This is essentially an orange-amber kellerbier of a type that comes out of the Oberpfalz tradition—and the tradition is the point, not the specific composition of the beer.
“There is no recipe for the real zoigl,” says brewer Reinhard Fütterer of the Schafferhof-Zoigl pub in Neuhaus. “Everyone has their own—that’s one of the things that make it so special. Furthermore, we only use traditional knowledge here—none of us are trained brewers.”
However, Fütterer names a few key elements of the process: The beers are handcrafted, with no electronics used; the kettles are wood-fired; and the wort cools in a coolship before going to each brewer’s own cellar to ferment. Most or all the zoigl brewers conduct a decoction mash. Fütterer and many others use open fermentors in their cellars, but not all do. Other things that vary are the specific hop additions and malt—anecdotally, Munich tends to be somewhere between 10 and 40 percent of the grist, and there’s an occasional handful of caramel malt.
While brewing this recipe should give you a reasonable idea of what zoiglbier tastes like, there’s ultimately no substitute for going there to experience the tradition. “I don’t know much,” Fütterer says, “but I know one thing for sure: You can’t transport emotions in a bottle!”
For much more on this farmhouse lager tradition, see Zoiglbier: Star of the Oberpfalz.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.048 (12°P)
FG: 1.011 (2.7°P)
IBUs: 26
ABV: 5%
