On the beer rating app Untappd, a list of the best-rated beers can be viewed, which is based on thousands of ratings from beer drinkers. The conclusion: Abbey De Saint Bon Chien is – in all its 1000 variants – the best beer in Switzerland. And, unfortunately, actually the only outstanding one. If you want to know more about the top 50 Swiss beers, read on.
(Disclaimer: everything here is based on Untapped’s Top 50 list – if the entire list could be evaluated, the results potentially look different.)
While Untappd is not always right, the list is still interesting. Because it tells us that:
- Only Swiss sour beers are outstanding – 20 beers are categorized as Sour – Other, and 3 as Sour – Fruited (second are Farmhouse Ale – Saison with 7 rankings; 7 beers are some type of IPA).
- 26 beers are by BFM.
- 16 beers are Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien or a variant of it.
- 9 breweries have brewed the top-50 beers.
- Especially BFM (26), Trois Dames (9), A tue-tête (5) and WhiteFrontier (5) brew excellent beers.
- German-speaking Switzerland brews hardly any excellent beers – only three of the top-50 beers are from German-speaking Switzerland and one of them from 523, which unfortunately no longer exists ☹.
Possible reasons for top-50 ratings
What’s the reason? Here are a few guesses:
- Rarity: Many of these beers are special versions of Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien or collabs, which were brewed only once. It is known that people rate things that are rare better than easily available products.
- Frequency: In the same direction goes the assumption that beers, which will be drunk only once, will be rated better. In fact, these top-50 beers were only checked in ~440 times on average, the “Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (2013, Rosé Spicy)” for example only 168 times. By comparison, Nébuleuse’s Embuscade beer, available everywhere, was checked in over 4000 times.
- Export: This is a bold hypothesis, but foreign countries rate Swiss beers better than the Swiss rate their own beers. Beers that are available abroad, like the beers of BFM, ATT or Trois Dames as well as the collabs of WhiteFrontier are rated better.
- Sour: Beer nerds know that sour beers are more complex to produce. Accordingly, sour beers are more appreciated than “ordinary” beers
When we discussed these results, there was the question of whether other breweries simply had too few ratings. According to Untappd, the list of top 50 beers “is based on our weighted average formula, which effectively rates all beers against each other. A beer must have 150 ratings or more to qualify for this list.” We randomly checked a few beers from larger and smaller breweries, and they all would have had sufficient ratings.
No Swiss world-class beer according to Untappd
This is indeed a somewhat conclusion-less exercise, but still interesting for us beernerds. Perhaps a somewhat sad realization: none of these beers are anywhere near to making the worldwide top 50. The “Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (Vin Jaune Greatest Hits Tome 3” has a rating of 4.18. To get into the worldwide top 50, a rating of 4.62 or more is needed – a 4.74 to become number one.
What do you think about this list and our evaluation? Do such lists make sense? Or do they distort reality? Should only sommeliers evaluate beers? We ware looking forward to your take on this.
List of the top 50 Swiss beers according to Untappd (as of 2.2.2021)
| Rank | Beer | Brewery | Style | Rating | # of ratings |
| 1 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (Vin Jaune Greatest Hits Tome 3 | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 4.18 | 539 |
| 2 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 4.16 | 29,073 |
| 3 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (2016) – Special 20th Anniversary Edition (aged in Bordeaux Grand Cru Oak Barrels) | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Farmhouse Ale – Bière de Garde | 4.12 | 761 |
| 4 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (2016) – Lasciatemi Chiantiare | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 4.12 | 424 |
| 5 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru – French Champagne | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 4.11 | 437 |
| 6 | Brut des Franches | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut | 4.07 | 632 |
| 7 | √400 Saison 20th Anniversary Special Edition I – Ale Brewed With Grapes | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Farmhouse Ale – Saison | 4.04 | 724 |
| 8 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (2011) – Blend 2 | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 4.03 | 273 |
| 9 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (2014) (Blend 4) | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 4.02 | 318 |
| 10 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (2015) (Blend 2) | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.99 | 340 |
| 11 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (2015) – MEGAMIX Rum Casks Vol. 2 | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.99 | 293 |
| 12 | Jeandy Paplus 10th Anniversary Moeder Lambic Original | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.98 | 764 |
| 13 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (2012) – Blend 5 | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.98 | 274 |
| 14 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (2017) – Very Limited Edition | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.98 | 204 |
| 15 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (2018) – Père Gola For Ever | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Farmhouse Ale – Bière de Garde | 3.98 | 201 |
| 16 | Pêche Abricot | À tue-tête | Sour – Fruited | 3.98 | 573 |
| 17 | Procrastinator 2 | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Bock – Eisbock (Traditional) | 3.97 | 1,173 |
| 18 | Confetti Western | WhiteFrontier | IPA – Triple | 3.96 | 1,005 |
| 19 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (2013, Rosé Spicy) | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.95 | 168 |
| 20 | Schwarz Mönch | Schwarz Mönch | Schwarzbier | 3.94 | 871 |
| 21 | Envoutée Single Barrel Cognac (Limitée) | Trois Dames | Sour – Other | 3.94 | 707 |
| 22 | Le Brut de Bon-Chien | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Bière de Champagne / Bière Brut | 3.94 | 215 |
| 23 | Cerveza Sin Frontera (Cognac Barrel Aged) | Trois Dames | Sour – Other | 3.94 | 702 |
| 24 | Degustator – Vin Santo (2016) | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Grape Ale – Italian | 3.93 | 370 |
| 25 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Grand Cru (2015) – Barbie Girl | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.92 | 178 |
| 26 | COWL – Wheat Wine – Bourbon Barrel Aged | WhiteFrontier | Wheat Beer – Wheat Wine | 3.92 | 356 |
| 27 | How Soon Is Now? | WhiteFrontier | IPA – Imperial / Double | 3.92 | 1,351 |
| 28 | Prune | À tue-tête | Sour – Fruited | 3.92 | 597 |
| 29 | √225 Saison – Grapes | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Farmhouse Ale – Saison | 3.91 | 698 |
| 30 | Zymatore Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien (2014) – Chardonnay Barrel Aged | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.9 | 190 |
| 31 | La Tentation | Trois Dames | Cider – Graff | 3.9 | 2,312 |
| 32 | √225th Anniversary Saison | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Farmhouse Ale – Saison | 3.9 | 858 |
| 33 | Wheat Vieille Cave Saison | Trois Dames | Farmhouse Ale – Saison | 3.9 | 463 |
| 34 | Saison Brett | Trois Dames | Brett Beer | 3.9 | 1,072 |
| 35 | Sauvageonne Dark | Trois Dames | Sour – Other | 3.89 | 465 |
| 36 | Fiancée Pinot Noir | Trois Dames | Sour – Other | 3.89 | 1,340 |
| 37 | √225 Saison | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Farmhouse Ale – Saison | 3.88 | 22,615 |
| 38 | Surette | À tue-tête | Sour – Other | 3.88 | 584 |
| 39 | Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien Collaboration Blend (2019) | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Sour – Other | 3.88 | 176 |
| 40 | Sauvageonne | Trois Dames | Sour – Other | 3.88 | 686 |
| 41 | Murmure | WhiteFrontier | IPA – New England | 3.87 | 638 |
| 42 | Coetus | Brasserie L’Apaisée | Sour – Other | 3.87 | 190 |
| 43 | Fleur de Sureau | À tue-tête | Sour – Other | 3.87 | 187 |
| 44 | Noire Cassis | À tue-tête | Sour – Fruited | 3.87 | 223 |
| 45 | Triple IPA 2018 | WhiteFrontier | IPA – Triple | 3.87 | 301 |
| 46 | India Pale Ale | 523 | IPA – American | 3.87 | 289 |
| 47 | Degustatoro – Saison Champêtre BFM-NEB (2016) | Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM) | Farmhouse Ale – Saison | 3.86 | 343 |
| 48 | I Love Hops #8 – ❤️ Citra Ekuanot Edition | Hoppy People | IPA – New England | 3.86 | 275 |
| 49 | Beast | S&A Brewing | IPA – Imperial / Double | 3.86 | 422 |
| 50 | Vieille Saison | Trois Dames | Farmhouse Ale – Saison | 3.86 | 678 |