It is time for Zurich Beer Tour's Top 3 beers for January 2023. Even though the weather is still cold, Simona decided to feature a beer style she usually goes for in the Summer: a fruited #sour. She discovered this brew while traveling to one of our favorite cities in the world, which is Edinburgh, Scotland. Sandro is going local this month and decided to feature a beer from one of the best breweries in Switzerland, which is, unsurprisingly, a hazy double IPA. This month's staff pick is again one our team found while traveling, but this time to Belgium. The Belgian #lambic we chose is brewed with a rather uncommon ingredient for lambics. Let's do this!
Simona's pick: Vault City (SCT) x Lakes Brew Co. (EN) - Blackberry Lemon Meringue Drizzle Sour
The Beer:
For a lot of people, this beer is where they start asking: is this still beer? But we can assure you, it definitely is. But to the classic ingredients of beer (water, malt, hops and yeast) they also added some stuff, that would probably end in a court trial if served in #Germany. Blackeberries, Lemon, Vanilla and also some lactose make this beer taste more like a dessert. All of this works perfectly well with the tart acidity that is added by their house mixed culture that fermented this delicious drink.
The Breweries:
Vault City is a brewery from Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland that started in 2018 and are focusing on brewing sour beers. Most of their beers are mixed fermentation beers, which means they use a house culture, which is a blend of different yeast strains and bacteria. They also love to add fruit to their beer, which results in amazingly flavorful beers. A #traditional beer style in a #modern way. Also they have 2 really cool taprooms in Edinburgh, one (The Wee Vault) in the city center which is drinks only and their Portobello location (The Porty Vault) which also serves amazing American style BBQ.
Lakes Brew Co. was founded by Matt, Michelle, Steve & Paul who worked together at another brewery before starting their own. After being laid off in March 2020, when lockdown restrictions first went into effect, they decided it was time to become brewery owners themselves. They are located on the Mintsfeet Industrial Estate in the center of Kendal, and run a temporary #taproom that serves the Lake District's craft beer scene with freshly made beer.
Our food pairing recommendation
Lemon meringue drizzle cake
Sandro's pick: Hoppy People (CH) x Mad Scientist (HU) - Into The Wormhole DIPA
The Beer:
For most people in the #Swiss craft beer scene it is nothing new, but the guys from Hoppy People in Sierre have really figured out how to brew hoppy beers. This newest brew is a collaboration with one of the most famous breweries from Hungary, Mad Scientist. We tried this beer just a few days after canning and it was phenomenal. Super fresh and sharp hop flavors, ranging from tropical fruit to fresh cut grass and pine. These favors come from a great hop combo, consisting of Sultana, Azacca & Mosaic. Go and get your can as long as they're still around.
The Brewery:
Find out more about Hoppy People in this blog post.
Mad Scientist call themselves "#Budapest madness", and they challenge almost everything you thought you knew about beer. Never boring, always perfect, and always bold. Although it may not always be beneficial for business, they always hold themselves to a high standard because they firmly believe that "the way you do something is the way you do anything."
Our food pairing recommendation:
Korean Fried Chicken
Zurich Beer Tour's pick: Cantillon (BE) - Zwanze 2022 - Poivre De Gorilles Lambic
The Beer:
Cantillon holds a yearly beer celebration called "Zwanze" in September, a worldwide #festival and they release a special beer for each edition. For 2022, they released this lambic which was brewed with poivre de gorilles (Gorilla Pepper), they selected this ingredient with Sandrine from La Maison des Poivres in Brussels. After they tasted different types of Congolese pepper, they were sure this was the right one. In the Republic of the Congo's forests, this #pepper grows wild. It is aromatic but not overly spicy, and it pairs beautifully with this Lambic's acidity. The outcome is a beer that goes incredibly well with meat or fish.
The Brewery:
Find out more about Cantillon in this blog post.
Our food pairing recommendation:
Roasted Fish with Lemon and Mustard Sauce
These are our three beers. Which ones were your favorite brews in January? Tell us in the comments!
Are you looking for more personalized recommendations, that are made to fit your taste? Check our Pocket Beer Sommelier.
Stay tuned for our February recommendations!
Cheers,
Your Zurich Beer Tour Guides