Review: Zoiglhaus Brewing Company, Portland, OR

Review: Zoiglhaus Brewing Company, Portland, OR Late in 2015 a new brewery opened in SE Portland called Zoiglhaus Brewing. The brewer was from one of our favorite local breweries, Pints Brewing, so we had to go check them out. While it’s a typically not the best idea to visit a newly opened restaurant/brewery right after they open, we took the chance and drove down to SE and test our luck. We are glad that we did the first time, and have been back a few times since as their beer lineup and food is worth the stop if you’re in SE by I-205/SE Foster.

You should note that they have a large parking lot on the north end of the building if you can’t find any on-street parking in front. They do have a couple of large dining room areas, bar area, kids play area, and a production room in the back. You can see the brew kettles from the bar area if you look to the NE from it. They were not producing any beer on site when we visited them the first time, but since have started production on site.

We have kept track of the beers since that first visit and they’ve done a great job of improving on them and keeping the same high-quality German styles true to form as we’ve gone back and visited a few times. They do have a fairly large menu of German and American dishes, including a kids menu. If you are with kids, no worries, all of the dining areas are kid friendly, whereas the central bar area is 21+ only. So, if you don’t do CRI-pods, you may want to go earlier or later in the evening to deal with fewer kids under foot.

They do have some great authentic German appetizers and lighter fare for those not looking to fill up on fried foods (as pictured). For those looking for a full dinner, they also provide that in a couple of different dishes that I’d recommend, the sausage platter and either of their burgers are great, and any of their pizza’s hit the spot. Regarding the beer, they have changed over time from the reviewed below, but for the better in our opinion. The reviews go front to back, right to left as pictured from our September 2015 visit. I’d recommend the Kölsch and Schwarzbier have been excellent options and the full pint pictured is the Ramona Red.

Zoiglhaus Brewing Company
5716 SE 92nd Ave.
Portland, OR 97266
Phone: 971-339-2374
E: zoiglhaus@gmail.com
Web: http://www.zoiglhaus.com/
Face: https://www.facebook.com/zoiglhaus/

Lent’s Lager
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • Dortmunder/Helles • IBU: 22 • ABV: 5% • SRM: 3
Appearance: Hazy to mainly clear golden draft with a shallow head that dropped to a sheen, some small lacing on the rim, zero retention.
Smell/Aroma: Nose is dried staw and fresh cut grass, some hints of yeast.
Taste: Front mouth is sweet, acidic citrus zest and bright bittering. Thin crackery malt and a mild aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Thin and watery, some acidic backwash.
Overall: This is a clean Helles style lager, with lots of zest, zip, and thin malts to help it along.
Zoigle Hefe-Weissbier
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • German Hefeweizen • IBU: 15 • ABV: 5.2% • SRM: 6
Appearance: Hazy light orange draft with some larger bubbly head that dropped off completely, no retention, minor small lacing on the rim.
Smell/Aroma: Nose is spicy with clove and peppercorns, hints of yeasty banana’s and some hop resins.
Taste: Solid sweeter hefe with a strong malt presence behind the spice of clove and banana’s.
Mouthfeel: Yeasty on the tongue, sweet, fully carbonated, almost chewy.
Overall: Great hefeweizen that would pass in Germany if offered. Has a solid mouth, great clove and banana mid, some spice and dry on the back.
Kicker Kölsch
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • Kölsch • IBU: 25 • ABV: 4.9% • SRM: 4
Appearance: Cloudy golden draft with a solid white frothy head that dropped off, leaving some large bubbles on the rim. Zero retention.
Smell/Aroma: Aromatics are dry, sweet lemon hints and old dried leafs.
Taste: Sweet front, dries towards the mid, mild sharp acidic lemon rind and juicy sweet notes. Bitterness is secondary to the mild cereal malts.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied and mild carbonation, has a front sharpness on the tongue.
Overall: This is a classic Köln style Kölsch that is easy to sip and washes down clean.
Haus IPA
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • IPA • IBU: 75 • ABV: 6.2% • SRM: 16
Appearance: Slight hazy medium orange draft with a one finger head that dropped off, leaving a lot of lacing and some large bubbles.
Smell/Aroma: Nose is sharper grapefruit, citrus, pine, and earthy acidic.
Taste: The front mouth pops with dry-hopped pine resin, grapefruit and tons of citrus zest towards the mid, some sweet caramel malts back this up on the mid-back.
Mouthfeel: Chewy and solid, medium bodied and carbonation levels.
Overall: Great example of NW IPA with tons of pine and citrus notes, solid malt backing and enough sweet to hold back the overbearing hop profile. Dry-hopped for sure, hope htis one sticks around.
Ramona Red Ale
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • Red/Amber Ale • IBU: 60 • ABV: 6.5% • SRM: 28
Appearance: Dark brown/mahogany colored draft with a bright white foamy head that had minimal retention, but tons of lacing.
Smell/Aroma: There are lots of dried fruits, sweet breads to crackery malts, and hints of burned sugars.
Taste: The front mouth is a battle between sweet and bitterness, with tons of dried fruits and sweet roasted grains hit the front, the mid to back have hints of hop resins and some bitterness from the roasted grains.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, great amount of carbonation, solid on the tongue.
Overall: This is a creamy explosion of sweeter dark malts raging against some hints of hop resin.
Schwarzbier
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • Schwarzbier • IBU: 24 • ABV: 4.4% • SRM: 34
Appearance: Dark brown to black, almost opaic with a off-white small frothy head, some retention, tons of lacing.
Smell/Aroma: Roasted nuts, burned bread crust, some hints of burned sugars.
Taste: Dark roasted pine nuts, sweet fresh bready malts, lingering burned bitters and hints of ash/coals from the grain bill. Hops are really hidden, overpowered by the strong malt body.
Mouthfeel: Medium to thin mouthfeel, almost watery on the back, minimal aftertaste.
Overall: This is a solid Schwarzbier with enough roasted and slight acidic ashiness that it should.
Green Line Organic Pale Radler
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • Radler/Shandy • IBU: 25 • ABV: 3.9% • SRM: 3
Appearance: Pale straw yellow hazy draft with some bright bubbly froth that dropped off completely, leaving some large bubbly lacing.
Smell/Aroma: Nose is sweet and sugary (syrup) with some dried hop leafs and lemon zest.
Taste: Sweet like the soda that was added, overpowers the beer contents. The lemon effervescence is coated with sugary syrup. Hops are hidden.
Mouthfeel: Thin bodied, bubbly and over carbonationed with the soda added.
Overall: This is not the greatest radler but not the worst I’ve ever had. It’s limited, so be glad it’s gone.
PDC Pale – Single Hop Series: Crosby No 7
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • American Pale Ale • IBU: 35 • ABV: 5% • SRM: 3
Appearance: Lighter orange/copper hues, slight hazy, white bubbly head dropped to nothing, minimal lacing, zero retention.
Smell/Aroma: Some slight fruit, tropical notes, thin crackery malts.
Taste: Sweet dried grains, chewy dough, hints of tropical and citrus hops but they fall off quickly on the mid to back.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, low carbonation but a creamy vibe on the tongue.
Overall: Mix of hops doesn’t do justice to this beer, it’s thiner than most IPA’s and doesn’t carry enough malts to bring it around.
Honey Bunches of Oats
Zoiglhaus Brewing Co. • American Adjunct • IBU: 24 • ABV: 5.3% • SRM: 2
Appearance: Cloudy bright yellow draft with a solid white foamy head that lingered a bit before dropping off, leaving tons of lacing on the rim.
Smell/Aroma: Dried cereal grains, sweet honey notes.
Taste: Sweet and malt forward with tons of dried grains, sweet chewy breads, and hints of honey sugars. Hops are hidden well.
Mouthfeel: Bounces around the tongue with lots of carbonation and thin body.
Overall: This is a standard American light beer, tons of grain, hints of corn sweetness and a thin body let you sip it all night long, if that’s your thing.

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