Swiss Review 2/2018

8 Rubrik Swiss Review / March 2018 / No.2 Focus vide an experience. Inspirationally produced beer is a cu- linary experience.” There is no room for compromise: “We’ve thrown away entire batches because we failed to produce what we envisaged.” Achieving perfection is no reason to stop looking for new ideas either: “Wemake beer for a season. Then it’s over.” From local to global The rock star of the “newage of Swiss beer” is undoubtedly Jérôme Rebetez from Saingelégier, who is anything but in- troverted. As a 23-year-old oenologist he created one of the first small-scale breweries in 1997 – the Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes (BFM). Today, BFM is a giant amongst dwarfs. However, Rebetez’s approach to brewing is not one bit tamer than when he started out producing a Jurassian synthesis of the arts, bringing together joie de vivre, crafts- manship, concerts and beers with edges and contours – the only thing they cannot be is random. BFMnowexports a quarter of its production abroad. In 2009, the New York Times lauded its Abbey de Saint Bon- Chien beeras being perhaps the best beer in theworld. This meant Rebetez had achieved one of his main goals. He had started out with the aimof “creating an artisan, unconven- tional and defiant beer, a beer with an extremely sophisti- cated bouquet that was rich on the palate and could easily be compared with the finest wines”. “Abbey de Saint Bon- Chien”, which is matured in oak barrels, comes up to the mark. What does Rebetez – the successful pioneer of the early days – think of the current crop leading the way? He sees a fast-moving scene with lots of people flying the flag for the Another product of the current boom: the beers from Brauerei Nr. 523 The end of the beer cartel The diversity of the Swiss beer market is explained by the collapse of the Swiss beer cartel. This was established by Swiss breweries in 1935. Distri- bution areas were defined, the range of beer was limited to a few varieties and it fought against the import of foreign beers. The cartel broke up in 1991 after the departure of three major breweries. The cartel also meant that Swiss beer came to be seen as commonplace. The market was there- fore open to new players after 1991. Foreign beers quickly won growing market share and the number of Swiss breweries has increased three-fold between 1991 and today. Alcohol consumption is falling The number of breweries is rising, but beer consumption is in continual decline in Switzerland. In 1990, it stood at around 70 litres a year per inhabitant. Today, it is just over 54 litres. One reason for the decline is the reduction in the blood alcohol limit for driving in 2005 from 0.8 to 0.5 per mille. A general change in society has also taken place. Alcohol is now taboo at the workplace and there is much greater awareness of health in general. The boom in microbreweries is not driving consumption up be- cause they see their beers as an exclusive – and expensive – beverage. They are priced at 5, 10 or in some cases even over 20 Swiss francs a bottle. Quelle: Eidgenössische Zollverwaltung. Daten Beer consumption in Switzerland, 1990–2017 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Liters per capita 2017 54.5 Number of Swiss breweries, 1940–2017 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 1991 End of beer cartel 32 breweries registered breweries