In the lakeside
town of Wadenswiler, south of Zurich, The
Wadi-Brau-Huus serves some great beers in their pleasant bar / restaurant /
terrace. Their beers are only available on site and at a take-away downstairs.- Premium Blond - 4.8%
- Hell - 4.8% (Hell is German for "white" of course).
- Ur-Hell - 5.1%
-
Ur-Weizen - 5.0% Deep orange / light oak color. Some citric, more intense in the belch.
- Dunkel - 4.8% Creamy and well carbonated. Dark brown. On the edge of chocolaty.
- Hanf - 5.0% We're guessing the Dunkel with an addition of hemp seeds. A
bit fresher then the Dunkel with a little floral and (green) grass notes.
While
we were there, a brewing seminar was taking place. 14 people paid 139 CHF (about
$105) to watch a 5-hour brewing session, have dinner, samples, and experience
the finer points of professional brewing. Although some were "hobby brewers",
most attended for fun and curiosity.They hold this "Grosse Brauseminar" 4 or 5 times a year and have shorter sessions, 30 minutes to 3 hours, about twice a month.
Part-time brewer Sebastian Ringlar.
Frauhenfeld, northeast of Zurich, has the
Brauhuus Sternen, a deceptively large restaurant with many rambling rooms.
They also bottle and have some accounts in town and in Zurich. It opened
in December, 2003.  |
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- Hell
- Swarz - Mild black beer using caramunich malt and "schwarzmalzextrakt".
- Honey Brown Ale - US / Kanada style light brown ale. Clean with lots of clover honey aroma but not sweet. A very good beer.
- Hefe-Weissbier Hell
- Belgian Wit - Seasonal Speziel - Robust and looks like a hefe-weizen. Some bitter orange but not really to the style of a wit. Good nonetheless.
In Konstanz,
Germany, we got off a ferry and I saw a sign for the
Ruppaner Braurei. Whipped the car right,
scaring Terry.Turns out this large brewery has a tied house next door, the Cafe Hoheneggisa in an uninspiring brick building with a million-dollar view (across the parking lot) of Lake Constance. They say "since 1795".
- Edel Pils
- Spezialexport
- Schimmell Hefe Pils
- Hefe Weizen Hell
- Hefe Weizen Dunkel
- Kristallweizen
- Colaweizen - !
- Hecker Dunkel - Dark copper with a peaky ivory head. Malty but balanced
semi-dark lager. Not inspiring but OK. 5.2%.
| Near the east end of Lake Constance, Arbon,
Switzerland, boasts the Gasthoff
Brauerei Frohsinn - a real jewel. It's a 100-year old hotel, upscale
restaurant, and beer keller rolled into one within a building remodeled in
1986 that's spotlessly clean throughout.We were shown about by an
enthusiastic and cordial woman who called her daughter, Judith Krim, to
help translate. We mention Judith by name because she's married to an
American in New Glaris, WI and is an avid fan of the New Glaris brewery. Their two staples are a full, clean Blonde and a nice brown Dunkle lager. Seasonals include a Strong beer using wheat and corn, a Maibock, a medium Pils, and a Guinness-style stout. All were out of stock at our visit. They went through 1000 liters of the Strong beer in just a couple of weeks. They brew weekly and lager long, as evidenced by the 12 1000 liter lagering vats that double as serving tanks. Jazz, blues, or Gospel is live every weekend. Just the place to base a week visit to the southern Germany, Northern Switzerland, Western Austria, Lichtenstein area. June is a fine time for it, beat the tourists, still have snow on the mountains, weather in the 60s and 70s.  |
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"The Frohsinn Beer"
"Mainly, The Frohsinn beer is bottom
fermented. But, as an old custom, one or two brews of top fermented Stout is
brewed every year."- Frohsinn Hell (Pale Lager)
- Frohsinn Dunkel (Dark Lager)
- Frohsinn Pils (Pale Lager, Pilsener Style, seasonal)
- Mais Bier (Swiss corn is used along with Malt, seasonal)
- Schwarz Bier (Black Lager, seasonal)
- Wiener Bier (Vienna Lager, seasonal)
- Maibock (Pale Strong Lager, seasonal)
- Samichlas (Amber Strong Lager, brewed only on 6th of December)
- Weihnachtsbock (Dark Strong Lager, seasonal)
- Maerzen (Munich Oktoberfest Beer, seasonal)
- Schlossbier (special Amber Lager only for a special customer)
- Frohsinn Stout (strong Stout with over 7%ABV, seasonal)
Down the
road in Rorsarch, the Lowengarten brewery which distributes to a wide region in
Switzerland and Austria. Rorsarch is a hip little lake town with a Ferrari
dealer.The Lowen Pub has rich all-new cherry veneer and check out the booth seating at the bar in the picture to the right - great idea. And couldn't that picture be an advertising poster?
Lowen Prinz and Lowen Dunkel Spezial are in bottles and Lowen Strange Hell Spezial on tap. The later is a robust yellow lager, quite effervescent, not at all hoppy (which seems to be the region's main style characteristic). Mild but promises an alcoholic kick after 2 (or 2:30 at the latest).
Other beers tried:
- Mohren Brau Pils - Brewed near Bergenz in the corner of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Yellow. Good thick pils with some real hop background. Well kept at a deserted hotel just 20km south.
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