One of the biggest homebrew challenges facing me since
arriving in Europe is securing proper brewing ingredients (See “Stress Brewing
Part 2). On two occasions I have placed online orders with a homebrew supplier
in the UK. While this is relatively timely German shipping companies are less
than gentle, resulting in yours truly scraping ingredients from the bottom of
the box. On at least one other occasion a
personal “courier”, risking deportation and other heinous acts by German
customs officials, delivered desperately needed priming sugar. Sensing my frustration
(probably the direct result of my incessant swearing) my “Navigator” of more
than 30 years discovered an alternative. Switzerland?
It was a cold dreary February morning, like most European
mid-winter mornings, when we struck off for Switzerland in search of a brick
and mortar homebrew shop. My pulse quickened as I plugged the address into the
Geo Positional Satellite thingy, affectionately dubbed Garmin B*tch. At long
last I was going to an actual homebrew shop!
According to Garmin B*tch, my holy grail of homebrewing was only two
hours away. Mother Nature had other plans. What started as rain quickly turned
to snow, then rain again, preventing me from taking full advantage of the
unrestricted sped on the Autobahn. Rain and/or snow be damned I would not be
discouraged!
The Swiss town of Wald is approximately an hour’s drive from
the German border, approximately 30 kilometers east of Zurich. Home to approximately
9,000 residents Wald is also the home of SIOS Homebrewing; if I knew nothing
else about the town that would be enough. Pulling into the parking lot I immediately
began questioning Garmin B*tch’s guidance. The building looked abandoned. My
heart sank like a little boy who just lost his puppy. Struggling to keep my
emotions in check I exited the car, opting to explore the building on foot.
Walking around the corner of the building my jaw dropped and my knees trembled.
A sign on the wall directed me to a door on the back side of the building.
Opening the door my nostrils tingled with the greatest aroma any brewer can
experience. MALT! My eyes fluttered as I took a deep cleansing malt filled
breath. Nirvana.
SIOS Homebrewing is not unlike any homebrew store in the states
with the standard brewing systems, homebrewing trinkets, bottling supplies, and
of course malt. Bags and bags of malt. The staff is very knowledgeable and
fluent in English. Like most other things in Switzerland SIOS prices are not
for the faint of heart. I dropped the equivalent of 120 dollars for ingredients
I would have payed half as much for in the states. The folks at SIOS are also
fellow homebrewers and apparently if you drop enough coin they will give you a
couple of complimentary bottles of their beer. The beer also came with an
ominous warning. “Don’t try to cross the Austrian border”. “Germany good,
Austria bad”. I have yet to discover why, but I will take their word for it.
Last weekend I returned to SIOS, purchasing ingredients for
an IPA that I have affectionately dubbed “Twister Swisster”. Not surprisingly the staff recognized me and
remembered my name as I’m likely only one of a few American customers to have
visited their shop. Most of you are
probably wondering why I would go to such great lengths to visit a homebrew
shop instead of just ordering things “On the line”. The answer is simply human
interaction. While internet orders are
convenient there is no substitute for talking to fellow beer lovers and homebrewers,
sharing experiences and learning about their native beer culture.
United we brew, divided we fall.
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