Bottle courtesy of anstei. Bottle was deliberately left out of the fridge for a short while to get the right drinking temperature. Hazy dark amber color with big tan head. Aroma is spicy grains, Schwarzbrotkruste (dark bread crust), with hops that give an artificial lemon flavour, but mixed together in a rather delicate way. Taste is more Schwarzbrot, the citrus flavours become more orange-ish, bitterness becomes more prominent and the finish is spicy and bitter, more herbal, with marmalade aftertaste that sticks around rather long. Medium-bodied, the carbonation is also medium, the mouthfeel is a bit foamy and silky, definitely some wheat texture noticeable. I can imagine this being a great Real Ale. [took a fork and stirred out the carbonation] The artificial citrus hops go back, now they’re more cat-pissy, the rye becomes more prominent, with some rubber. More yeasty, better balanced, mostly because the detergent-like hoppiness is gone. The body now feels a little bit too watery. What to learn from this: It’s actually possible to bottle Real Ale.

Bottle, courtesy of anstei. Dark amber-brown color with big beige head. Aroma is berry fruits, cat piss, coffee, caramel. Taste is dry, dark bread, more berries, caramel, juicy, bitter finish. Carbonation is low to medium, creamy mouthfeel. Nice, but could be more pronounced. It’s a bit too juicy for my liking, but still very good. As it opens up, some more earthiness comes in there and a unique character element I usually get in Real Ales. The low carbonation fits that.

Bottle courtesy of anstei. Hazy orange color with big white head. Aroma is grassy hops with some mango, a hint of a wheatiness including bananas and grainy. Green apples? With fantasy. Also has a bit of a Belgian yeast feeling. Smells like a Belgian Blonde with some extra hops and less sweetness for me. Taste is honey and hints of vanilla, wheat, straw, and grassy hops. Silky mouthfeel from the wheat. Semi-dry bitter finish. Medium carbonation. I like the way Sottobisio brings a nice silky mouthfeel together with a great and subtle carbonation, although it’s sometimes at the cost of having wheat where wheat does not completely fit in. An easy sipper which is interestingly confusing for a Swiss brew - A dry Belgian Pale Ale is probably the best way to describe it. It has a little bit of a Saison touch, which I like.

Bottle, courtesy of anstei. Orange color with creamy white head. Aroma is resinous hops, a bit of a caramely maltiness, not too fruity, but there is peach and grapefruit there. Taste is light caramel, resins, bitter finish, with light fruity notes as well, pink grapefruit and peaches. Bov describes the mouthfeel accurately with the term "velvety", Sottobisio really does a nice job at achieving this texture, but besides that, it’s a fairly standard Swiss IPA, leaning more towards the old world style. Not a bad one, though!

Fresh bottle (a few weeks old), courtesy of Marco Buraschli, many thanks! Brown-amber color with a tan head. Aroma is lots of juicy tropical fruits and that typical Schwarzbrot maltiness that Swiss IPAs often have. Taste is bubblegum, juicy fruits, a mentholy yeast freshness (which might have made me think of rye last time), Schwarzbrotkruste, herbal-earthy hops and a very late heavy medicinal bitterness. Medium carbonation, soft mouthfeel. Much different from the half-year old bottle, but I wouldn’t consider it "better" - one the one hand, it’s much juicier and less grassy, but the bitterness is a bit too medicinal now, taking away balance. 8-3-8-3-15 Bottle (approx. a half year old) courtesy of anstei. Brown-amber color with big tan head. Aroma is, for my palate, very typical of Swiss DIPAs: rye-ish maltiness, grassy hoppiness, a bit herbal, resinous hops, sweeter juicy fruits as well. Taste is juicy hops, schwarzbrotkruste, a rye-like spiciness, grassy bitterness. The mouthfeel is quite soft, the carbonation is medium, but also soft. Aftertaste of a grassy bitterness and juicy fruits. Good! 7-3-8-4-15.

Bottle from Beers’n’more. A rather strong and hoppy amber, lots of red. Very bitter. Still has the malt backbone, but hides well behind the strong bitterness.

Tap at Erzbierschof Zurich. Roasty aroma, dark bitter taste. Some liquorice. Quite soft. Lingering finish. An easy imperial stout, so to say.

Malzig hopfige Beginn, bitter grasig, deutliche Getreidenoten. Der Hopfen bleibt intensiv und wird grasiger, deutlich bitter, süß. Noten von Roggen. Langer blumig grasiger Nachgeschmack. 12/10/12/12/8/12

From tap. Pours pitch black with a dense, chocolate brown and creamy head. Aroma is roasted malty. Breadish and chocolate malty. Bitter, rich, chocolate, breadish and roasted. Dry and bitter. Roasted and slight herbal. Dry and bitter finish.

Tap at Erzbierschof Zurich. A decent and well-but-not-overdone IIPA. Some grassy hops, fair bitterness and sweetness. Nice.