Of Zoigl and Primeval Forests: Beer Hiking in the Oberpfalz

Zoigl is a rare bird best observed in its natural habitat. You’ll find it in a wooded slice of the Oberpfalz that stretches along the Czech border where the line divides the primeval forest into its Bavarian and Bohemian parts.

Zoigl is the main attraction for any beer traveler to the Oberpfalz, and you could easily spend your entire time in one of the five Zoigl towns hopping from one Zoiglstube (tavern) to the next. But hiking through the lush Waldnaabtal forest in search of your next Zoigl brings you up close and personal with the culture of the region. And not only that: The Oberpfalz is paradise for beer hikers. Crystalline streams and sylvan beauty lend the region a quiet and contemplative character that sets it apart from other beer hiking destinations like Franconian Switzerland.

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What Is Zoigl?

If you’re a fan of German beer, chances are you’ve heard of Zoigl, even if you’re not quite sure what this unique tradition endemic to northeastern Bavaria is all about. I’ll save a deep dive into Zoigl for another post and provide a rough-and-ready sketch here.

Suffice it to say, Zoigl is much more than a kind of beer. Rather, it’s a cultural drinking experience like no other. It starts with the way Zoigl is brewed and extends to the convivial atmosphere of the Zoiglstube, a living room-like tavern where locals and out-of-towners gather to drink Zoigl beer that the proprietor serves straight from the cellar. Just look for the six-pointed star (Zoiglstern) hung outside of houses that are serving beer on that particular day.

[Click on an image to enlarge.]

Zoigl begins life in the communal brewhouse, a brewing arrangement that dates back to the late Middle Ages. There, residents in possession of historic brewing rights take turns brewing beer that they’ll serve for a few days every month in their Zoiglstuben. Zoigl brewers fire the brewhouse with wood and cool their brew overnight in coolships. Early the next morning they haul it away in a special tank trailer for fermentation in their own cellars, often in open vessels. After several weeks of lagering, they serve their beer unfiltered and on draft straight from the lagering vessels. The result: a Kellerbier par excellence.

Authentic Zoigl is never bottled, and herein lies the magic of the tradition: To complete the alchemic transformation of barley, hops, water, and yeast into Zoigl, you have to go a Zoiglstube to drink the beer. Your reward for the effort to visit a Zoiglstube is handsome: a taste of brewing history, and the kind of conviviality you’ll rarely find in other drinking establishments. As Reinhard Fütterer of Schafferhof in Neuhaus puts it, Zoigl is about the joy that community brings.

Through the Forests of the Waldnaabtal

Before we strap on the hiking boots, it’s good to know that most Zoiglstuben only open for a few days every week, typically between Thursday and Monday. Unless you’re planning to spend a week or more in the region, your best bet is to base yourself in Windischeschenbach or Neuhaus, two neighbouring towns easily accessible by train. Plan on a day hike to Falkenberg or an overnight hike that takes in Falkenberg and Mitterteich. (Eslarn, the fifth of the Oberpfalz’s historic Zoigl towns, is a fair distance removed from the other four Zoigl towns.)

Now that you know what Zoigl is, find your way from the train station in Windischeschenbach to the nearest Zoiglstube there or in Neuhaus across the river and start making friends. Chances are good that you’ll see a few of these folks tomorrow when you’re on the trail. (Pro tip: Zoigl is dangerously easy to drink, especially after you’ve made new friends, which you will do. Keep that in mind as you contemplate how early you need to wake up the next day.)

The Goldsteig

Depending on where you stayed the night, pick up the long-distance Goldsteig trail where it rises slightly out of Neuhaus or where the spur from Windischeschenbach joins the trail. Aside from the occasional incline, the trail is an easygoing and well-posted 14 km from Neuhaus or Windischeschenbach to Falkenberg.

Opened in 2007, the Goldsteig is Germany’s longest hiking trail, spanning 660 km between Marktredwitz in the northern Oberfpalz and Passau in southeastern Bavaria where the Danube crosses into Austria. This verdant stretch passes through the 300-acre Waldnaabtal Nature Preserve and links three of the region’s five Zoigl towns.

Not long after you get underway, the trail plunges deep into the woods, tracking the Waldnaabtal stream drifting silently by. This is my favourite stretch of the trail for its stillness, especially in the early hours of the day or during winter. You’ll pass through pine forests, take in landscapes of ancient moss-covered boulders and ferns, and come across the occasional trailside religious shrine. You’ll meet people walking their dogs, people out for jogs or mountain bike rides, even a few folks on horseback.

The Blockhütte Beer Garden

Just about everyone I met on my rounds of Windischeschenbach’s and Neuhaus’s Zoiglstuben mentioned it. And they were all right about the Blockhütte, an idyllic beer garden in the middle of a small clearing about 9 km removed from your starting point. Majestic oaks and chestnuts provide the ample midday shade for a beer and a snack to replenish your electrolytes for the final push to Falkenberg.

The Blockhütte isn’t a Zoiglstube, and the Friedenfelser Zoigl they sell isn’t an “authentic” Zoigl produced in a communal brewhouse. But it’s no less refreshing on a beer hike. Dark amber with mahogany hues, Friedenfelser’s interpretation of this traditional style is a malt-forward offering with sweet tobacco, dried dark cherry, and a dusting of cocoa balanced by a pleasantly spicy-floral noble hop notes. In addition to the word “Zoigl” on the bottle, the label also states that the beer is an “Altbayrisch Dunkel,” which seems a more appropriate fit than Zoigl.

The Blockhütte to Falkenberg

From the Blockhütte, the trail undulates along gently rolling hills through woods and meadows before opening out onto Falkenberg, a small town presided over by a fortress with a church punctuating the skyline for good measure. On the way you’ll pass natural formations like the Butterfass (butter churn), where the stream tumbles over moss-covered rocks, and the Sauerbrunnen, a rock formation that looks like the profile of a (very chiseled) human face.

Further along is the Kammerwagen (bridal dowry wagon), a rock formation that resembles a cart loaded with possessions. As legend has it, the damsel of Schwarzenschwal Castle was on her way to her groom in Falkenberg when her trousseau wagon got stuck on the twisting and arduous path. In a fit of anger, the coachman conducting this heavily laden dowry wagon cursed and began flogging his horses, whereupon the devil turned him and his cart to stone. The dowry wagon never did make it to Falkenberg, but you shouldn’t have the same problem.

Zoigl in Falkenberg

Just beyond the Kammerwagen the woods give way to an arresting view of Falkenberg from the small bridge that will conduct you in the direction of town. A quiet place with pastel facades lining the approach to the center, Falkenberg is also home to one of the five communal Zoigl brewhouses in the Oberpfalz. The brewhouse hides out in plain view under the hilltop castle precariously sited on a rock outcropping, seemingly ready to tumble off its perch at any moment. Residents who own a property with historical brewing rights attached to it can use the communal brewhouse after paying a fee known as “Kesselgeld” (brew kettle money) for brewery upkeep. Knock to see if anyone’s brewing. If so, you’re in for a treat.

Zoigl in Falkenberg reflects the ebb and flow of Zoigl in the region more generally. Even with the Zoigl renaissance of the past few decades, only a handful of rightsholders brew Zoigl today. But that wasn’t always the case. Zoigl was served in more than a dozen households through the early 1930s, typically in kitchens or living rooms that had been converted into intimate taverns. With the beginning of the Second World War, the number of folks serving Zoigl slowly decreased, a trend that accelerated after 1945. Falkenberg’s last glass of Zoigl was served in 1960. It wasn’t until two decades later, in 1978, that Kramer-Wolf opened a Zoiglstube again, joined eventually by Wolfadl and Schwoazhansl.

Follow the Zoiglstern

As you wander about town, keep an eye out for the telltale sign that reveals where the beer is flowing. When the beer’s ready to be tapped, the brewer-innkeeper displays a sign, or “Zoigel” in the local dialect. Historically, this was a broom or spruce bough hung from a pole on the facade. Later, the brewer-innkeepers turned to the six-pointed brewers’ star to let the townsfolk know their beer was ready. Originally, “Zoigl” referred not to the beer but to the sign. Today, the Zoiglstern is an emblem that encompasses an entire brewing and drinking tradition.

You can’t go wrong with Kramer-Wolf Zoiglstube, one of my favourite Zoiglstuben in the region. Kramer-Wolf’s Zoigl is a hazy amber-orange brew that combines the spice notes of noble hops with toasty malt accented by notes of almonds, honey, and caramel. Food here is ample and hearty. The proprietor, Herr Fischer, is a butcher by trade, so you can be rest assured that the meat in your Schlachtschüssel, an ample dish of liverwurst, blood sausage, juicy pork belly, is fresh from the stables.

When you’re done with lunch, you can either hike back through the woods in the direction you came, continue exploring Falkenberg’s Zoiglstuben that are serving beer and catch a Baxi* back to your starting point, or bunk down for the night and push on to Mitterteich the next day.

Happy hiking!

*What’s a “Baxi,” you might ask? Basically, it’s a taxi van that follows a set route and schedule. You need to call at least an hour ahead of time (preferably long before that) to let the Baxi service know from which stop you’d like to be picked up. A “Rufbus” is similar to a Baxi, but generally only runs if you call to make prior arrangements.

Getting there and away

Rule #1: Check the Zoigl calendar for who’s open and when, especially if you have your heart set on a particular place. Plan your trip to coincide with the weekend.

Rule #2: Murphy’s Law of traveling in places where train service is sparse: Schedules are subject to change, and will always do so when you least expect it. Consult the Deutsche Bahn website before finalizing your plans, along with any local bus service/Baxi sites, and make any necessary bookings for transportation off the main train line in advance, especially on weekends.

If you’re planning on continuing to Mitterteich from Falkenberg, consult this website for details about bus routes/times, along with Baxi info for the Tirschenreuth district: https://www.fahrmit-tirschenreuth.de/fahrplaene. You want Bus 6276 (6-8 buses per day on weekdays, three on Saturdays, no service on Sundays).

Odds and Ends

Obligatory note on that whole pandemic thing:

The entire Zoigl region has been affected by Covid-19, but it hasn’t shut down completely. Zoiglstuben with outdoor seating are at an obvious advantage here. As of May 2021, you’ll be able to find at least one place open on any given weekend, should you be able to travel to the Oberpfalz. How many more Zoiglstuben open up again in the coming months will depend, of course, on the trajectory of the pandemic and the success of the vaccination campaign.

Fortunately for Zoigl lovers, Zoigl is a side gig for the vast majority of Zoigl brewers, so they’ve been able to weather the storm. As local historian Ferdinand Schraml put it in a recent email, the Zoigl tradition has survived the 30 Years’ War, the First World War, and the Second World War, to say nothing of local disease epidemics.

Sources

Robert Dengler and Reinhold Parzefall, Zoigl: Bier, Brautradition, Wirtshauskultur, Lebensgefühl (Weiden: Verlag Stangl & Taubald, 2014).

Interviews and ongoing correspondence with Ferdinand Schraml and Reinhard Fütterer

Falkenberg website (historical information and practical info on accommodations): https://www.markt-falkenberg.de/

For useful English info on the official Zoigl website, see: https://zoiglbier.de/an-introduction-to-the-tradition-of-zoigl-beer/

Kevin Holsapple’s Prime Passages and Rich Carbonara’s Beerwanderers both have ample information on hiking in the Oberpfalz and elsewhere.

Special thanks to Sandra Henkens of the Windischeschenbach tourist office.

All images by Franz D. Hofer

Related posts

In the Enchanting Land of Zoigl Beer

Kloster Reutberg: Magnificent Alpine Views and Beers Worth the Hike

The Fünf-Seidla-Steig: Beer Hiking in Bavaria’s Franconian Switzerland

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Subscribe to my quarterly Beerscapes Newsletter for more on the fascinating world of beer culture, along with travel tips about where to find the best beer experiences in Europe, North America, and beyond.

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© 2021 Franz D. Hofer and A Tempest in a Tankard.