Basel Beer Market
Meet up with your friends and sample the delicious beers from local breweries in Basel this August 30-31 at the 10th edition of the Basel Beer Market (Basler Biermarkt).
Basel Beer Market
Open from 4pm-11pm each day, it's free to wander down and take a look at the different breweries that are taking part in the festival. Local breweries make up a large proportion of the participants, but other Swiss beers will be represented, as well as a few from neighbouring countries.
Beer in Switzerland has a long history, and while beer may still be second to wine in the alcohol popularity contest, this is changing. Since the big cartels dissolved in the 1990s, more and more small breweries have been opening up, bringing new and exciting flavours to the table. There has been over a twelve-fold increase in small breweries in Switzerland since the year 2000!
There will be around 25 taking part in the Basel Beer Market, so you might have to go both days to try something from even half of the stalls. To make sure you don't drink on an empty stomach, food trucks will also be serving up delicious meals.
Breweries taking part
There will be a huge range of beers on offer at the festival, including albino, dark, pale ale, smoked, strong, wheat, whisky ale, and more. Here's just a few of the breweries that are taking part:
- Amsel-Bräu
- Brau Rebel
- Blaue Ente
- Fermento Brewery
- Kitchen Brew
- Rock Beer
- Unser Bier
- Simmentaler Bier
- Sankt Johanns Brau
Attending Basel Beer Market
The market is held on Vogesenplatz, in the North-West of the city. It's directly outside Basel St. Johann train station, or you can take tram number 1 from Basel Central train station. Using public transport to attend rather than driving is recommended if you intend to try any of the beers.
You can wander around for free, but if you want to try anything, you need to pay a five-euro admin fee (which includes a two-euro deposit on a glass) and buy tokens as the individual breweries do not take cash. One token is one euro, so it's easy to keep track of your spending, and the beers cost two tokens for 150ml and four tokens for 300ml. You only want to be drinking small amounts of each beer if you want to try as many beers as possible.
Don't worry if the weather isn't as summery as it could be and it rains - there are covered seating areas to keep you dry. You can find out more about all the breweries taking part on the Basel Beer Market website.