Franconian Beer Message Board

Eshawo - final reaction

Posted by barry on 2011-06-29 02:01:01

Now I've been home for a few days, the dust has settled, Annie's stamtisch is becoming but a distant memory and the awful prospect of G. looms (but see other message)! How to sum up the experience of four weeks in Zoigl-land? First thing is say that we had a 'whale of a time'. The weather was good, but not outstanding, we made good use of the local facilities, particularly the 'freibad', which is teriffic value at €3 a time, and did a lot of walking. The ferienwohnung (two of them) were absolutely fantastic, with wonderful friendship and hospitality. We made some great friends in Eschawo and Neuhaus, who we were very sorry to leave but will certainly see again. I got to know many of zoigl stube owners pretty well and, to a man and woman, they were helpful, friendly and generous. I spent several days in the kommunbrauhaus of both towns (the day in Neuhaus was simply wonderful) and have a better understanding now of the processes, which, as one of the brewers said, is simply half the procedure of making a decent pils. As for the zoigl itself, perhaps it is not one of the world's great beers (or maybe it is, for beauty is in the eye of the beholder - or drinker) but you have to be there for a good length of time (minimum of 4 weeks) to appreciate the fact that it varies hugely from stube to stube and also from brew to brew, and day to day, at each stube. In the end, I think that Martin Popp of Beim Gloser summed it up best when he said to me that zoigl is not just about beer. It is about tradition, hospitality, friendship, community and all the other social factors that go to make up the zoigl experience. The people of the two towns are rightly proud of their zoigl heritage; say what you like about the other zoigl towns, Eschawo and Neuhaus have preserved 2 kommunbrauhaus and have something like 12 working zoiglstube, which is a fantastic achievement against the pressure of commercial brewers. I hope that others may be encouraged to make the trip to the Oberpfalz - ok, it is a bit off the beaten track but worth the effort to sample the experience. Keep an open mind, realise what is going on and enjoy it while it lasts because it may not be forever.