The Bavarian Bierhaus is collaborating with a legend. The local brewery has teamed up with Bavarian brewery Weihenstephan, the world’s oldest brewery, to create Zwickel Festbier. The beer makes its debut at the Sprecher Root Beer Bash, happening on Saturday (Aug. 2) at Old Heidelberg Park (700 W. Lexington Blvd.).
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The beer is a combination of German Weyermann malt, Weihenstephan’s lager yeast, and Wisconsin grown hops. It will be tapped at 3 p.m. in the Bavarian Bierhaus Fest Hall and free samples will be handed out until the keg is empty. The beer will also be available on tap in the Bier Hall after the first keg runs dry.
The history of Weihenstephan dates all the way back to 1040, when Benedictine monks at the Weihenstephan Monastery started brewing beer. They’ve earned a reputation for crafting a large selection of well-made traditional styles like their Heffe Weissbier, Helles, and Kristall Weissbier.
Talk of a collaboration between the two breweries began in December 2023 when Bavarian Bierhaus owner Josh Neureuther and brewmaster Jacob Sutrick traveled to Freising, Germany and met with the Weihenstephan team. The group decided on moving forward with a festbier as the style for the collab.
Neureuther explains the festbier as, “Light bodied with smooth malt character, bright hop aroma, a subtle fruitiness, and a clean, mild bitterness.”
