Stiegl Bio Perlage - Brut Beer (750ml bottle)

Stiegl Bio Perlage, 750 ml

Brut de Biere

Brewed by: Stiegl Brewery (Gut Wildshut)
Country: Austria
Style: Brut Beer

ABV (Alcohol by Volume): 8%
BeerAdvocate.com rating: 88

At Stiegl-Gut Wildshut, the Stiegl farm, the organic Perlage was created, a creative, strong beer that combines the best of both worlds - the beer and the sparkling wine world.  The premium bottle-fermented beer, with selected yeasts from Champagne, is made from selected ingredients, including Wildshut 100% organic malt from ancient barley and brewing grains, 100% organic aroma hops Simcoe (USA) and Hallertauer Blanc (Germany), and water from a 12,000 year old proprietary source.  The Perlage is reminiscent of a Brut de Biere, a traditional beer of Belgian/French origin, which is hardly recognizable as beer due to its unique characteristics.  The Perlage is traditionally produced using the Methode Champenoise, an elaborate production process (similar to Champagne.)  The second fermentation takes place in the bottle, which plays a central role in the formation of the popular Champagne bubbles, “the Perlage.” By adding the filling Liquer de triage (a mixture of organic grape sugar and selected top-fermenting yeast from Champagne,) which is necessary because under-fermented yeast and sugar from the first alcoholic fermentation have already been fully consumed.    This creates the sparkling bubbles, 8-9 grams of CO2 per liter with 4.5 bar bottle pressure, thus the namesake of the Wildshut Organic Perlage. 

Brewery Information:

Located in Salzburg, Austria, Stiegl Brewery was founded in 1492 and, for the the last 120 years, has been owned by the Kiener family. To match the grandeur of its home city, Stiegl is one of the most beautiful and impressive breweries in the world. Located on the footsteps of the Alps, the brewery has one of the most revered fresh-water supplies in the world. Water from Untersburg Mountain is used exactly how it emerges from the ground and makes up 92% of a Stiegl beer. The brewery’s hops and grains are all sourced from Austria.

Stiegl is the most common beer brand in Austria. Stiegl brews both a Helles (light Lager) and a Weissbier (Hefeweizen), as well as specialty beers, including Radlers. The brewery has a large museum of beer and brewing on the outskirts of Salzburg, a tour of which ends in a visit to the pub for a beer on the house.

The Stiegl-Gut Wildshut, the Stiegl farm, has long been innovative in the areas of environmentally friendly production, diversity, and generational resposibility.  But Wildshut is also a place of creativity, where unique products such as the series of select aged beers are continually created.  Allowing a beer to mature means giving it precisely the time it needs to fully develop its flavor and aroma.  Depending on the product, this maturation takes place in bottles, barrels or clay amphorae.  In addition to brewing beer, Wildshut devotes itself to distilling noble spirits at the beer estate.