Zoigl

Zoiglstern in front of the brewer's guild house

The local communal brewery in Falkenberg (Upper Palatinate). The Falkenberger Zoigl beer is brewed here several times a year.

The Zoigl (also Zeugl or Kommunbier ) is a bottom-fermented beer that is particularly widespread in the northern Upper Palatinate and is brewed jointly by private individuals . The mash for the Zoigl is boiled and hopped in the communal brewery . The individual Zoigl brewers take the wort they produce home and add yeast to them in the fermentation cellar. Since every Zoigl brewer works according to his own recipe, fluctuations in the taste of the Zoigl from town to town, but also from host to host, are common and almost typical for Zoigl beer.

In addition to this traditional Zoigl, beer is now also offered by commercial breweries under the name Zoigl.

Brewing Zoigl beer is part of Bavaria's intangible cultural heritage .

The beer

Zoigl is a bottom-fermented beer that is brewed light or dark. It has the same yeast content , the same original wort and the same alcohol content as brewery beer, but a lower amount of carbon dioxide . Many of the beers are neither filtered nor sponged and therefore Zwickelbier .

distribution

Zoiglstube in Tirschenreuth

The Zoigl is mainly brewed in the northern Upper Palatinate in the local communal brewery by private individuals. The brewing right has often been on houses or property for generations and is recorded in the land register. Originally only the owners of these houses could brew it. The community often levies a "boiler fee" to compensate for light, water, insurance and wear and tear. In addition, a master brewer must be present to accompany the brewing process from start to finish. Finally, the responsible main customs office , which has to be informed by the master brewer about every brewing process, turns to the brewer to collect the beer tax .

tradition

House with Zoiglstube

Zoigl bar in Kaufbeuren

The beer produced in the Kommunbrauhaus is served in a specific cycle. If it is the turn of the authorized brewer, he indicates this by hanging a rod out of the gable window of his house. Either a Zoiglstern ("brewer's star"), a brushwood broom (see also Besenwirtschaft ) or a spruce bush is attached to this. Hence the name of the beer, Zoigl (from northern Bavarian for to show ), which in High German means nothing more than a sign or a figurehead.

Together with the Zoigl, the Zoigl hosts offer their customers snacks , often from their own production. In Franconia , a similar tradition as home brew has been preserved to this day. Zoigl is not only brewed for public drinks, but also for private household use. In this case, several authorized brewers join together to form a "brew", the Zoigl is divided up after the brewing process, brought into the cellar with barrels and bottled after fermentation .

Zoigl localities

It was once the custom in 75 localities in Upper Palatinate to brew Zoigl. In addition to the five locations listed below, there are restaurants that have “Zoigl beer” in their range. These have nothing in common with the original Zoigl tradition, as they are open all year round and the Zoiglaus bar only covers part of the actual offer.

Zoigl from his own communal brewery

This unique selling point is advertised under the seal of “Echter Zoigl vom Kommunbrauer”. 20 Zoigl hosts from the following localities have joined forces under the seal of quality.

• Eslarn
• Falkenberg (Upper Palatinate)
• Mitterteich
• Neuhaus
• Windischeschenbach

Outside of the Upper Palatinate Zoigl tradition

"Zoigl" beers (cellar beers) from various breweries

• Commune, in Neuhaus an der Pegnitz
• Scherdel beer , in Hof sells "Scherdel Zoigl"
• Beckn Bier , beer tradition preservedin Bayreuth from home brewing
• The Flinderer , seasonal beer serving in the tradition of the communal brewers in Pegnitz
• Communebrauerei in Kaufbeuren
• Making a beer called Zoiglstar, Gettysburg , USA
• Communal brewery in Seßlach
• Mönchshof ( Kulmbacher Brewery ) Zoigl

literature

• Robert Dengler, Reinhold Parzefall: Zoigl. Beer - brewing tradition - pub culture - lifestyle. Stangl & Taubald, Weiden 2014, ISBN 978-3-924783-62-4 .
• Wolfgang Benkhardt: The Zoigl: Beer cult from the Upper Palatinate. Buch- & Kunstverlag Oberpfalz, Amberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-935719-57-5 .
• Martin Stangl: The book from Zoigl: history, interesting facts, all Zoigl rooms. Stangl & Taubald, Weiden 2008, ISBN 978-3-924783-44-0 .

Web links

Commons : Zoigl  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Zoigl information; As of 2001
• The Upper Palatinate and its Zoigl culture report in Front Row Society magazine

Individual evidence

1. ↑ State directory of the intangible cultural heritage in Bavaria. Retrieved February 8, 2019 . 
2. ↑ News from the Scherdel Brewery: Scherdel Zoigl. Scherdelbier.de, accessed on July 21, 2016 .