Bier Review: Best of Bern, Switzerland

The beer in Bern is good, but nothing's blown me away yet. Being, in the German part of Switzerland, the local breweries are all German styled and focus on basic lagers. This particular picture was taken, as you can see, while enjoying a game of Monopoly at the Glocke Hostel with a couple backpackers from the Philly area.

Unser Bier Pech Schwarz
Unser Bier
B- / 3.5
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | drink: 3.5

Pours a black body with a tan head. The aroma and flavor are both a bit muted - not much is going on. Still there are mild cocoa notes also with bready, German grains paired with a smooth mouthfeel. Not a great beer, but plenty tasty and worthy of a stein.

Export Bier (Lager)
Rugenbräu AG
D+ / 2.4
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | drink: 3

Poured from a green bottle with a pull-off top (sweet). Not bad for washing down German/Swiss grub, but otherwise it's just a mostly harmless Euro lager. There's a sizeable cheap lager tang, like Heineken but magnified. Otherwise there's a hint of malts and enough balancing bitterness to keep this drinkable.

Zwickel Bier
Rugenbräu AG
B+ / 3.9
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

Appearance is yellow with a short white head and lacing. The aroma is a touch musty (cellar-like) with a touch of sulfur and minerals over malts. The flavor has a bit of those earthy mineral notes with light, yet slightly creamy biscuit malts and a hit of peppery hops. All in all a fine zwickel. Don't like Rugenbrau Lager think this brewery only makes light lagers.

Bärni Dunkel
Brauerei Felsenau AG
B / 3.6
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4

This is the darker option from Felsenau. Pours a dark amber with a white head that quickly disappears. The aroma is heavy with creamy caramel that continues in the flavor and is paired with dry toffee and light dark bread malts. There's a hint of spicy hops that make for a nice balance to the sweet malts. All in all, this is nothing amazing, but it's a tasty and drinkable dark lager. A bit like a marzen/O-fest but with more caramel.

Feldschlösschen Hopfenperle
Feldschlösschen Beverages Group
C- / 2.55
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | drink: 2.5

I asked the beer store for the hoppiest Swiss beer. The two guys shrugged, mumbled to each other, then pointed to this. They were no help.

I will say this is an improvement over the regular Feldschlosschen offering. It's a clear, light gold with no head. The aroma is skunky at first thanks to the green bottle and then clears up to somewhat unpleasant husky grains. The overall flavor is smoother and blander (those tend to go hand in hand) with very light biscuit malts, an orangey flavor that kind of remembles hops and then a very subtle black pepper finish. Yeah, it's beer.