On Friday the 27th of October I visited the Zierholz Premium Brewery, Restaurant and Bar in Fyshwick, ACT. This brewery was started by Christoph Zierholz eleven years ago. He came from a home brewing background of ten years, where he had also won the National Home Brew Championship for two years in a row. He left his job in public service to start the brewery with second hand brewing equipment from America.
They produce European influenced beers and have German style food available at the restaurant. The beers are made in 17 hectolitre batches using a steam jacketed kettle and hot liquor tun before being fermented in one of six 20 hectolitre, glycol jacketed fermentation tanks. They also have seven bright tanks that are kept in the cool room. All of their beers go into kegs but they are considering packaging some in the future.
They are still producing the same selection of beers that Christoph started with eleven years ago. These have proved to be very popular and have been supplied to both the German and Austrian embassies for special events. At the recent Oktoberfest event held on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin they attracted over 4000 people and sold 110 kegs of beer.
They hold brewery tours and beer tastings with the Master Brewer, Christoph. Although, most of the brewing duties have been passed on to Martin for the last two years. The brewery/restaurant is also able to be booked for private functions and can even arrange catering for your special event, including a bar with their beers.
The beers that I sampled were:
Schankbier, 2.7% abv, this is a light style Lager with a light straw colour and a malt aroma. It has lovely full malt flavour at a sessionable alcohol level.
German Ale, 4.3% abv, this was the first beer brewed at the brewery and is a Kolsch style with a light straw colour and a subtle fruity aroma. It has clean, crisp taste on a gentle bitter finish. Refreshing.
Hopmeister, 5.0% abv, this is an English style Pale Ale with a golden straw colour and a fruity aroma. It has a well balanced flavour of malt and fruitiness with a dry finish.
German Pilsner, 5.0% abv, this has a light straw colour and a sweet malt aroma. It has a nice sweet malty flavour and then a mild bitterness on a dry finish.
Weizen, 4.4% abv, this is a German style wheat beer with a hazy straw colour and a spicy banana aroma. It has a lovely, sweet, spicy banana flavour on a gentle tart finish.
Amber Ale, 4.9% abv, this is a Düsseldorf style Altbier with an amber colour and a toffee and caramel malt aroma. It has a nutty malt flavour with good hints of caramel and toffee before a mild bitter hop finish. Very nice!
Porter, 5.4% abv, this is an English style with a black colour and a roasted malt aroma. It has a strong roasted malt flavour with tastes of chocolate on a mild bitterness on the finish.
The Zierholz Premium Brewery, Restaurant and Bar is a wonderful venue that is producing very authentic European style beers. It is well worth visiting.
I would like to thank Martin for his hospitality and taking the time away from his busy brewing schedule to talk with me.
