Description: For us, trying new beers is one of the must do activities of any holiday. Unfortunately (but also fortunately as it means you can drink some of these beers at home too) the increase in the choice of imported beers and lagers in the UK means that it is harder to find something new when you travel abroad, and you’ll find the same beers cropping up everywhere you go. At a bar in Croatia last year I was disappointed to find that they only sold Heineken, a beer I can drink virtually anywhere in England and buy at any supermarket. The Croatians have a number of perfectly good beers that, as a tourist, I would prefer to drink and, what’s more, drinking local beer (usually) works out cheaper.
Fortunately the trend for microbreweries appears to have enjoyed an upsurge recently, even in countries where you may think they don’t have much of a tradition of beer making. Googling microbreweries in Geneva brought up four choices and, happily, we managed to visit three of them during our weekend trip.
Situated directly opposite Geneva’s main train station Les Brasseurs (it means 'the brewers') was the first we came across but we had just arrived in the city and we were en route to our accommodation so we didn’t visit until the next evening, a Sunday. There is some outdoor seating around both entrances but the road facing the train station is really busy and I’d recommend sitting at the other side on Rue Pradier instead as it will be a little more peaceful.
We made two visits to Les Brasseurs, one on a Sunday night, the other on Tuesday lunchtime and the place was very busy on both occasions. As well as being a popular microbrewery producing its own distinctive beers, Les Brasseurs also serves food and there were as many people eating as just drinking. We didn’t eat at Les Brasseurs but we did give the beers a good go – purely on the grounds of research, you’ll understand. If you do want to eat, the choice is not unlike that of somewhere like the Slug and Lettuce chain but here you can also have Swiss classics like fondue.
The interior is not unlike a traditional English town pub with lots of wood, and coloured glass partitions between booths. There are standard height tables which I prefer for dining but also some higher tables with bar stools and a line of bar stools at the bar. As drinks can be ordered at table you can sit at the bar without getting in the way of other customers. We sat at the bar on both occasions. As you enter from Place de Cornavin you can see the copper brewing gear (as you can tell, brewing terminology is not my strongpoint) on the left of the pub.
Les Brasseurs offer five of their own beers – a blonde, an amber double malt, a white – or wheat – beer, Diabolik – a red beer with a hint of chilli and a seasonal special. Between the two of us we tried all except the wheat beer as neither of us are particular fans of that brew. My favourite was the seasonal offering – agave and lime; it was really refreshing and had a crisp clean taste. Being a bit of a chilli head, Himself rushed to order a Diabolik (with an appropriate gravity of 6.66%) for his first beer but was a bit disappointed. The chilli flavour is only vaguely discernible and although it’s quite conventionally beery there’s a background fruit flavour; while this is a decent beer, there were better ones here.
The blonde was good; it’s my tipple of choice at present so this one would have to be good to measure up. I found this one cloudier than I’m used to and once I learned to drink it while simultaneously blocking out the emanating aroma of fart, it was pretty good. Himself tried the amber which was his favourite, not too malty but very distinctive with its caramel flavour.
If you can’t choose, or want to try them all without falling over, you could go for the tasting selection – a wee glass of each which comes in a kind of test tube rack affair. Bought by the glass, the beers come in small (300ml), medium (600ml) and large (one litre!). Most people order a medium but ask for a "canette", the Swiss name for that size. Before I reveal the prices, remember that a) this is Geneva, it’s not cheap, and b) these are quality beers. A small is about 5 CHF (around £3ish), a canette will set you back 10 CHF (about a fiver) and a litre comes in at 15 CHF which is approximately £10 – we didn’t see many people drinking them. I would say that for Diabolik, don’t buy more than a small, but the agave and lime really needs to be a canette.
If you are on a mission to achieve drunkenness and/or bankruptcy you can buy a colonne – a column with a tap at the bottom. These contain several litres.
Partly due to its location, partly to its friendly atmosphere and of course because the beers are good, Les Brasseurs is a popular place and while it can be noisy, we never found it raucous or unpleasant. I was surprised how nice it was as places so close to train stations can be a bit grubby and attract "undesirables"; there are no such concerns here. There are numerous screens dotted around the place for showing sporting events and I suspect that, having quite a cosmopolitan air, it probably attracts an international crowd, making it pretty noisy when big events are screened.
Recommended for beer lovers in particular but really as a place to grab a last beer before heading to the airport and home, or for a drink stop anytime of the day or evening.
Opening hours
Monday to Wednesday 11.00am to 1.00am
Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11.00am to 2.00am
Sunday 3.00pm to 1.00am
If you like the sound of Les Brasseurs but are visiting some other part of eastern Switzerland, there are branches in Lausanne, Nyon and Neuchatel.
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