So, ya, I had no idea they had moved! Zoiglhaus and Zed (the building / shared space) are good. I recommend going there. That said, the beer is good, not great…..Read on if you feel like it. Or not. But, you might want more details. Hard to say.
Zed – What’s Zed?
Frankly, I don’t know what Zed is (editor: you could go to the website and see). I mean, I know what THIS Zed is, but I don’t know what Zed means, if anything. This Zed is a shared space, with Zoiglhaus brewing, three other food places, and a cocktail bar (I did not venture in, but it looked nice).
If you like a wide variety of food options, this seems like a really good spot to me. It’s nice, and light and airy. In addition to the limited german food from Zoiglhaus, there is Venezuelan, Thai, and burgers (actually, not sure what all the third place had, but the burgers other people ordered looked good). Patrick (my friend, really, I have one) had the Venezuelan. He liked it. I had the Thai. I got the mild+ because the owner told me his food was spicy. It was equivalent to medium at most Americanized Thai places…..though Patrick said it wasn’t hot at all (he’s one of those people that LOVES spicy food).
Zoiglhaus – the Beer
All the beer (ok, not all, there is a hazy and west coast IPA) is german in style. That’s not my favorite style, but it has its place, and overall – I like the beer.
Somehow (ok, we have similar tastes) Patrick and I ordered 4 of the same beers in our sampler. Let’s start with the 2 we got that were different (also, that holder is cool and all, but you have to pick it up carefully, and pay attention when pulling out a beer).
Maibock – Patrick got this one (not pictured). It was interesting. Not in an “that was …. interesting…” kind of way, but a good way! We both got some kind of floral notes. Anyway, recommend for sure. Probably the second best beer we got.
AWESOME SAUCE HAZY IPA – (copy and pasted the name, sorry for the all caps) I got this one. It was exactly what you’d get if you bought a random Hazy can from a brewery you trust, but that isn’t known for hazy beer. Good. Not great. Could have had more “juice” for me.
Now for the 4 we managed to get that were all the same (huh, went to the site to copy and paste names, and I think it is different one day later?):
Weiss – Very typical of a german weiss bier. It was good, maybe above average for the style. But, I would have liked even more esters. But then, I like my weiss bier to scream “I’m a weiss bier” and maybe you like it more subtle, like this.
Red – Our second least favorite. Don’t get me wrong, it was good. It just wasn’t memorably so. That said, not every beer is memorable, and you’ll probably like this just fine.
Black – I’d call this more “dark brown”. It wasn’t black in color by any means. Again, a fine – good beer.
Berliner (pretty sure it’s not the same one listed on the site today) – This was a sour (far right in the picture) and it was very good. If you like sours, you’ll like this a lot. Like, this was our favorite by far.
That’s the first beer review in what should be an ongoing series of articles. You can find a list of the breweries and links to my thoughts here: (All the Breweries and Reviews). Edit to add: Park on the South side of the building, IIRC. Also, DO NOT try to drive there during rush hour from more than a few miles away. I’m pretty sure Patrick’s daughter met someone, dated, got married, and had kids in the time it took him to get there from downtown.