Max Descloux from the tiny brewery Brasserie Lance-Pierre in Switzerland is doing an internship at renowned Brew By Numbers (BBNo) in London. Over a few installments, he writes about how it is for a “homebrewer” to be working in a professional and world-class brewery. This is part 1.
Looking for craft beer in Greece
The sun hit us hard. We had arrived in the South, in the Sun, in Greece. It was a thirsty weather and we knew little to nothing about Greek craft beer. But we knew of one place, pointed out to us by Konstantinos Avramidis of Elixi – who we found via Untappd and contacted via Facebook. With an unsure future for Ratebeer, such might be something we need to get used to.
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.
Interview with Chris Boggess, headbrewer at 3 Floyds Brewing Co.
They are loud and dark. Known for Heavy Metal, Dark Lords and Warpigs. Everything else that you need to know about 3 Floyds you can read in our interview with headbrewer Chris Boggess.
Drinking beers from Flanders and learning things
Beer is to Belgium as Cheese is to Switzerland as is Guns to the US as is ceviche to Peru: you can’t separate the two. At home we have a book called “1000 Belgian Beers” and browsing through it you’ll notice that there’s a plethora of breweries you’ve never even heard of. Thus when we got an invitation from Flanders Investment & Trade to drink… uhm, I mean discover, beers from the area, we obviously had to go. The event catered to people in the gastronomical and retail industry, and we were there as a multiplier, apparently, to spread the good word about Belgian beers. All with the intention of these beers hopefully being available in Switzerland soon.
Amsterdam, one day in April
Besides (or maybe for some: on top of) plenty of Sodom and Gomorrah, Amsterdam has a lively beer scene. Moreover, many have a tap-room for you to hang out, drink fresh beer and eat something to keep you going. There are actually so many breweries and bars that it is impossible to do them all in a day – for a good list, check out the map our fellow traveler and guide has put together. Therefore, this is not a complete guide, but a report on how we spent one Saturday in April.
Interview with Van Havig of Gigantic Brewing Company
Some things just take longer: Interviews last longer than expected. Transcribing the interview takes longer than hoped. The duration of both was, let’s say of gigantic proportions, thus somewhat fitting for an interview with Van Havig of the Gigantic Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon. The interview took place a few months ago, but don’t panic, we have put updates where updates were applicable. The interview also went on for about an hour. As Van had a lot of very interesting things to say, we did not radically shorten it. Thus, this might take a bit longer to read. So, get a beer, sit down, let’s go.
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.
Beer labels: 3. my water is better than yours
“Pure mountain spring water, the best hops and the finest malt provide the unmistakable taste of our unique beer.” Sound familiar? Must. Because it’s written in similar form on many labels of traditional lagers. But since paper is patient and can’t fight back, the question naturally arises: is what it says on the beer label true? Is it really the case that these three ingredients have a significant influence on the taste of beer?
Interview with Greg Koch of Stone Brewing
Craft beer pioneer and visionary. Part-time voice of reason and standard bearer. Everybody who’s even only remotely interested in craft beer knows of the Stone Brewing and right after that knows of Greg Koch. He visited Switzerland and we were on location to talk to him.
Interview with Fred Karm, Hoppin’ Frog Brewery
Everyone who ever got crushed by a B.O.R.I.S. will always remember that beer. In general we’ll never forget Hoppin’ Frog, as it was one of the first american breweries to be available in Switzerland. We met Fred for an in-depth interview in Copenhagen – or an imperialized one, which is rather fitting for him as you can read below.