After a long day of hitting a few St. Louis microbreweries, including 4 Hands and Urban Chestnut, we headed out for dinner at Dressel’s Public House in the Central West End. Despite having just left Urban Chestnut Brewing Company, this was one of the only local beers on their list I haven’t had yet. According to UCBC, “Zwickel, our flagship lager, pronounced ‘zv-ick-el’, is an unfiltered, unpasteurized, German classic that finishes as a smooth-drinking, vitamin rich (from the yeast), naturally cloudy bier.”

Location: Enjoyed in a weizen glass at Dressel’s Public House in the Central West End area of St. Louis, MO.

Numbers: 5.1% ABV, 19IBUs, 11.5 Plato, ~ 3 Calories

Ingredients: Malts: two-row, pilsner; Hops: Hallertau

Appearance & Aroma: It was copper colored and fairly hazy with a very thin head. However, there did appear to be a decent amount of carbonation it in. There was a light malt and bready aroma.

Taste & Feel: The body was somewhat light and the mouthfeel was crisp from the carbonation. The carbonation crispness up front brought out a slight spiciness and bitterness from the hops. In the middle, the yeasty breadiness started to come through, along with some light, sweet maltiness. It finished crisp and bright with some cracker-like flavors along with some lightly spicy hop bitterness.

Food Pairing: This was light and drinkable enough that it would go with nearly anything. However, I think it would be a very nice beer to go with a doughy brick oven pizza. The doughiness of the pizza would go nicely with the bready/yeasty flavors of the beer, and the light crispness would help to wipe the palate clean of whatever ingredients you choose for the pizza.

Overall Impression: I thought this was a very drinkable beer with a good balance of bready malt flavors and hop bitterness/spiciness. The lagering makes it light and crisp, and I think this would be a very good beer to help convert your american lager drinking friends. It’s light and drinkable, but has a good amount of flavor to it. Bring a growler of this to your next summer outing and introduce your friends to craft beer.

My Rating:

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