eventually settles out. Musty, malty aroma, dough. Taste is more thick malts, bready, sticky, burlap. Pretty standard for the style.
Jul 08, 2020
Photo of GreesyFizeek
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

4.26/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Can from B United.

This one pours a mostly clear golden yellow color, with a big fluffy and frothy head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like sweet floral hops, doughy yeastiness, cereal grain, clove, and cookie-ish malt.

This is just about exactly what I expect from the style - there's a moderate floral hop character, not super spicy, just floral and lightly citrusy/sweet. There's that sweet doughiness that I tend to get out of this style, with some yeasty mineral character, and a bit of sugar cookie.

This is very drinkable and very clean, with a great drinkable, and a very crisp finish.

Having this canned and super fresh is probably helping how much I'm enjoying this one. It feels just about spot on for this style.
Jun 12, 2020
Photo of jlindros
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts

4.21/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
NO can date
Pours a large foamy frothy 2 finger head with slowly with great retention, great soapy lacing, hazy med-gold color

Nose is great, nice malty grainy an almost raw wheat dough, doughy, gristy, touch of young beer like ester notes, and light floral herbal hops, little cereal

Taste brings more young beer characters, lager like soft complex decoction mash, grainy, cereal, little raw wheat bread dough, wheaty in general (even though there is probably no wheat), light fruity esters again but hard to label the fruits, maybe some banana perhaps, a bit hefe like yeast notes, young tasting for sure, hints at diacetyl but I don't think it has any, med to lighter hop bitterness with more herbal mild spicy hops, drier but soft finish

Mouth is med-lighter bod, higher foamy frothy carb, soft lager

Overall fun beer, like a nice young Kellerbier with some mild estery notes, but some wheat-like characters as well but probably note wheat since it's called "bier" and not "weizen" although this is from Austria and not Germany so no Reinheitsgebot but with their beer cultures so close I figured they would call it as expected. Either way a nice enjoyable beer, and good malt depth from likely decoction mash.
Jun 11, 2020
Photo of BubbleBobble
Reviewed by BubbleBobble from New York

4.04/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Pours light golden from the can, solid 1.5" head; significantly cloudy, some lots of suspended sediment and yeast, consistent with the style. Nose is yeast and rising bread, followed by malt sweetness, lemon, and white pepper. Taste is complex - raw dough and pie crust, honeyed rolls, sweet malts, slight yeast esters, lemongrass. Mouthfeel is moderately full, mellow carbonation, and slick finish.
Apr 04, 2019
Photo of SLeffler27
Reviewed by SLeffler27 from New York

4.08/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
A big, rocky, off-white head quickly settles to form a quarter-inch creamy coating before completely fading to a ring all within the first few sips. The beer is almost clear, bright copper, with cascading carbonation while pouring. Occasional big bubbles drift to the surface.

The malt is strong and sweet against soft campfire smoke. Lots of grain aromas interplay with light lemon marmalade on toasted bagels.

Tastes like a bagel. Malts are forward with modest sweetness. Cashews and light bitterness are primarily within the modest lingering finish.

A medium to full body and cotton texture. Dry with modest soft carbonation and no perceived alcohol.

This is an easy drinking beer that satisfies one after work among casual conversation.
Aug 05, 2017
 
Rated: 3.59 by LJWalker from Indiana

Jul 02, 2017
Kubelbier from Brauerei Hofstetten / Krammer
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 90 ratings