Swiss Beer Appreciation Thread

[cheesey]

I hear quite a few expats slagging off the local stuff. I appreciate beers from all over the world, and wouldn't personally rate Switzerland's as the best (Japan, go Japan!!!), but they aren't half as bad as people say either. In UK I'm a bitter/stout/smooth type of guy, here I'm particularly liking Dunkel. Generally i wouldn't know a Swiss brand from a German one, but for sure the AVERAGE beer I see here is much better than the Fosters and Carling crap that represents the AVERAGE beer in an English pub (well maybe not anymore, it's been a while...).

So stop whinging and celebrate decent Swiss beer. This thread is about appreciating Swiss Beers, both mainstream and obscure.

Enjoy, get thirsty, drink Swiss Beer.

[grumpygrapefruit]

You've included a photo of Feldmuch, so of course this thread is a wind up.

[HashBrown]

	Quote:	grumpygrapefruit
	You've included a photo of Feldmuch, so of course this thread is a wind up.

The Hopfenperl as pictured isn't actually that bad. The standard stuff, yes, is tasteless.

	Quote:	cheesey
	Enjoy, get thirsty, drink Swiss Beer.

Feldschlösschen isn't Swiss beer, it's Danish (Carlsberg).

source: http://www.feldschloesschen.com/Unte...s/default.aspx

[Deep Purple]

I cannot remember the name of it but the Appenzell beer they have in The Federal at Zurich HB is pretty good. I think it may have been Holzfass.

[cheesey]

	Quote:	vwild1
	Feldschlösschen isn't Swiss beer, it's Danish (Carlsberg). source: http://www.feldschloesschen.com/Unternehmen/Carlsberg-Gruppe/Pages/default.aspx

Interesting.

They are brewing in Switzerland though, and a Swiss brand I think.

3 breweries: Rheinfelden (Headquarters), Fribourg, Sion <<Fribourg is to close though
1 mineral water bottling plant: Rhäzüns
17 logistics centers
1 Call Center: Biel
1 Group Company (Hunziker AG, event organization): Willisau

[cheesey]

	Quote:	Deep Purple
	I cannot remember the name of it but the Appenzell beer they have in The Federal at Zurich HB is pretty good. I think it may have been Holzfass.

Genuine question, what's Appenzell Beer? Might want to try some if I haven't unwittingly already

[Deep Purple]

	Quote:	vwild1
	Feldschlösschen isn't Swiss beer, it's Danish (Carlsberg). source: http://www.feldschloesschen.com/Unte...s/default.aspx

Isn't that just the same as saying Calenda Beer is Dutch, or Toblerone is American?

[cheesey]

yeah Cadbury's is American.

Back to Swiss stuff, what does this one taste like?

[jdat]

lol hangover tag



I've had a few other Zürich beers but the name are coming to mind right now

[SteK]

Not Swiss but anyone fancy a pint of Brewdog End of History? 55%!! Yes beer - 55% And yes, the bottle is inserted in a real stuffed animal and I believe it costs 300 quid a bottle....

55% tho!

	Quote:	cheesey
	In UK I'm a bitter/stout/smooth type of guy, here I'm particularly liking Dunkel. Generally i wouldn't know a Swiss brand from a German one, but for sure the AVERAGE beer I see here is much better than the Fosters and Carling crap that represents the AVERAGE beer in an English pub (well maybe not anymore, it's been a while...).

Your two statements are at odds with each other. On the one hand you profess to like ales, on the other you only drink lagers in UK pubs.

Come on, be honest, were you actually old enough to drink beer when you were in the UK ?

[HollidayG]

Appenzeller Beer is not all that bad.... Try it sometime.


There is also a beer that is very good called Adlerbräu. You
can get it at Zürich HB in this very large beer hall across
from Burger King. Unfortunately, there are not many stores
that sell it.

The best beer currently brewed in Switzerland:

http://www.bierfactory.ch

The stout was the winner of the European Beer Fest Gold medal last year so it's offically the best Stout in Europe. Cheesey, if you like stouts you have to try this one.

and a fairly close second best:

http://www.waedenswiler.ch/index.php?page=38

The dunkel is the best of the bunch, the Pilsner is actually one which is unusual for CH, and the others aren't bad either.

Edit: should have said that I have tried. there are some small brewies in the French part doing pale ales, brown ales, bitters and imperial stouts that are rated quite highly.

For a comprehensive list of Swiss beers rated by the European Beer Association check here.

[roostermike]

	Quote:	Deep Purple
	Isn't that just the same as saying Calenda Beer is Dutch, or Toblerone is American?

Yes, or like saying Miller is South African and Beck's is Belgian/Brazilian.

[zwissmiss]

Hi Cheesy,
Since you are based in Zürich I suggest you go to the BRASSERIE FEDERAL in the Hauptbahnhof. They have a HUGE selection of Swiss beers.
One of my favorite things they have is the taster board of beers called "7 auf einen Streich " basically it is 7 little 1dl glasses of different beers served on a wooden board - 9.90 CHF - Here below are the beers they are currently serving on the board:

Haldengut Lager leicht malzbetont, aromatisch, ausgewogen
Ittinger Klösterbrau leichter Röst-Ton, typische Hopfenblume, fruchtig
Falken Schwarzbier Aromatisch, trocken und leicht
Monatsbier lassen Sie sich überraschen
Appenzeller Reisbier Untergärig, leicht spritzig
Haldenkrone frische Hefe, deutlicher Malzton
Ziegelhof Zwickel-Bier Naturtrübes Spezialbier unfiltriert

They are delicious, will impress any visitors and for 9.90 to have 7dl of beer it is a very good deal in downtown Zürich. Otherwise you can choose from the over 80 different Swiss beers that they have on the card:

[Credde]

I just googled and found this page that gives a list of Swiss beer with the authors (not me!) comments and ranking:
http://www.cerveza.ch/swiss.shtml
There are quite a lot of different beers so happy drinking

I myself fancy the Eichhof beer from Luzern among other beers of course

[HollidayG]

Has anyone tried the new Lozärner Bier? The brewery was started
after Eichof was bought by the Evil Empire known as Heineken.

[Treverus]

http://www.appenzellerbier.ch/

All their products, from Quöllfrisch to the Holzfass-Bier, are all very good.

The rest of the Swiss beer market is appalling.

[pat]

	Quote:	HollidayG
	Has anyone tried the new Lozärner Bier? The brewery was started after Eichof was bought by the Evil Empire known as Heineken.

Yes, not too bad, but there are much better beers brewed by the Aare Brewery (who brew the beer for Lozärner and is an exact copy of their Kellerfrisch beer)

	Quote:	Treverus
	http://www.appenzellerbier.ch/ All their products, from Quöllfrisch to the Holzfass-Bier, are all very good. The rest of the Swiss beer market is appalling.

You are not looking hard enough, there are plenty of great brews in Switzerland.

My favourites so far (but, I've only visited 100 breweries of the 250 or so in CH so far) are

in BS:
Käppelijoch
Fischerstube
zur Grünen Amsel

in the rest of CH:

BierVision Monstein (GR)
BFM (JU)
Trois Dames (VD)
Burgdorfer (BE)
Seeland (BE)
ECM Bräu (ZH)

There are so many good ones out there, you just need to look for them and don't expect to find them in your local coop. As previous noted the site http://bov.ch/beer/swissbeers.htm is a great resource for swiss beer hunting (as will my book, once I get round to finishing the darm thing ).

Pat