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The
demise of the only world classic Swiss lager beer
illustrates the corporate approach to the brewer's
art
Switzerland
is famous for many things: Alpine skiing, creamy chocolate,
precise watches, dubious bank accounts and heart-stopping
fondue. It is seldom regarded as a great brewing nation, and
justifiably so, because the vast majority of Swiss beers are
unchallenging and dull golden lagers.
Since our
inception, Rich O's has stocked the most famous exception:
Samichlaus. Older vintages of this powerhouse lager were
brewed at the Hurlimann brewery in Zurich, which Amy and I
visited in 1994. Tragically, in 1996 Hurlimann was closed
owing to a merger between it and Feldschlosschen, and in the
unkindest cut of all (and a testimonial to the numbingly low
comprehension of corporate suits), Feldschlosschen
subsequently announced that it will no longer brew
Samichlaus at all.
The
following message from a Swiss beer lover was posted on
the Usenet group rec.food.drink.beer in September,
1998:
...
the info came out in June, when the British importer
tried to order its share for X-mas '98. Feldschlosschen
bought Hurlimann a few years ago, but never used its
potential. These guys (Hurlimann) were masters at yeast
strain selection (Samichlaus was a bit of a showcase).
When Feldschlosschen
(http://www.feldschloesschen.ch just in case you want to
have a look at the bastards) bought it, they abandoned
the research program. As Feldschlosschen had swallowed up
six breweries in just a few years, they felt they had to
crop down their range a bit (Cardinal, Lowenbrau Zurich,
Hurlimann, Warteck, Valaisanne and Gurten were the
casualties). What they axed were the special products:
Anker,our last large-quantity top-fermented beer, and
Santa's stuff, of course. No official announcement was
made; the production of Samichlaus was simply
discontinued,or rather did not take place on St.
Nicholas's Day in 1997. Talk about sneaky axing! This
more or less equals to wiping Switzerland off the world's
beer map.
Cheers
! Laurent
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