Unser Bier: if you can dream it, you can do it; if you can drink it you can brew it. Unser Bier is Basel's youngest micro-brewery. It was born in 1998 of the dreams of a small group of home-brewers and in seven short years has made its mark on the city.
The brewery now boasts over 3,000 proud shareholders and the beer continues to grow in popularity.
In addition to being available at the brewery pub, it is available at many local restaurants and shops, and can even be delivered to your doorstep by the milkman.
Istvan Akos, one of Unser Bier's founding members, explains the joys and sorrows of running a micro-brewery. He is a proud father because the 2004 numbers are in; Unser Bier produced 356,500 litres of beer and showed a profit for the first time.
Why did you decide to start a brewery?
My three partners and I founded Unser Bier in 1998 as an answer to the global concentration of the beer market. Before we came on the market, Basel had a population of 180,000 and there was only one small brewery. There was a beer vacuum here in Basel.
It all started with an exhibit at the spring MUBA fair. We rented a large booth and we showed people how they could brew their own beer at home. We proposed to teach four home-brewing courses with spaces for 40 people and we had 210 registrations!
We realized we had something, First, we founded an Unser Bier club, a place where people could come and brew beer as a hobby. Then we decided to found the brewery.
Why is it so appealing for people to brew their own beer?
Well, nobody in Basel knew that you could make beer at home. And people like beer. A lot of women phone us and say, "my husband likes beer what can you do to help us celebrate his birthday? Can you teach him and his friends how to brew beer?" Personally, I brewed at home once or twice and thought it better to delegate it to someone who does it better. It's a sticky business.
How did you choose the name, "Unser Bier"?
There is a German expression, "Das ist nicht dein Bier, das ist nicht mein Bier." It's a way to say that the matter at hand doesn't concern you or me. When we first brewed beer, we joked around a lot: "that's not your beer, that's not my beer, that's our beer," so we called our beer, Unser Bier.
It's our beer, it concerns us, and it's Basel's beer. We are very proud of it.
Who is your target market?
Unser Bier is local production for local consumption. Our market is Basel and the surrounding villages but unfortunately only in Switzerland and not in the neighbouring countries, France and Germany. It's too expensive for them and we would have trouble with customs,
We haven't done professional market research yet to determine the age of our customers. My son is 22 and he doesn't have...
Pour continuer la lecture
SOLLICITEZ VOTRE ESSAI