Paracelsus Zwickl
Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH

Drunk fresh at the source at the Stieglkeller in Salzburg, Austria, in September 2023.

L: Thick, hazy, egg yolk yellow, with a thick, fluffy, bright white head. No carbonation was seen.

S: Nose is beef stock and sweaty socks, old grain. It smells like a beer shouldn't.

T: The umami and grainy notes continue in the mouth, with the addition of old hay and earthy, clay-like hops. Fruitiness comes out as the beer warms and overrides the umami richness. It's this warming change that makes the beer worth the effort.

M: Very smooth, very fluffy, Very nice.

O: As noted above, the beer changes presentation as it warms, moving from an umami-rich beef broth to a more fruity version, and that rescues the beer from being a one-and-done experience.

Cheers!
#394

On tap at an Irish pub in Vienna. Really quite good for the style. Yeasty, malty, unfiltered goodness and sweet in the finish. Easy drinking and delicious.

 

Had this on draft 6/13/22 @ Hopleaf.

Cloudy dull orange appearance.

Minimal khaki head; frothy lace.

Wheat, mild caramel & faint cream notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

Rustic corn, caramel & mild cream flavors.

Great farmhouse vibes here; I hope to have another one day!

On tap at Bar on Buena in Chicago, IL.

This one pours a slightly hazy golden yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like dough, citrus, floral hops, crackery malt, and honey.

This is really pretty nice, and a liter of it went down quite easily. It's got a nice moderately sweet malt character, honey and breadiness, with a just a hint of hop character.

This is light bodied, clean, slightly creamy, and very full bodied for the style. It goes down really easily.

This is just about spot on for the style, with that soft doughy sweetness paired with a crisp finish.

Had on tap. Cloudy dirty golden body, cream colored head with thick bands of lacing. Botanicals lead the nose with grass and flowers, subtle grains and sweet malt balance. Taste actually is quite pleasant with how the hop botanicals dance off of the malt, which though it is sweeter for style, works well. Mild grains, lemon zest, and biscuit round out. Feel is bright, smooth, yet crisp and medium bodied.

Bottle. Cloudy straw with a thin dense head.
Aroma of grain (wheat) and distant yeast and tastes similar.
Light carbonation. Medium body. Quite smooth.
Reasonably interesting for my first beer of this style.

Rating for the Bio version. Great overall, with a bit astringent taste.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not a big fan of Stiegl, for being dull and uninteresting. This Zwickl wasn't bad though, just it was a bit lukewarm in Vapiano where I had it and it made the whole experience a bit mediocre. Apart from that I had no problem with it - a mildly carbonated, cloudy Zwickl it was.

330ml bottle, another cast-off from the Stiegl holiday mixed pack of last year. Called 'Bio-Zwickl', I don't know if that makes this one any different.

This beer pours a hazy, medium apricot amber colour, with three fingers of puffy, rocky, and somewhat bubbly bone-white head, which leaves some decent splattered and sudsy lace around the glass as it evenly subsides.

It smells of gritty and grainy cereal malt, some toasted wheat, a bit of indistinct pome fruitiness, and very subtle earthy, musty, and floral noble hop bitters. The taste is grainy and doughy caramel malt, a lesser crackery wheatiness, mixed citrus, apple, and pear fruity notes, some ephemeral smokiness, and more understated herbal, leafy, and dead grassy old-school hops.

The carbonation is fairly restrained in its je ne sais quoi frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and mostly smooth, with just a touch of wet char messing with the ideal here. It finishes off-dry, the lightly roasted cereal character large and in charge.

Overall - this seems to be a pretty well-made representation of the style, nice and grainy, and a little 'old' tasting. Easy to drink, and worth the couple of shekels that I shelled out for it at my local chain liquor store outlet.

 

 

A- Definitely unfiltered....this is a yeast hazed dark golden/copper/honey hued brew with modest carbonation that settles pretty darn quickly into a patchy layer of white bubbles over the liquid. The carbonation looks quite fine and there is an oily film when trying to create some lacing.....of which there really isn't any.....the few bubbles that attempt to cling quickly slide back into the beer. Average looking....

S- Upon opening this one, there is a huge skunky smell that reminds me totally of a strong Euro lager, but that's ok....I think. After some oxygen, the sweet malts show up in my nostrils, along with some mild funk and aromatic citrus notes. Other fruits include banana and perhaps a shot of apple. The finish is tart, clean and refreshingly bitter!

T- Terrific caramel malt sweetness that is balanced by the aforementioned citrus.....lemon/lime zest cuts through the sweetness, and there are some calming bread/biscuit dough and subdued yeast. The finish is dry, grainy/grassy and of modest hop bitterness. Well done!

M/O- Light/medium body and soft carbonation, yet with enough of a zing to allow flavors to come through well on the palate! Very well balanced and alcohol is well hidden, I find this to be a delightfully social beer that I would have no problem with enjoying more of if giving the chance. Good job!