It is almost two years since RiotACT toured the then brand new Zierholz Premium Brewery, although we have been keeping ourselves up to date with the Zierholz product through local establishments with Zierholz on tap and a few Zierholz mini kegs. So the RiotACT team visited Zierholz Premium Brewery out at Fyshwick to catch up with Christoph Zierholz, and taste some beer of course! Christoph still has the most unbelievable passion for his beer and the brewery, working 80 to 100 hours a week. Over the last two years Zierholz has gone from two commercially produced beers to ten, venues with Zierholz on tap have gone from four to eighteen, there’s now a range of Zierholz T-shirts, and a Zierholz website.
The latest development for Zierholz will be the opening of a new restaurant and bar at the brewery. The bar is currently taking shape and the kitchen is about to go in, so if all goes to plan they will open around the end of May. The planned menu will be modern Australian with German influences, and will be accompanied by the full range of Zierholz beers. As with his beer which is fresh and local, Christoph is planning to source fresh seasonal produce from local suppliers.
Christoph continues to make great beer even though world wide shortages of grains and hops have seen the prices of these key ingredients go up by 30-40%. He still brews according to the Reinheitsgebot (German Beer Purity Law), and in keeping with all things German, his favourite brewing music is German metal band Rammstein.
Ten beers are currently being produced in the brewery, we were lucky enough to sample eight of them.
Schankbier: a low alcohol (2.7%) draught, but don’t be fooled – this is without a doubt the best tasting light beer I have ever encountered. The beer has full flavour due to a higher temperature mash and the addition of extra hops.
Midstrength: an easy drinking midstrength (3.2%) amber ale, but like the shankbier less alcohol does not mean less taste.
German Ale (kölsch): One of the original lineup, still a great clean and crisp beer, highlights the freshness of Zierholz beers, which is probably why this one is the publican’s choice.
Pils: a strong hops flavour, but without being too bitter or overpowering – kind of like Che, who picked this as his favourite.
Hopmeister: a generously hopped and very flavoursome pale ale.
Weizen: a traditional wheat beer, unfiltered with a cloudy appearance and fruity flavours. This was Joe’s and my favourite.
Brown Ale: a classic ale with rich chocolatiness. This was Jazz and JB’s pick as the dark beer would put some beer drinkers off (particularly women), leaving them to drink the lot.
Porter: lots of flavours in this strong, dark and intense brew.
Unfortunately we missed out on the amber ale and the Irish ale, which were currently out of stock. However I’ll try to get hold of the Irish ale over at King O’Malleys where it is on tap.
So even with eight of the ten beers it was hard for us to pick a winner. Zierholz is still the best beer I have ever had the pleasure of consuming. The flavours and freshness of all the beers make them dangerously drinkable. I think our recommendation is to try them all.
We can easily understand how Christoph still loves his beer and can drink 2 to 3 litres a day! But that’s easy when you have 5 taps of Zierholz on at home!!
As I heard the famous brewer Chuck Hahn once say, “I don’t just want you to drink more beer, I want you to drink more beers”.
Cheers to that.
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