Tag Archives: switzerland

Kitchen Brew

Kitchen Brew

Kitchen Brew

www.kitchenbrew.ch/

Brewed by Kitchen Brew 
Style: Helles/Lager
Allschwil, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland

Swiss craft beers coming out of the small town of Allschwil, north Switzerland.

North American craft beer scene implanted in Switzerland, that is what Kitchen Brew are all about. Fabian Ehinger, brewer and founder of Kitchen Brew, inspired by the craft beer revolution in the USA, drinking imports from the States made his mind wander……what if!

Finally, in spring 2012, Fabian moved to North America. On a six-month trip across the USA, he was inspired by what he had seen, from small home brewing startups based in kitchens to mega bars with 100 plus taps on the go, Fabian took it all in……. and not all industrial beers too, he discovered a wide variety of specialties of all beer types imaginable . 

As a barman and manager of a small bar in Basel, North Switzerland, Fabian could get a birds eye view of the US craft beer imports and see what made them click with consumers. He started to create a few of his own beers with highly aromatic hops and made with innovative brewing techniques such as dry hopping. He worked from an empty kitchen hence the name of the brewery……Kitchen Brew! His customers were kind of like his guinea pigs, testing his new beers and seeing if North American craft beer trends could catch on in this part of the world. 

After guest brewing for local breweries, in and around the Basel region, Fabian finally got to open, with the support of Peter Oppliger, his new factory and event hall in the small suburb of Allschwil, near Basel, in November 2016, becoming one of the youngest microbreweries in Switzerland.

Kitchen BrewIn 2013, a Cascade Amber Ale was their first real foray onto the scene. The initial beer got off to a great start, proving very popular amongst the great Swiss drinking public, and also going on to win numerous awards for its taste and quality. After that came other beers, Kölsch style brews, wheat beers with Belgian yeasts, the usual IPA’s that the connoisseurs oh so love, a variety of beers but all well balanced and pleasant to drink. 

The brewery enriches the locals palate for good regional and Swiss beer varieties while at the same time offering brews from all around the world, exciting beer styles from a wide section of beer cultures, available at affordable prices for the Basel (and Basel land) natives to enjoy.

My second tryout of their products, having had their Everyday Pale Ale which I thoroughly enjoyed, finding it very smooth and crisp with nice big creamy mouthfuls, a beer I will be returning to in the future…..  

Review: 44cl small can of Kitchen Brew Lager: 4.8% vol.

Comes in cans and on tap in and around the Basel region. 

Love the look of the can, hops and soft greenish colouring, catches my eye in the beer shop. Simple lettering for the ordinary punter too, stating name and that its a lager, that’s all you need, nothing pretentious or too fancy here. 

Looks great on pour, a very nice decent sized frothy head on pour, yellow/light golden colour, looks very appetizing, a good looking brew. 

Kitchen BrewLiking the aroma, very nice and pleasant on the nose. Getting the hops, faint but there to sniff about.

Coming cold from the fridge, the beer is well tasty, nice and crisp. The hops are alive, mild and soft enough to enjoy and with enough flavour to notice their refreshing taste. Full bodied and well balanced.

Very nice, hoppy but light in the taste, very drinkable and a good clean taste. This is a well made beer that is very easy to drink and enjoy. Fruit flavour with Citra and Callista hops very much to the fore.

I don’t feel like its a lager but more a light IPA, as the tastes and hops are much more pronounced than your average lager swill. 

The alcohol is well hidden, but still has a little kick to it which gives it a slight edge.

I liked this a lot , very tasty and very smooth. Strongly recommended and a new favourite go to beer. Thank God they sell it in the local supermarket!

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Feldschlösschen Dunkel Brune

Feldschlösschen Dunkel Brune

Feldschlösschen Dunkel Brune

www.feldschloesschen.ch/home

Brewed by Feldschlösschen (Carlsberg)
Style: Dark Lager/Dunkel
Rheinfelden, Switzerland

Feldschlösschen Dunkel BruneFeldschlösschen is the best known beer brand in Switzerland. Their beers have been brewed at the Feldschlösschen brewery in Rheinfelden, the biggest brewery in Switzerland, since its foundation in 1876 and has been the leading Swiss beer brand for more than 100 years. Today its by far the leading brand in the country with 45 per cent of the beer market, with more than 40 Swiss beer brands, mineral waters, soft drinks and wine produced and shipped all over the country and beyond.

The brewery logo is in the shape of a castle and Feldschlösschen means ‘small castle in the fields’ in German.

Have tried a good few Feldschlösschen beers before, most notably their main brew, their Pale Lager which I actually liked, much to the chagrin of beer geeks everywhere. Yes it is a generic lager but on a hot day a cold one is great. As I said at the time, it is a “bloody good beer!” Also tried their strong Pale Lager, Feldschlösschen Stark , at 7% ABV. Also found it quite nice and did the business. I also drank the Feldschlösschen Frühlingsbier, a seasonal spring beer, and their Feldschlösschen Ice, a cold pale ale, was very cold that it killed the taste, both beers were shit, basically! So you can see, it’s a bit of hit and miss with Feldschlösschen!

Review: 50cl can of Feldschlösschen Dunkel Brune: 5.5% vol.

Comes in an all brown can, not the prettiest sight but it will do. Also can get in bottles.

Get a good amount on the pour, nice. Good frothy tanned head, and a deep amber looking beer, looks good, no it looks fantastic, very nice on the eye. Good lacing. 

Very light smell, very faint. Just a regular beery aroma, malty and not much else. Disappointing. 

Nice big mouthfuls on the initial taste, oh, very nice. Aftertaste is roasted malts, smoky, interesting! 

Not a bad taste, biscuity taste, deep, I like it. Especially the aftertaste, full bodied and very filling in the taste.

Like a hearty meal, very good, perfect for a slow session. Went down very well, not too bitter, quite well balanced.

Coffee tastes detected and sweet caramel malts. Overall I liked this a lot, and I will return, nice one.  

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Sunny Bräu

Sunny Bräu Ananas Mango IPA

Sunny Bräu

Brewed by Sunnybräu
Style: IPA
Binningen, Basel-Country Switzerland

Not a whole lot about this on the net, but the brewery is located in Binningen, a municipality in the canton of Basel-Landschaft perched on a hill overlooking the city of Basel in North West Switzerland.

Review: 330ml brown bottle of Sunny Bräu Ananas Mango IPA: 8.8% vol.

Coming in a brown bottle we get a cute drawing of a doggy. Plain and simple, I like it. Pretty much why I went for it in the off license! 

On opening the bottle I got a nice puff, good start! A massive white, creamy and frothy head appears with a dark golden colour. When the beer eventually settles down, it all looks good and very inviting on the eye.

Good amount of lacing left behind on glass. 

The smell is a typical IPA, the hops are prominent on the nose, the sweet malts, very sweet, piney and, of course, the fruits. Lovely aroma. Two out of two so far, in looks and aroma. 

Onto the taste. Very sweet, those malts definitely coming to the fore. The hops are on the low level, not so bitter, manageable and calm enough to enjoy.

Very nice to drink, went down very well, enjoyable and relaxing, and will definitely like to return in the near future. Perhaps also to try their other fare as well. But this one was good. 

I would say the fruits could be a bit more alive and were found a bit wanting in the beer, but this is just a slight negative for me as overall I enjoyed the beer.

Lovely poured cold. Recommended.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Kitchen Brew

Kitchen Brew Everyday Pale Ale

Kitchen Brew 

www.kitchenbrew.ch

Brewed by Kitchen Brew 
Style: Blonde Ale
Allschwil, Switzerland

North American craft beer scene implanted in Switzerland, that is what Kitchen Brew are all about. Fabian Ehinger, brewer and founder of Kitchen Brew, inspired by the craft beer revolution in the USA, drinking imports from the States made his mind wander……what if!

Finally, in spring 2012, Fabian moved to North America. On a six-month trip across the USA, he was inspired by what he had seen, from small home brewing startups based in kitchens to mega bars with 100 plus taps on the go, Fabian took it all in……. and not all industrial beers too, he discovered a wide variety of specialties of all beer types imaginable . 

Kitchen BrewAs a barman and manager of a small bar in Basel, North Switzerland, Fabian could get a birds eye view of the US craft beer imports and see what made them click with consumers. He started to create a few of his own beers with highly aromatic hops and made with innovative brewing techniques such as dry hopping. He worked from an empty kitchen hence the name of the brewery……Kitchen Brew! His customers were kind of like his guinea pigs, testing his new beers and seeing if North American craft beer trends could catch on in this part of the world. 

After guest brewing for local breweries, in and around the Basel region, Fabian finally got to open, with the support of Peter Oppliger, his new factory and event hall in the small suburb of Allschwil, near Basel, in November 2016, becoming one of the youngest microbreweries in Switzerland.

In 2013, a Cascade Amber Ale was their first real foray onto the scene. The initial beer got off to a great start, proving very popular amongst the great Swiss drinking public, and also going on to win numerous awards for its taste and quality. After that came other beers, Kölsch style brews, wheat beers with Belgian yeasts, the usual IPA’s that are the connoisseurs oh so love, a variety of beers but all well balanced and pleasant to drink. 

Review: 33cl bottle of Kitchen Brew Everyday Pale Ale: 5.2% vol.

Kitchen BrewBought in Swiss supermarket Coop, bottle comes with nice big lettering which stands out, showing that sometimes simplicity does work, no flashy logos or silly imagery, plain and simple, I like that. Calls itself a Swiss craft bier.

On pour I get a nice clear golden coloured beer with a massive frothy white head. A good bit of carbonation making this beer appear alive!

Not much comes out of the small bottle, but when it all eventually settles it looks good.

Head maintains well, a good bit of lacing and a decent looking beer.

On the nose I am getting a faint whiff of the light wheaty malts and barley, faint though. A lagery smell overall, citric and light hops.   

The initial taste is one of a lagery feel, wheaty and all the hops detected. 

With the hops very prominent this isn’t just another boring lager, there is some clear character in this brew. On the light level but enough to stand out. A little sour perhaps but manageable all the same.

Overall its an enjoyable beer, easy to drink, the taste is smooth and crisp, and I am enjoying the nice big creamy mouthfuls I am getting. 

It is a beer to relax with, and light enough to enjoy. Will buy again, and look forward to trying out their other varieties.

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post

Locher Gran Alpin Perla

Locher Gran Alpin Perla

Locher Gran Alpin Perla

www.appenzellerbier.ch

Brewed by Brauerei Locher Appenzeller bier
Style: Kölsch
Appenzell, Switzerland

Locher Gran Alpin PerlaBrauerei Locher AG is a Swiss based family business located in the town of Appenzell, near the Alpstein Alps. The brewery is in the hands of the Locher household, since 1886, and presently running into the fifth generation of family ownership.

Their Appenzell Beer (Quöllfrisch hell), which I found very smooth and enjoyable, is known throughout the country as one of Switzerland’s finest beers, due to the traditional methods of production and use of the local fresh spring waters that produce a lovely clean natural beer. Also the fact that the small independent brewery is standing after all these years, and still producing top quality beers is a testament to how popular the independent brewery is. Something that hasn’t changed since 1886 when Johann Christoph Locher bought the brewery over a hundred years ago.

Appenzell beers are available throughout Switzerland with the Quöllfrisch and Vollmond brands being particularly popular. Apart from the wide variety of specialty beers they also make whiskey, a beverage one doesn’t perhaps associate with Switzerland.

Tried the Gran Alpin Amber Lager which was not great at all, very dull and boring so hopefully the Perla is a bit better……….

Review: 33cl bottle of Locher Gran Alpin Perla: 5.0% vol.

Locher Gran Alpin PerlaBought this beer from the local Coop supermarket here in Switzerland.

A Kölsch beer is warm fermented with top-fermenting yeast, then conditioned at cold temperatures like a lager. The taste is one of a crisp, sparkling, and slightly fruity beer, Kölsch is often described as soft or delicate. Hops are almost always of the German variety, have a place in Kölsch beers, but they’re there to accentuate flavors and provide balance to the malt rather than stimulate. As such, Kölsch beers have very little bitterness.

Apparently this is an eco and bio friendly beer with the malted barley produced by organic farmers in Grisons, the Eastern part of Switzerland, and also using natural spring water from the Alpstein, part of the Appenzell Alps.

On pour get a massive white head  and a golden looking beer, with a good bit of carbonation whizzing about. Frothy white head and a golden colour, looks well decent.

Some good lacing on the glass.

Not a whole lot coming out from the bottle. 

Smell is very sweet on the nose, of sweet malts and grassy and hay aromas.

Taste is …mmmmm, first impressions, have to think about this one! 
It is a bit earthy, nice, yeah earthy and hay like.

Very sweet tasting, the malts definitely stand out, but manageable.

Light bitter notes, that are noticeable as they add a bit of interest to the beer giving it an earthy feel and a slight twinge to proceedings.

Beery taste but also a bit watery and not very smooth. 

Overall it gets a pass, not brilliant but will do. Bit too sweet for my liking but if I was desperate I could buy it again. 

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post