Welcome to the Zurich Beer Tour Brewery Awards! We are just joking, we are not giving out awards, but we wanted to mention some (not all) breweries that we believe stood out in this #difficult year. We wanted to mention them for different reasons, maybe because they made some awesome batches of their core beers, they were creative in different ways or they just had an incredibly high standard of beers this year. To all breweries that are not mentioned on this list we want so say, it's not because you didn't deserve it. The #list would just be endless.
We are starting with a fantastic #Swiss brewery. Hoppy People from Sierre, Valais in Switzerland have been around since 2016 and have become really successful. You can already find their beers in Swiss #supermarkets. This year David, Oivier and Thiago brought Swiss beer to a new level. And they did so bz releasing the sequels of their "I Love Hops" series of IPA's. Number 4 to 8 of this extremely hop forward beers were all on a level, that was new for Switzerland. They were at an international level, which reminds us of hop bombs from the US. We're looking forward to their new beers in 2021.
A great brew of Hoppy People:
I Love Hops DDH DIPA #6
Featured in our Top 3 recommendations for April 2020
The guys from Bear'n'Stein are releasing their beers exclusively in their Brewpub "Bierlab" in Zurich. Since 2019 they are running this fantastic pub in the middle of Zurich. A fantastic place to grab a beer and even watch Urs, Pierre, Daniele and Jess brew one of their new creations, as their brewery is on full display at the bar. We wanted to feature BnS in this list because we could see the improvement they made with their beers like we never had the chance to see with another brewery. Being there almost once a week we had several beers from different batches. And they got better with every batch. and also their new creations like their Watermelon Weizen "Candy Shop" or the NEIPA "Invisible Touch" were stellar.
A great brew of Bear'n'Stein:
Invisible Touch DDH IPA
Featured in our Top 3 recommendations for September 2020
Cloudwater Brewing from Manchester (UK) is on this list because they impressed us with extremely high quality of beer in general. They've been putting out great beers for years, but this year there was not a single one that was missing something. Their #sours, their stouts and especially their #DIPA's were always on point, and with their "Collecting Flowers" DIPA/Hefeweizen #hybrid they released a beer that Sandro would call his beer of the year. Awesome work, thanks to the CW team.
A great brew by Cloudwater:
Collecting Flowers Double Hopfenweisse
Featured in our Top 3 recommendations for November 2020
Omnipollo from Sweden is also a brewery that has been releasing first class beers for years. We are including them because of multiple reasons. The first reason is our personal experience with them. Having visited #Sweden twice this year and being able to have a couple (and a couple more) beers at Omnipollo's Hatt, their #bar in Stockholm always resulted in great #nights (thanks again for the cellar tour Elmer!). Second reason is one of our favorite beer series came from them this year, the #Bianca beers were with us even when we visited other countries like Bulgaria or travelled to the Swiss mountains. 3rd reason would be they also released extremely great beers this year, of almost any style.
A great brew by Omnipollo:
Original Maple Truffle Ice Cream Waffle Imperial Porter
Featured in our Top 3 recommendations for October 2020
We already told you the most important things about this #German brewery above, but we wanted to feature them on this list too. First of all we didn't have a lot of their beers, but those we had were instant #favorites of ours. They are one of only 3 breweries we mentioned twice in our monthly top 3 posts. The quality of their beers is outstanding and also their can art is extremely #unique. Moreover, we love the fact that they focus on using #organic and #local products in their beer. We will definitely try each one of their beers that we can get our hands on this year.
A great brew by ADB:
TEST TRACE ISOLATE DIPA
Featured in our Top 3 recommendations for December 2020
With this post we also want to thank all breweries and pubs we visited, all the people in the beer industry we got to know and who work hard to make people drink better beer and of course all our beer tour partners, for a difficult but still great beer year 2020.
As we all know the situation is still difficult here in Switzerland and around the world, especially for people in the hospitality sector. So please help you local pubs, bottle shops, breweries and restaurants however you can.
And most important: Buy more #beer!
Cheers,
Your Zurich Beer Tour Guides