Dr Gab’s Ipanema
Brewed by Brasserie Docteur Gab’s
Style: India Pale Ale
Puidoux, Vaud, Switzerland
Brasserie Docteur Gab‘s is a small regional and local craft brewery, based in the small town of Puidoux, in the Canton of Vaud, South-Western Switzerland.
It all started when a young and very eager Gabriel Hasler, at just 16 years of age was given his first craft beer kit. Excited he enlisted the help of his two good friends Reto Engler and David Paraskevopoulos, and set out on a quest to brew their first beer. After initially producing 20 litres in Gabriel’s parents’ kitchen, and then moving to Reto’s parents’ cellar, the young entrepreneurs soon needed extra space so that they could share their passion and talent with as many people as possible.
In 2004, the trio moved to Epalinges, in the district of Lausanne, and opened their first premises fully dedicated to brewing. Here, several 400-litre tuns allowed production to rise to 6,000 litres a year. They found their first trade customers and production quantities increased exponentially, even though brewing was still something of a side hustle.
In 2010, with a bit of education and degrees now under their belts, David, Reto and Gabriel dedicated themselves to their venture full time and increased output to 80,000 litres a year.
By 2018 they had vastly expanded with more output and fulltime employees so that a move to Puidoux, where they remain today, was on the cards, with more space and a doubling of production capacity, the team were getting bigger and more professional.
Review: 33cl bottle of Dr Gab’s Ipanema 6.0% vol.
Available throughout Switzerland in supermarkets, restaurants and selected bars and pubs. I picked mine up in Coop in an Interesting looking bottle, which doesn’t look very dissimilar to a medicinal bottle! A strange drab looking IPA bottle if I am to be honest -orange and black perhaps not the best colours to mix together!
Least we forget, an Ipanema is a beer that combines typical characteristics of a full-bodied and fruity IPA beer, with a light and pleasant taste.
Looks very nice on pour, we get a lovely golden orange hazy colour, with a decent sized white head, frothy and creamy. Not getting a whole lot from the bottle, it doesn’t fill my small glass, which is always a little sad! But overall, it is a very good looking beer, nice on the eye.
As for the aroma, it is soft on the nose, not so stark, a faint whiff of a typical IPA, getting the pine, the tropical fruits and the grassy hops but not much, very light.
Getting a very, very bitter earthy aftertaste in the mouth, even though the initial taste on the tongue is quite soft and bubbly.
Its overall quite tough to drink at the start, but once it settles down it is very manageable and drinkable, definitely a slow burner as I started to enjoy it the more I drank of it. In fact by the second glass, I found it not bad at all, and it went down much smoother over time, balancing out, and with me getting much more used to the bitterness. Experiencing malts, citrus, herbal hops and an orange zest.
The initial kick from the first few slugs does not last and goes missing afterwards to make this drink a smooth experience….. but I think it could have down with keeping that kick throughout, as it doesn’t linger at all.
A bit of an up and a down, I think I’d like to return to get a better feel for the beer and its certainly an interesting beer to drink.
Öufi brewery, named after the “Solothurner city number 11”, was founded on the 11th of November, in 2000 by Alex Künzle, who had had enough of his job as a mineral water sales manager and decided to concentrate on his passion, brewing beer, setting up the Öufi brewery.
On the bottle it says this is a “bio” beer, whatever that means? I think organically friendly? 
Tastes of toffee detected at times.and I am getting the hops, and I guess you can feel that it is an organic beer, but overall this is a pretty poor effort at a lager me thinks.
The physical side is not an issue for me, I just get on with it and I am well used to long runs and walks, and I do have a bit of a head for heights (I think!). No, what I will find daunting is the actual routes to the tops and trying my best not to get lost. You see, its not like Ireland and its small “hills”, a straight up and down, in Switzerland, you sometimes have to get to a mountain to get to another mountain…. you might have to climb up a few mountains to achieve the canton peak! Added to this is that the the top 11 have no set marked route or sign posts, you just have to figure it out yourself! And I seriously worry about getting lost and climbing the wrong mountain, or worse…… walking off a cliff edge! Which would be typical of me!
First one off the blocks, not too far from where I stay in Switzerland…………met up with a nice Swiss lad who showed me a good route to the top and when we had a break was kind enough to explain the canton history of Switzerland to me.
So yes we took the walking route, through the trees and wooded area, past small, very small waterfalls and trickles of water coming downhill, wooden steps some of the way to the top. A nice walk, a little steep and not easy, but was enjoyable all the same.
St. Chrischona, 522 metres, 1713 feet
Also I took the most direct route, beside the road for a bit of it and through a small village (Erlinsbach), which was a bit annoying with the noise of the traffic, and it took me about 20 minutes to find the actual Canton peak while at the top, did eventually. Four hours, in between all the photo stops and drink breaks!
Another Canton Peak down last weekend, this time the Hasenmatt at 1,445 m, the highest mountain Solothurn.
There was a bit of everything on my trip….. lovely farming scenery, nice walks through the forests, the Jura mountains with its stunning views, steep cliff hiking, sun and the rain, and finished up with a local beer, “Oufi”, which wasn’t great at all unfortunately.
Last weekend did the Jura Canton Highest peak, Mont Raimeux, 1,302 m. Took a 5 hour and a bit route starting and ending from the small town of Moutier, in the direction of Raimeux de Belprahon, to the peak, Mont Raimeux, then down to Le Petit Pre, through the woods, and right around to the town of Corcelles and back to Moutier.
Arriving early by train at Moutier, had a quick wander around the small town, and by 10 I was ready to start the hike. The trail to the peak was very easy to do, round and round a forest trail going up and up to the first port of call. Raimeux de Belprahon, after that through very scenic farming land in the presence of cows with their bells (does it not drive the cows mad?), eventually arriving at the top, where there was a bit of activity, with people chilling out, having lunch, and enjoying the views from the peak.
It was so refreshing that I stopped more than once to take it all in. I could have returned to Moutier much, much quicker, but what’s the hurry when one can have a lie down, drink a lager in a field under a tree in the midday sun, and let the world go by. Who needs a beach holiday, when you have the Jura! Bliss, was in the zone, ha!
But the negative, and there is always a negative, was that the last hour back to Moutier, via Corcelles, was directly under the sun, at its hottest, with no shade. That was a hard walk back to town, lovely views but hard all the same. Especially for the pale skinned Irish lad!
As for the route to the top. I arrived in the town of Schaffhausen early and after my usual hour wandering around the town, I started out walking beside a wide and easy pathway near the highway to the small town of Merishausen. From there I went to the church and from here you can get a route near the peak which takes you through some farmland onto a small very quite road, and then up to some smaller dirt roads leading to a wooded area from where you can find the peak. Near the end of the hike it started to rain quite heavily, which was a little annoying.
I got lost as it was raining heavy and missed the top of the tower from the distance the first time round as I simply couldn’t see its top with all the rain and mist. But put right, it was actually quite easy to find in the end. The views from the top of the tower are nice, even on such a misty day.
For most of the route I didn’t meet even one hiker, but sure enough once I got to the peak, hikers started appearing out of nowhere. So much so that when I got to the tower, there was about 10 to 15 people milling about. There are always people in them hills, somewhere!!
Santis last September in the rain, managed four “peaks” (Alp Bommen, Ebenalp, Ohrli, and of course the big one Santis).
Started late, very late, didn’t arrive at Wasserauen until 12.00, which was a bit mad, and despite meeting many on the long route who told me to turn around……..I eventually got the peak of Santis late in the evening, around 7, in the rain and the cold, but another canton peak gone off the list.
In early January, 2022, I managed to get another Swiss Canton peak under my belt.This time to the canton of Thurgau, and its peak of Hohgrat at about 991 m (3,251 ft).
First stop of importance was to be the old Abbey of Fischingen…….very quiet and not a soul around, free to wander in to the Church and be amazed at the artwork and beauty of the fresco’s, lovely…….
The sights you can get from the peak are great, you can see the dictatorship of Austria far off in the distance, and Santis closer to home. Sitting down for a rest, with my refreshments, was majestic……its why i love hiking….the views, the views!!!!
Schnebelhorn 1,292 m (4,239 ft)
Coming down the weather got better, and by the time I arrived in Winterthur for the football it was a lovely day.
The brewery logo is in the shape of a castle and Feldschlösschen means ‘small castle in the fields’ in German.
Bottle in nice red lettering and we are told its a dry hopped brew.
Straight from the fridge, the bottle all nice and cold, pours a very decent frothy white head and there is some good carbonation going on. Golden amber colour and the good sized white head……..which dies a bit, but overall its a good looking beer on the pour. 
Winterthur is a German speaking city in the Canton of Zürich in northern Switzerland. With over 110,000 residents it is the country’s sixth-largest city by population.
Zurich: Schnebelhorn, 1,292 metres, 4,239 feet
Once I got settled in, and after my pint of Smithwicks (was just ok!), ordered some food………..cheesy chips (the healthy option) , and a pint of Brew Dog Punk IPA, one of my favorites, poured lovely and cold………….with my dinner, it went down very well.
Ordered a Guinness, as you do, and a cheese burger for something to eat. Served with a smile, and the food came quick enough. Food served quick is always a bad sign, and to be honest the burger wasn’t the best, looked good but was a bit soggy and wasn’t as filling as it should have been. The Guinness was not the best too, but I’m not going to take marks off for that…..outside of Dublin its generally hit and miss….. I also ordered a Spitfire ale and it was fine.
Staff working hard, especially one Irish man who I assumed was the bar owner, but later found out he was just part of the staff, but boy was it impressive to see him work the tables, pull the pints, and generally work his ass off…..all with a smile and some good Swiss German to boot. Workers like that are diamonds…….
The club was founded in 1896 by students of the local school of engineering and following a fusion with two local teams, it was called Vereinigte Fussballclubs Winterthur between 1929 and 1946. They enjoyed their best success in the early part of the 20th century winning the Swiss Championship three times (in 1906, 1908 and 1917), before consecutive relegations in 1931 and 1934. They played in the lower leagues until regaining promotion to the Nationalliga B in 1950. They have since stayed in the second division for most of their history.
The club play at Stadion Schützenwiese, a short walk from the centre of Winterthur, since 1896. In the 1980s the ownership was transferred to Winterthur council as the club faced financial problems. The council are responsible for any maintenance and upkeep of the ground. While once boasting a capacity of 14,987 before 2009, the stadium now holds 8,550 seats, 1,900 of which are seated. The more hardcore supporters of the club stand at one end, which is known as the Bierkurve. Away supporters are housed at the opposite end of the stadium to the Bierkurve.
Finally managed to get some beers and took my place in the main stand, at the back……………..good views of ground, but I have to be honest, with all the supporters packed in, it was way overfull, and with supporters spilling onto the walk ways and exits it was potentially very dangerous as everyone was on top of each other on a steep stand…….
At half time, made my way to the area behind the goals where all the ultra fans hung out……….again packed, but not as steep or hazardous, and more fun as the songs were going and atmosphere a plenty.
Here is the video of my hike and visit to FC Winterhur 
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!
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. 
Liking the aroma, very nice and pleasant on the nose. Getting the hops, faint but there to sniff about.
Feldschlösschen 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.
Comes in an all brown can, not the prettiest sight but it will do. Also can get in bottles.
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! 
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.
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. 
Bought 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.
The initial taste is one of a lagery feel, wheaty and all the hops detected. 
Brauerei 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.
Bought this beer from the local Coop supermarket here in Switzerland.
Not a whole lot coming out from the bottle.