Tuesday 10 July 2012

IPA, Basel style

Here's a beer for a change.

"Aypiey" is the German phonetic pronunciation of IPA. Based in white-collar "Grossbasel" (left bank of the Rhine), Unser Bier is one of two best-known breweries in the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt. The other is Ueli Bier, a well-loved micro-brewery in blue-collar Kleinbasel (or "Glaibasel") on the right bank of the Rhine where we live.

IPA - or India Pale Ale - is a popular beer variation back home. This Swiss interpretation was very enjoyable. Nice amber colour. Quite complex on the nose with a citrus kick. Malt up front on the palate with touch of hoppy bitterness. Still refreshing despite the quite strong alcohol (6.5%).

The image on the bottle label is of Grossbasel's "Lällekonig" - a 15th century gargoyle of a king sticking his tongue out at the citizens of Kleinbasel. Anyone who walks past Restaurant Lällekonig which faces the Mittlere Brücke bridge on the Grossbasel side of the river will see a replica the Lällekönig gargoyle at the corner of the building. Apparently, the original still taunts onlookers at the local Historical Museum.

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