Experiment turns into a successful brewery
I’ve already told you about Thomas and his microbrewery, and especially how he has managed to turn his hobby into a flourishing business. But he told me a whole lot more about himself too. Which of course I want to share with you, so here, in the second part themed around Thomas’ brewery, is some exciting information on his new beer creations:
Thomas, how many different varieties of beer do you currently have in your repertoire, and where can people buy them?
My main product range consists of six different types, which are always available:
- Bionda, a pale top-fermented beer in a Kölsch style
- Amber, an amber-coloured, discreetly hopped, elegant beer
- Black IPA, a jet-black beer made from roast malt, heavily flavoured with aroma hops
- Maibock, a quaffable high-strength beer
- Wheat beer, fruity, top-fermented with typical wheat-beer yeast
- Traditional-style spelt beer, brewed in the Belgian style, delicately flavoured with various spices
In addition, I supplement my standard range with seasonal specialties, and so sometimes there are different beers on offer as well:
- Gypsy IPA, a golden-yellow summer beer, cold-flavoured with fruity aroma hops
- Pumpkin Ale, a quaffable pumpkin beer to an American recipe
- Christmas, a pale Yuletide beer with ginger, oranges, cinnamon and cloves
My beer can be purchased in regional sales outlets, and it’s already being offered in restaurants, which makes me very proud. But my beer can also be purchased through direct marketing or ramp sales. All further information and dealers’ details can also be found on my website.
Do you like creating a never-ending series of new types with highly disparate flavours, or do you stay loyal to traditional beers?
I think it’s important that I can brew exquisite but not overly extravagant beers. A beer that’s brewed for a normal beer-lover– not for eccentrics with specialised preferences.
I Iike creating new recipes with different ingredients and experimenting with various yeasts, malts or hops – but I also enjoy using herbs and spices.
My latest creation was a joint project with the local mill – a traditional-style spelt beer, with local traditional-style spelt from the surrounding region. Brewed from unmalted grains and malt and refined with spices, quite in the Belgian style.
Can we look forward to even more types from you, or will your scullery then become too small?
Whenever time, space and infrastructure permit, further creative eruptions will follow.
In future, too, I shall be attempting to brew new beer styles – a herb beer, for instance, like the ones frequently drunk in the Middle Ages. But I’m also going to tackle a gluten-free beer made from millet or a discreet honey beer featuring honey directly from the village bee-keeper.
Do you intend to expand any further?
“BrauerTom” is a one-man microbrewery, and that’s what it’s going to remain. Creativity needs air, space and energy if dreams are to come true. I want to preserve and embrace this creativity, and not to spoil things by growing too much.
Switzerland offers an ever-increasing diversity of beers. What’s your view of this uptrend?
I’m all for it, this innovative development helps to promote beer culture. New ideas and inspirations will enrich beer diversity. Such as a trend I came across in Scotland – a beer that’s matured in a whisky cask, and thus acquires a taste that’s unprecedentedly flavoursome. Or the small Swiss craft beer brewery that uses ancient monastery-beer recipes before maturing the beer for long months in oak casks previously steeped in rum, sherry or bourbon. This development opens up options for fantastic new beer styles.
Do you think there should be more diversity and even more small breweries?
Definitely! Until a few years ago, for example, it was customary in Switzerland for each village to have its own dairy (known as the “Dorf-Chäsi”). So for regional beer diversity my vision is this: every village should have its own small brewery.
