Switzerland is not a country well-recognized for its beer. If asked, most beer aficionados will be able to identify Samichlaus as being of Swiss origin, but that famed beer is now brewed in Austria. Of Swiss beers and breweries, little else is known internationally.
Which is not to say that the Swiss lack worthy brews. World of Beer Update subscribers will already know of the wonderful hemp beer I tasted from the Brauerie Locher in Appenzel, but it was on the other side of the country that I discovered a real Swiss treasure. There, a scant 8 kilometres from the French border, sits the Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM), a modest ale brewery in the tiny town of Saignelegier.
I tasted several of owner/brewer Jérôme Rebetez's beers, including experimental offerings like a gruit (Medieval-style ale seasoned with herbs instead of hops) and a true Swiss mountain lambic. But what really captured my attention was an accident - an 18-month-old example of La Meule, BFM's sage-spiced blonde ale, which had been returned from a retailer because it was past the "best before" date on the label.
If this is stale beer, then I should drink more of it! A flavourful, well-balanced ale in its youth, with a distinct sage aroma and moderately hoppy, dry and lightly fruity body, the older beer develops a complexity the young beer can only hint at. The very faint sourness notable in the younger ale becomes well-developed and integrates beautifully into an herbal, faintly vegetal character. With a smile, Rebetez referred to this beer as "the Swiss Orval," but I thought the comment not entirely without justification. The taste of the aged La Meule did hint at the complicated, bitter-sour character of the remarkable Belgian Trappist ale.
BFM is a small operation and Rebetez says that his entire production is sold in only the French-speaking area of Switzerland, so travel is a must if you wish to sample it. The good news, however, is that what you bring home with you will only get better with time.
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