Beer Styles

What is a Zwickl? A Zwickl is a bottom-fermented, unfiltered beer that appears naturally hazy in the glass. Hofstetten calls it the classic among its roughly twenty beer styles. In flavor, it's soft, lightly bready, with a mild, spicy bitterness from Mühlviertel hops.

How does a Zwickl differ from a Helles or a Pils? It's unfiltered and still contains yeast, which is why it's cloudy and a bit fuller-bodied. A Pils, by contrast, is brewed pale, clear, and noticeably more bitter, while a Zwickl stays round and soft.

The most famous beer from the region is the Granitbock from Hofstetten. A bock is a strong, bottom-fermented beer with a high original gravity. The Granitbock gets its caramel and roasted notes from the hot stones, and it was named national champion among bottom-fermented bocks at the Austrian Beer Challenge.

In Germany, a beer may only be called a bock if its original gravity is at least 16 percent. Original gravity refers to the dissolved sugar in the wort before fermentation. The more sugar present, the more alcohol the yeast can eventually produce from it.

Alongside these, there's also stone beer, and in Hofstetten even an Eisbock and sour beers. Anyone switching from a Zwickl to a bock will notice: the bock is darker, sweeter, and warmer, while the Zwickl is fresher and lighter. Both, though, come from the same yeast and cold-fermentation tradition.

The profile lists benchmark values for a dark bock based on an international competition guideline. Individual beers may vary from these, with the exact figures found on each brewery's label.