Valaisanne Zwickelbier
Brewed by Valaisanne (Feldschlösschen)
Style: Zwickelbier
Sion, Switzerland
Valaisanne, a small Swiss brewery, that produce exciting craft beers. They produce a range of beers, a Zwickelbier, a Pale Ale, and a Weizen.
Valais is a canton in southern Switzerland, the French speaking part of the country.
Feldschlösschen, the beer kings of Switzerland, now own the small brewery, further consolidating their strong grip on beer production in the nation.
Review: 33cl bottle of Valaisanne Zwickelbier, Bière de Cave : 5.4% vol.
A Zwickelbier, also called Kellerbier, the literal translation is “Cellar Beer”, an unfiltered, “naturally cloudy” beer. The term is based on the fact that the beer comes directly “from the storage cellar”, ie drunk or bottled without filtration.
Comes in a very decent looking bottle that has a well designed label and logo with pretty lettering, stands out. Bought in Coop, local supermarket.
It is looking cloudy and I see a lot of sediment floating, and that’s from the bottle and even before I crack it open! It is a Zwickelbier for sure, bursting to get out! Wonder would this count as part of my 5 a day, what with all the nutrients on sight?
Looks very good on pour, getting a very nice decent sized white head, which settles very, very well, and a lovely golden coloured beer.
Not so cloudy when poured.
Head maintains very well, some good lacing. All in all it is a very good looking beer, very nice on the eye.
Aroma of fruits and straw, all light though. Getting a red berry note.
On the taste I am getting a lot of the grains buzzing around. Also a bit too hoppy and bitter at the front, but then too light in the aftertaste.
Very light, nearly too soft, nothing really to excite the taste buds. Malty and sweet but all on the low end and very simple in flavour.
Smooth and easy to drink for sure, but lacking in anything to excite.
More like a lager, a bad one. Forgettable beer.
The Mahr brewery, with a history dating way back to the 17th century, is situated in Upper Franconia, in the city of Bamberg, northern Bavaria, Germany. The name of the brewery comes from a Karl Mahr who purchased the brewery in 1840. The early brewery changed hands a few times but since 1895 it is owned by the Michel family, now into its 4th generation of ownership under the stewardship of Stephan Michel.
Love the bottle and the logo, a striking light blue winged man, bit strange but stands out.
A full bodied beer on the taste, nice and crisp is the initial reaction, all smooth and easy to drink, good first impression. Sweet malts and grains to the fore.
The Obermühle Steinen mill wanted a beer to celebrate its anniversary, so they approached Wäfler, a Lucerne based brewery, with the idea of producing a beer made from corn, as a gift to its customers. Unfortunately, over time, the brewery went bankrupt and so was the end of the special beer. But there was a clamour from the public who had got found of this unique beer. So a new brewery was needed to continue this production. Not least the beer was a financial hit for the mill too! In 1978, the Rosengarten brewery was asked if they would be prepared to produce a specialty beer with the maize from the Obermühle Steinen, and they agreed, and so in 1980 , the brewery launched the Maisgold.
The beer is brewed with a share of about 30% corn from the Bruhin mill and from the Linthebene, barley malt and hops. The corn causes it to be tasty, light and rather sweetish.
Initial taste is that its a very light beer, with a lot of malt.
Not a whole lot in the bottle too which is a bit disappointing. 
In the late 1990’s, the Lion Nathan brewery in Australia produced a beer called “Duff Beer”. 20th Century Fox brought legal action against the company. The product was ordered to be pulled off store shelves and destroyed, even though the beer had no direct relation to the comedy series, or any similar colouring or logo design. A similar thing happened to Duff Brewery in Dunedin, New Zealand who were brewing their stuff well before even the Simpsons were on the box. To escape heavy court cases and legal drama the company changed the name eventually to McDuff in the end!
For the actual show version of the beer, Duff is made by Duff Breweries in Springfield, small town USA. Duffman, a superhero kind of guy, is their always enthusiastic spokesman all the time wearing a utility belt full of cans of Duff Beer. The beer’s slogan is “Can’t Get Enough of That Wonderful Duff”, though there are others.
Very carbonated on pour, all fizzing away no end, resulting in a very nice and white frothy headed beer that has a nice clear golden colour. Some slight lacing going on. The beer manages to maintain its head throughout. Overall its a pretty decent looking beer. A good start!.