Dovetail Zoigl

Zoigl is a tradition of beer made in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria. For hundreds of years, small towns in this area have housed communal breweries—together, they will brew, and then the wort is given to individual brews to ferment in their own home. Once the beer is ready, a sign with a six-pointed star—the Brewer’s Star—is hung outside the home, letting townspeople know it’s time to drink.

Most Zoigl breweries have a kühlschiff (coolship). At Dovetail, we employ our coolship for all our of beers, however, it’s used in place of a whirlpool, to separate trub from wort. The wort leaves the coolship still at a sterile temperature, and is further cooled in a heat exchanger, to ensure that bugs stay far away before the yeast is pitched.

For this beer, in the tradition of Zoigl brewers, we left the wort in the coolship on a cold winter night and came back the next morning to pitch the yeast. This golden-colored lager is meant to be enjoyed as fresh as possible.