At the ninth Brau- und Rauchshop Beer Contest, 448 beers from numerous Swiss small and hobby breweries faced the judges’ verdict. The award night at the Aarau brewery was not the only change at this year’s competition. What else has changed and which breweries are the category and annual winners can be read below.
The glasses are ready, as are the categorized and numbered beers. At the tables, the judges, divided into groups of three, wait for their turn. Then the beers are poured, each in three glasses. Each glass has only a number on the base. Only those working behind the scenes of the ninth Brau- und Rauchshop Beer Contest 2024 know which number belongs to which beer from which brewery.
Some changes
In order for the contest to run so smoothly on Friday and Saturday top efficient logistics are required. “Most of the beers arrive in the last week before the contest. They all have to be unpacked, registered, categorized, numbered and then stored in the cold room until they are served,” says Joel, who holds the strings together at the Brau- und Rauchshop Beer Contest. Ultimately, this is only possible thanks to the well-coordinated and motivated team.
This is not the first time he has done this, but there have been a few changes this year. In addition to a new “non-alcoholic” category, this year the award ceremony has not taken place immediately after the judging at the Brau- und Rauchshop in Densbühren, but the week after at Brauerei Aarau AG, which produces the “Stadtwächter” beer in Aarau and has been based at its new headquarters on Weihermattstrasse since 2022.
Further professionalization as a goal
“The separation of the contest and the public award ceremony means professionalization for everyone,” says Silvia from the Brau- und Rauchshop. “Firstly, the judges have less time pressure when judging on Saturday and can therefore exchange ideas and opinions better. Secondly, the presentations otherwise held as part of the public event can be changed to proper workshops, which is more beneficial for the participants.” And last but not least, the award ceremony in the Aarau brewery is also a sign of how the microbrewery scene in Switzerland has become more professional over the last nine years since the contest was launched.
New organizer of the judges
Another new feature is that bierversuche.ch is no longer organizing the judges. Due to time constraints, Jan de Ruijter, himself a brewer at Brausyndikat in Dietikon, has taken on this demanding task ad interim. From next year on, Gregor Völkening, runner-up Swiss beer sommelier champion and two-time participant in the World Beer Sommelier Championships, will take over this task.
He is well connected in the scene and can thus maintain and further expand the “mix of international, French- and German-Swiss beer experts, consisting of brewers, sommeliers as well as gastronomy and industry specialists” introduced by bierversuche.ch, as he says himself.
Quality is on the rise
For Silvia from the Brau- und Rauchshop, one goal remains at the forefront: “We want to give the participating breweries and hobby brewers unbiased feedback on their products.” This includes the judges being organized by someone independent and, of course, the double-blind process, Silvia explains. The process guarantees an unbiased evaluation because the judges neither know the participating breweries nor which beer they are currently evaluating.
The aim of this feedback, to improve the quality of beers in Switzerland, seems to get a little closer every year. “Of the 42 beers I judged on Friday, only three had a brewing error this year,” says Thomas, a judge at the contest and also known as ttt in the scene. This development naturally makes choosing the category winners more difficult.
Overall winner and category winners
The following beers impressed the judges the most at the Brau- und Rauchshop Beer Contest this year. The final winner across all categories was the following brewery:
NEIPA by Hard Labor Brew from Basel
The overall winner of all categories will have the unique opportunity to sell the winning product in all Drinks of the World branches. Drinks of the World offers the largest range of beers in Switzerland and the winner will reach an audience of millions in Zurich, Berne, Lucerne, Basel, Winterthur, Geneva, Oerlikon and St. Gallen.
The category winners will each receive a 25 kg bag of malt sponsored by Weyermann® and a B&R store voucher worth CHF 100. Second place will receive a B&R store voucher worth CHF 40 and third place will receive a voucher worth CHF 20.
| Amber | Belgisch Starkbier | ||
| 2 | Hard Labor Brew GmbH | 1 | Landskroner Bräu AG |
| 2 | Chaschtele Bier / Börlin Marc | 2 | Thomas Wüthrich |
| 3 | waltin 1085 / Schön Marcel | 3 | Hebestreit Leonhard |
| Bock & Doppelbock | Brett/Lakto | ||
| 1 | Hebestreit Leonhard | 1 | Csizmadia Màrton |
| 2 | Brauerei Chäller Bröi (Doppelbock) | 1 | Zündel Manuel |
| 3 | Brauerei Brauhofer GmbH | 3 | Andersen Birte |
| 3 | Brasserie Mundschenk (Doppelbock) | ||
| Cider & Perry | Double IPA | ||
| 1 | Braucheib GmbH | 1 | Hunziker Lukas |
| 2 | Bruttin Alain | 2 | Bierwerkstatt NordSud |
| 3 | INCIDER | 3 | Schmid Marc |
| 3 | Hektor-Bier | ||
| Frucht | Ginger Beer & Met | ||
| 1 | Duc Michaël | 1 | Metsiederei Eckert (Met) |
| 2 | Thomann Lukas | 2 | Metsiederei Eckert (Met) |
| 3 | Hard Labro Brew GmbH | 3 | Idromele Odin SNC/Dominguez Sascha (Met) |
| Holzfassgereifte Biere + Rauchbiere | Imperial Stout | ||
| 1 | Scheidegger Kaspar (Holzfass) | 1 | – |
| 2 | NewCornerBeer NCB (Rauch) | 2 | Scheidegger Kaspar |
| 3 | Stochenbräu (Holzfass) | 3 | Hebestreit Leonhard |
| IPA | Juicy & Hazy | ||
| 1 | Burgbier AG / Burgbier Ringgenberg | 1 | Hard Labor Brew GmbH |
| 2 | Ahoi Hill GmbH | 2 | La petite saviesanne sarl |
| 3 | Ahoi Hill GmbH | 3 | Csizmadia Màrton |
| Kölsch | Lager | ||
| 1 | Hoptopus / Eichenberger Marc | 1 | Braukeller |
| 2 | Hebestreit Leonhard | 2 | Thomann Lukas |
| 3 | – | 3 | Bruttin Alain |
| Märzen | Pale Ale | ||
| 1 | Ritter Philippe | 1 | Ahoi Hill GmbH |
| 2 | Ritter Philippe | 2 | Ritter Philippe |
| 3 | Henzi Anton | 3 | Brasserie de La Mine de Bex SA |
| Pils | Porter | ||
| 1 | Pentabier.ch | 1 | Foiada Flavio |
| 2 | Bremnath Alistair | 2 | Brasserie Seelander / Nuzzello Davide |
| 3 | Bruton Malcolm | 3 | GreenhornS Brew |
| Saison | Schwarzbier | ||
| 1 | Foiada Flavio | 1 | Csizmadia Màrton |
| 2 | Hebestreit Leonhard | 2 | Schmid Marc |
| 3 | Hausbrauerei Joe’s Beer/Hobbybrauer | 2 | Wagner Robin |
| Stout | Strong Ale | ||
| 1 | Sunnubärger Bier / Köppel Guido | 1 | Thomann Lukas |
| 2 | Notz Chris | 2 | Hoptopus / Eichenberger Marc |
| 3 | Hebestreit Leonhard | 3 | Thomann Lukas |
| Weird & Wonderful + alkoholfrei | Weizen-/Weizenbock | ||
| 1 | Ahoi Hil GmbH | 1 | Berke Bräu |
| 2 | Foiada Flavio | 2 | Hausbrauerei Joe’s Beer/Hobbybrauer |
| 3 | Brasserie Mundschenk | 3 | Wüthrich Thomas |
| Wit | |||
| 1 | Ahoi Hill GmbH | ||
| 2 | Ilic Tihomir | ||
| 3 | Bruttin Alain | ||
We at bierversuche.ch congratulate all of the above breweries on their great success.
Disclaimer: Bierversuche supported the Brau- und Rauchshop Beer Contest as judges, but has no financial interest in the company, the contest or any of the sponsors. We would like to thank the B&R team for the great organization and their extraordinary commitment. We would also like to thank all the brewers for taking part in the contest and all the judges for their participation. We are already looking forward to next year.