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Monday, April 30, 2012

Rieder XXX Weisse - Austria



Riedler XXX Weisse....$2.29 / 11.2oz
This is a supercharged Hefeweizen which is equal to a Weizen Bock beer. Very drinkable, yet rich and mouth filling. This brew shows a lot of character and each sip becomes a festival for the taste buds. A true specialty from the Rieder Brewery. 6.5% alc.

BRAUEREI RIEDER
Ried, Austria

The Innviertel is an upland region of fertile and well-cultivated land lying to the south of a line from Passau to Linz, bounded on the north by the Danube, on the west by the rivers Inn and Salzach, and on the south by the Hausruckwald. The area is studded with small villages and hamlets, farms and churches, in a style reminiscent of Bavaria; and in fact the Innviertel formed part of Bavaria until 1779 and again from 1809 to 1814. In addition to cattle rearing the region is noted for its hop growing. Politically the Innviertel (officially Innkreis) is divided into the districts of Branau, Ried and Schärding. The name of the city is derived from the Middle High German "Riet" which denotes the reed which grows along the shores of swamps.

The region was then called Innbaiern and had two important roles: strategically as a defense line against Austria, and very rich soils for crop farming. Following the Treaty of Teschen in 1779 it was ceded to Austria. During the Napoleonic Wars it was restored to Bavaria in 1809 but was ceded again to Austria in 1816. Innviertel has about 200,000 people in its towns, villages and hamlets. It's Bavarian roots show in the local German dialect, Innviertlerisch.

The ancient village of Ried was first mentioned on November 13, 1136, as a castle of the Bavarian Sovereign with the seat of the noble house of Ried. Already in 1180, the townsmen of Ried were first mentioned in records, indicating a settlement near the castle. Legend has it that in 1191, Dietmar der Anhanger - a miller's son - obtained the market town of Ried as a fiefdom from Frederick I (Barbarossa). Allegedly, Dietmar boosted the morale of the troops during the crusade: When the enemy had overthrown the flag of the army in Iconium, Dietmar took off his boot and put it onto a lance; under that sign, the crusaders took new courage and managed to conquer the city. The peasants' boot of this legend is now part of the city's coat of arms. The line of the lords of Ried ended around 1200 and the Bavarian Dukes took over the area.

Just like the entire Innviertel, Ried went back and forth between Bavarian and Austrian hands often over the course of the Middle Ages and early Modern days. Only in 1779, the Innviertel finally went under Austrian rule and stayed there apart from a short Bavarian occupation during the Napoleonic Wars (Napoleon himself stayed in Ried twice and was once almost assassinated there).

Today "Ried im Innkreis" has a population of just under 12,000 people and has a museum of folklore and a parish church (1721–33) with two 17th-century altars but the pride and joy of the village is the legendary Brewery founded in 1536 and owned since 1906 by 150+ local families.

The Rieder Brauerei is one of the Bavarian Forest's greatest breweries with an early specialization in wheat beers and brilliant pilsners utilizing the much prized local hops. Production is tiny with less than 65,000 barrels a year produced but the emphasis is on quality here, as it has been for over 450 years.

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