Sooser-Bier is closing, Blackwell is closing,… Why do we see a crisis in the Swiss craft beer market? A search for clues and proposals for solutions
Support our local breweries – part 2: ramp sales and take-away offers
The coronavirus will be with us for several more weeks and every day that a company cannot generate revenue makes survival more difficult and uncertain. This is especially problematic for small businesses and the majority of our favourite breweries are microbreweries. Their survival is not guaranteed.
The champions of the Swiss craft beer scene
The Swiss craft beer scene has experienced an almost incomparable boom in recent years. But as not only quantity but also quality counts, quality control with constructive and expert feedback is needed. At the Brau- und Rauch Beer Contest, the Swiss Beer Award with the most entries, an expert jury judged the submitted beers independently and impartially using the “Double Blind” method. This year, Torkelbräu lager from Niederlenz impressed the jury the most and was the overall winner.
2018 was both good and bad and definitely both
It feels like Craft Beer is at a crossroads. We are doing this review for four years now and never before have the answers been so contradictory and never before has there been as much concern among all the excitement. ➽
Great Swiss lager beers for an unforgettable world cup evening
When from 14 June on 22 sweaty men are chasing a ball to the world’s amusement, one drink will be especially on the mind of the male and female football enthusiasts: Beer. We present the best lager beer alternatives to the products of global players such as Heineken (e.g. Eichhof, Calanda, Ittinger, Halengut) or Carlsberg (Feldschlösschen, Valaisanne, Hürlimann, Cardinal) from independent Swiss breweries.
Putting likes over drinking beer
The other day I learnt what a “boss pour” is. The Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine defines it as «A stylistically improper and aromatically challenged pour whereby the pourer fills a glass to the rim without leaving a head on the beer, in vain hopes of impressing friends on social media.» Having an Instagram account, I immediately knew what it was referring to and it gave a term to what has irritated me for a while. But let’s first take two steps back.
Wortspiele: a giant collaboration and exclusive beerfestival
Wortspiele is what you get, when you produce 15 hl of wort; give it to more than 20 brewers who then make beer from it to serve at one event. We here at bierversuche organize this shindig and Number 3 just happened at La Nébuleuse. Mid-February people were treated to 35 completely different and exclusive beers.
How we called off the collaboration brew with Siren
It was one of those moments, where you thought: this cannot be true, like if you’d see a Unicorn opening a can of Pliny The Younger or Cantillon announcing a Light Lager as their Zwanze beer. The e-mail that had us rubbing our eyes said: „It seems this collab idea fell between the gaps when I went back to the US. […] We should definitely do something though, perhaps next time you are over.“ Say what now? Collabo? With Siren! This cannot be true! And in the end. It wasn’t.
Reinheitsgebot: Treat it with indifference
When you are into beer, you will eventually hear about the Reinheitsgebot. And superficially you’ll be impressed: 500 years of tradition, single handedly saved the German people from starvation and from getting poisoned. Once you read a bit further, you will realize that these heroic tales are more legend than reality. And while it’s okay for a little child to believe Robin Hood and Wilhelm Tell were actual people that lived, as a grown up it’s time to accept the fact that these people are fictional characters, just like the Reinheitsgebot.
Interview with Andy Smith, founder and brewer at Partizan Brewing
The beer mile in Bermondsey is legendary. The second brewery to arrive there was Partizan Brewing, somewhat tucked away on a small street and behind a rather divey pub. The location is surprisingly small, and as Andy Smith, founder and brewer of Partizan explains, will soon be even more crammed with equipment. A week before the London Craft Beer Festival Andy took a moment to talk to us about all things Partizan.
Interview with Rick Nelson, Oedipus Brewing
Why a dutch brewer is visiting a Swiss beer festival, a beer just has to be called Salty Dick and other deep insights into what’s currently happening in the flat land. This and more you can find out in our interview with Rick Nelson of Oedipus Brewing.
Interview with Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø of Evil Twin Brewing
The tranquil beer scene was in an uproar when news of Evil Twin’s visit to beer café Au Trappist made the rounds. We bristled at the Evilness and ventured to a table with Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø of Evil Twin. In the interview we talk about Beerhunter, his knowledge of Switzerland, the secret collabo – about which we know nothing, of course -, sources of inspiration and Michael Jackson.