Real ale in Switzerland?

You're in luck.

Laurent will be along shortly to give you details of half the places in Europe you can get to (and how to get there).

If you speak nicely he will tell you how to be at the Great British Beer Festival in a few weeks time and thus how to talk to lots of beer minded people from many parts of europe. From this your options on beer drinking with friends around the globe will multiply...

(Yes, I'm aware that this is a touch of "coals to Newcastle" for a an Englishman abroad.)

I know a man wot does. :-)

Before Laurent gets here, I can tell you that you won't get any UK-style reale ale in Switzerland.

Having written that, however, I can also tell you that there are quite a few places where you can get decent micro-brewed Continental-style beers.

Try the Fischerstube in Basel (Rheingasse) for one. If you have a big enough party, you can reserve a table and a cask of one of their beers and have it tapped and spiled at your table.

They also sell casks for home consumption, and hire out matching glasses.

Note that the bar itself only sells the beer under pressure, as does everywhere else in the country (by law, IIRC).

Mike Roebuck a écrit :

Here I am... ;o)

Indeed no cask ale in British style doon here, at least not as you understand it.

Some bottle-conditioned british ales are avalable, though, such as Young's Special London Ale and Hampshire's Pride Of Romsey. (=> Samuel : e-mail me direct if you want to know where to get them.)

Indeed. in german-speaking Switzerland, there are quite a few micros that churn out decent beer, but only german-style stuff, ie helles, schwarzbier and the occasional weizen. Which is sad, because there's plenty of regional breweries that churn out decent lagers (often unpasteurised in draught form) as well, including Zwickelbier, which is unfiltered, unpasteurised, kegged straight from the lagering tank. So those micros are missing a opportunity to make a difference.

The ale micro-brewers, such as the infamous BFM

Fischerstube is a good one indeed, and one of the oldest brewpubs in Europe (est. 1974). Closer to Zurich, I do recommend you mak your way to Wädenswil (along the southern shore of lake Zürich) and visit the Wädi-Bräu brewpub, which has a fully deserved good reputation.

The brasserie du Château in Lausanne does sell one of its beers through a handpump, but I'don't know for sure where the beer comes from, if blanket pressure is applied etc. Besides, teh beer itself is a rather dire example of bitter.

For a full overview of breweries and micros in this country, look up my friend Philippe Corbat's webpage, which is the most reliable and up-to-date listing you can get. Philippe's a bit of a beerticker, but his palate is reliable, and his knowledge of the swiss beer scene is unmatched :

Yup, the federal ordinance on foodstuffs requires beer to be served under CO or mixed gas pressure.

As to gas pressure, it indeed is the rule. But do note most bars in German-speaking Switzerland, when they sell beer from regionals, use aligal (ie mixed gas, but without the sh*tty "creamflow" tap of nitrokegs) instead of carbon dioxyde, just like in Germany. Aligal does not gas up the beer, which is a definite advantage.

Cheers !

Laurent

Steven Pampling a écrit :

How could you tell, Stephen ? ;o)

Basically, all information is on the

Indeed, on apart from this Swiss weirdo, there'll be the usual batch of Italians, Germans, Belgians, Dutch etc. :o)

Shortest way for someone living in Zürich is the main train station, look up the Beer World Store, and get a bottle of Young's Special London Ale (bottle-conditioned). Bring it home, leave it to settle a day or two, leave it two or three hours in the fridge, open, pour, enjoy.

Cheers !

Laurent

Looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks' time! :-)

Alex.

si le ciel était un grand parapluie défectueux ?

OK Laurent, so you're saying there's no real ale in Switzerland, so go buy some BCA from the UK?

Brian

BrianW a écrit :

I'm taking into account the fact that the original poster wants beer from back home, not lager, however decent it may be. And anyway, BC ales are real ale, innit ?

Indeed, and one of my favourites, but I meant nothing remotely "real" brewed locally? However I guess Mike answered that question for me, had I bothered to read the rest of the thread first :-)

Brian

BrianW a écrit :

There is, breweries such as BFM sell their beers in bottle-conditioned form, some do some form of maturation in the keg, but, because of legal restrictions, the beers are then served under gas pressure (often aligal instead of CO2)

Cheers !

Laurent

Well - I'm glad you've read it now, anyway :-)

Gravity dispense is the only alternative to pressurised dispense, and I'm afraid the Fischerstube is the only Swiss pub I know which does it, even if it does have to be pre-reserved.

They do a dark beer or two as well, although I'm not sure if they offer those in casks too.

snipped-for-privacy@hpa.org.uk wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

Failing that, I strongly recommend you look into a few bottles of German Dunkel Weizen - Schneider seems to be the most common one in bars here in Zuerich, but you can certainly buy Paulaner, Erdinger, Ayinger etc in the local Getraenkmarkten or pop over the border and buy some.

I lived on real ale before moving to Germany in 95 - I lived on Weizen (in its various forms, but mostly Dunkel) for the next 3 years until I returned to the UK, and I still pick up cases when I'm over there. Of course, since I moved to Zuerich in May this year, it's even easier to find.

Prosti !

Nick Pitfield.

Nick Pitfield a écrit :

Indeed, it's distributed in Switzerland by Feldschloesschen (Swiss arm of Carlsberg / 45% of the Swiss beer market, and no really decent produce in their own range). Actually, it's an useful survival tip if you have to enter a Feldschlösschen local, for example with work mates: ask for Schneider Weisse.

Distributed in Switzerland by Heineken...

gatting harder to find since Ayinger seem to have decided Switzerland is not an interesting market any more.

Indeed, if within reasonable distance of the border an in a mood for a decent hoppy pilsner (Rothaus Pils, for example, or even Fürstenberg) or Hefeweizen (Rothaus, or possibly Ganter, brewed in Freiburg-in-Breisgau), the price difference makes the journey worth it from two or three cases on.

Only problem with Hefeweizen, for british palates at least, it that it's among the gassiest beers there are.

Cheers !

Laurent

In message , The Submarine Captain writes

IME it's not the palate, the problem's lower down. But what can you do if it's the only interesting beer available?

drink it! I find it quite therapeutic...