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.

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 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.

Liking 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!