German Beer Appreciation 2025

I was stationed in Germany and have returned multiple times, mostly to drink good beer. If you really want to go but don't speak the lingo, I can suggest a couple of tour companies, based on your plans for beer consumption.

 

Assuming that his flight gets in during the morning, it should be possible to get a weisswurst and weiss bier in the airport. (At least if it’s the same as 20 years ago)

 

Aecht Schlenkerla Fastenbier. Delightful smoky beer. Liquid ham. My second four pack of this Lentbeer. Cheers.

 

I am glad to hear that this beer was still drinking nicely.

The importer of Augustiner beers is Global Village Imports and they rent office space at my local Retail Beer Distributor. The code of the Augustiner Helles beers at my Beer Distributor is the same as your bottle: L227112413 and with my Little Orphan Annie decoder this means the beer was packaged August 14, 2024 (about 8 months at this point). Older than I would prefer; I have been waiting for a fresh(er) drop of these beers.

Cheers!

 

I too would like to purchase a more recent batch. When I visit my Beer Distributor I go to the small German section and see if another drop of this beer has arrived but so far no luck. The fortunate part for me since the importer is co-located with my Beer Distributor they are priced at $10.99 a sixpack.

Prost!

@Shanex

 

I suppose my local Beer Distributor gets the landlord discount?

Cheers!

 

I respect this beer a lot. Simple, light, easy drinking, tasty, and G O N E !
DAB

 

Yes, in Germany the production of Zoigl is a communal project and the type (style) of beer being made can vary.

The American Zoigl project is a style we homebrewers call a Classic American Pilsner (CAP) and each brewery has their own unique ‘spin’ on it. For example, Good Word decided to feature Sterling hops which is a new(er) hop variety becoming available in 1998/1999 and is has some old-world heritage in that Saaz is part of its parentage:

“Sterling’s genome is around 50% Saaz and 25% Cascade. The other 25% is a magic mix of other varieties.”

https://learn.kegerator.com/sterling-hops/

I use Sterling as my bittering hops when homebrewing my Bohemian Pilsner since it is Saaz-like and has higher alpha acids (more economical use for bittering).

Last summer I purchased the Human Robot version of the American Zoigl and discussed it in an NBW thread. This version featured Cluster hops and I was not a fan of this specific beer:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-221.678700/#post-8062215

You might be interested in how they do Zoigl in the German town of Windischeschenbach. There is one brewery which produces the wort which is transferred to tanks and then transported via tractor to the various Zoigl houses where the beer is produced (fermented). Below is a video which captures this process:



Prost!

P.S. My annual homebrewed CAP is the final stages of bottle conditioning. In another 5 days I will take out a bottle for a 'road test'.

 

Fox Farm Brewing did a Zoigl a year or two ago and I absolutely loved it. The tradition sounds really cool.