Hi! Long-time followers of my random posts in this forum would know I'm off to Germany in September and have an itinerary planned down to the moment and the beers and breweries I'm chasing on my trip. I'll be in the east of the country travelling from Bamberg to Plsen in the Czech Republic around the 21st and plan to drive through a place called Windischeschenbach (try saying that when drunk), which is home to Schafferhof Zoigl, and that brewery's beer is on my wishlist. The brewery is also featured in Mark Dredge's book, Lager, which I just happen to be reading now (purely serendipitous - I was planning to go there anyway), and he mentions, as does the brewery's website, that the brewery, like most Zoigl breweries, is only open on certain days or weekends of the year. My timing is out and I won't be in the town when the brewery is open. My understanding is that most Zoigl breweries don't bottle their beer, but I've been wrong with a lot of my assumptions so far as many of the posts on this forum will attest! My first question then is can you purchase the brewery's beer at bars/shops in the town when the brewery itself is not open? I'll take drinking it in a bar if I can't get one in the brewery itself! There appear to be a number of other Zoigl breweries in town according to Beerwanderer. Beim Gloser Schlosshof Zum Roud’n Beim Binner Zoiglstube Fiedlschneider Gasthof & Metzgerei Weißer Schwan If I can't get to Shafferhof, are there recommendations from the experts on this forum about which ones I should try to visit, assuming they're open? Cheers!
I recall a couple previous threads about Zoigl that might help. Here are links to them: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/zoigl.40943/ https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/zwickel-zwickl-zoigl-naturtrueb-or-landbier.637450/
There's an app for that. Called... wait for it... Zoigl. It has opening times, etc. And it's in English. The app is updated regularly, so all info should be accurate. The app says there are 3 Zoigl places open today in Windischeschenbach: Schafferhof, Bahler & Beim Glosar. That's all the info I get without paying the subscription. However, with it, you get to see all Zoigls.
The rule of visiting Zoigl towns is that you accept your fate and if the place you want to go to is closed, you go to the places that are open. And it's a matter of personal taste which of the beers is best. Windischeschenbach is a tiny, tiny place. There aren’t really bars/shops other than the Zoigl places (I saw two, I think – one was closed whenever I passed, and the other offered Paulaner beer, and I was not visiting to drink Paulaner.) Schafferhof, when it's open, fills liter bottles and 5-liter party cans from the tap – think of them as growler fills rather than bottled beer. If you contact them on Instagram or Facebook you might be able to sort something out.
