Eibauer Zwick'l Dark
Review Date 3/11/2026 By John Staradumsky
They’re back! That is, the Biergarten Collection gift boxes from Webster Barnes are back for 2025. You can get them at Costco stores in many states, and I have been haunting my local Costco in Woodstock, Georgia every weekend in September looking for them. Finally, I saw them September 19th and one went straight into my cart.
Now, I had been buying a Kalea Beer Advent calendar every year, filled as they are with wonderful German brews. The 2023 calendar was the last sold in US Costco stores as far as I know. I picked up the 2024 Biergarten Collection the following year, and got one again this year. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get both? I would be in Himmel, I can tell you.
I did purchase a 2024 Biergarten collection, and you can rest assured that the 2025 box has many new beers plus a few returning favorites. I was so happy to see Georg Rittmayer Rauchbier once again this year.
It's February of 2026 as I pop my can of Eibauer Zwick'l Dark, so yes, I am behind on drinking some of the beers from the Biergarten Collection. So many beers, so little time. Truth be told, I've had many, many Zwickel/Kellerbiers, but I do not think I have ever had a dunkel version. Exciting!
Webster Barnes says this about the brewery:
Even today, the St. Marienthaler Klosterbräu is a very special monastery beer. On behalf of the St. Marienthal Monastery, it is brewed according to the old, traditional monastery recipe of the Cistercian monastery by the private brewery Eibau i. Sa. And even with the first sip, you can feel: This is a beer that brings old times back to life.
Eibauer Zwick'l Dark has an alcohol content of 6.7% by volume and I paid $59.99 for the 24-pack box, so $2.50 per half liter can. That is not a bad deal at all. I was expecting these to cost more this year, but happily that was not the case. The alcohol content here is higher than your typical Zwickel. My can is stamped P: 01/04/2025 E: 01/10/2026. I am assuming these dates are in the European format, meaning the beer was packaged in April of 2025 and good through October of 2026. My sample drunk late February was still deliciously fresh, and it is unfiltered after all. I can easily see it being fine through October.
Eibauer Zwickl Dunkel pours to a dark chestnut color with a thick creamy tan head and a nose of light chocolate and toasted nuts. Taking a sip, the beer is medium in body, toasty nutty, with a hint of chocolate. Slightly sweet chocolate chip cookie notes from the malt poke through. It’s meaty with yeast and finishes with a gentle but firm dry grassy hop bitterness. There was yeasty sediment at the bottom of my glass, if just a little.
Other beers in this collection:
Georg Rittmayer Hausbrauerbier
Nova Cella Schlaubetaler Landbier
Glad I tried it?
T
Would I rebuy it??
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled, Canned
(D)=Draft
