Zoigl is a type of German beer brewed in the Oberpfalz, eastern

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, between Franconia and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The name is believed to be derived from a Windischeschenbacher dialect pronunciation of the German word ''zeigen'' or ''Zeichen'' meaning "sign", the symbol used to advertise that the beer is available at an establishment. Its

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

is composed of two component triangles represent the joining of six beer ingredients: the first triangle denoting water, fire and air; the second and inverted triangle denoting

malt Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

History

The first documented example of the word "zeigl" occurs in a 1508 document at Neustadt an der Waldnaab, having derived from the German "Zeichen" meaning sign, or "zeigen" meaning show. It was pronounced "zeigel" in the Oberpfalz region. Today the word "Zoigl" is still in use and has given its name to this style of beer production. Zoigl has been brewed for centuries in communal breweries, owned either by the town or by an association of homebrewers. Zoigl was only found in Windischeschenbach and Neuhaus until about 2000. The name and mark have been pilfered because they were not trademarked, leading to the over-advertising of Zoigl beer across Germany. The original comes from Windischeschenbach and Neuhaus, and people have their favorites, because each brewer has their own recipes.

Process

First wood is chopped, the fire started to cook the water and barley to temp, it is cooled over copper, then the

wort Wort () is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars, the most important being maltose and maltotriose, that will be Ethanol fermentation, fermented by the brewing yeast to prod ...

is distributed to the brewers' private cellars, where the fermentation takes place. The method used is bottom fermenting yeast and

lagering Lager (; ) is a style of beer brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "''lager''" comes from the German word for ...

. About two weeks later the beer is brought to these home pubs where it is tapped directly from the lagering tank. It is then sold in the brewer's house, which effectively becomes a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

until all the beer has been drunk. The pub that has Zoigl from that Friday through Monday then attaches the Zoigl-Star to the corner of his house to show he has beer available. Only about 9 or 10 people have "das Braurecht" in Windischeschenbach at one time.

References

External links

{{Authority control Beer and breweries in Bavaria German beer styles Upper Palatinate Types of drinking establishment