My husband is desperately looking for real ale beers near Volketswil. We are new here in Switzerland and would like to know where we can buy ale beers such as London bride, Tettleys, John Smiths and Boddingtons or others.
Thanks a lot for your help!
Hi all
The larger COOP stores sell some of those brands individually, but it is pricey. Also the main train station in Zurich has a Beers of the World store that may carry those. Not sure as I haven't looked for them specifically.
The drinks store across the lake in Maur - http://www.schatt-getraenke.ch - has a selection - but they aren't cheap - however, they occasionally have stuff on offer - 1/2 price crates of St Peter's Pale Ale for example.
They are very friendly.
The Rio in Dubendorf does a broad range of good Swiss beers - the Rebstein Doppelbock packs a punch.
You can order them online - both Coop and Migros leShop.
With the greatest respect, the likes of Tetleys, John Smiths and Boddingtons, surely aren't in the CAMRA list of 'real ales'? (they're just for men in flat caps, with whippets).
Fullers, yes .... although ESB is better (BTW it's London P ride .... London Bribe refers to the Met.)
Hi, there is an Aligro in Schlieren (not far from you I think) and if they carry the same stock as the one near Fribourg then they sell London Pride, Hobgoblin & Spitfire in boxes of 12x500ml bottles for about 42 CHF. They also sell a few other cases of cans UK beers & stouts plus a few Czech beers.
Hope this is useful.
Hi Donna,
Greetings from near Volketswil, and welcome to the area.
I'd recommend Hubby gives up on the English beer and goes native - hard to contemplate initially but he'll learn, and there are some decent Swiss beers around (or go for some of the German ones).
Coop in Volkiland has a few bottled English beers including some Fullers (can't remember which one off-hand), St. Peters, Newcastle Brown, and canned crap like Boddies :-)
There's a Rio Getranktmarkt on the edge of Dübendorf - I go there for cider and beer. Again they have a few English beers.
There's a Beers Of The World store at both Zurich HB and Winterthur HB - both with good ranges of English beers IIRC.
If he wants to try decent Swiss beers, the best bigger Swiss brewer is probably Appenzeller. Their Holzfass-bier is quite good, as it the Schwarzer Kristall and the Alpstein Bock, and I recently discovered a very strong beer of their's called Exquisitus - 11% and totally delicious. They also do a few interesting sidelines including hemp beer and chestnut beer.
Sudwerk, which I think is brewed in Pfäffikon ZH, has some nice beers, one of which (can't remember which one) tastes very much like a good strong English bitter. Coop stocks them.
Coop also has Fuller's London Pride and (if you get lucky) ESB.
I am reliably informed that you will find a great selection of beers at The International Beer Bar in Zurich