The “Ueli Bier” brewery is 50 years old. In 1974, the people of Basel stood up to the large breweries – with success.
They are called Aare Bier, Kitchen Brew or Monstein and are very trendy: small breweries have experienced a boom in recent years and have become an integral part of the Swiss beer landscape.
Such a development was unthinkable 50 years ago. Large breweries like Feldschlösschen or Warteck dominated the market and even formed a legal cartel – the so-called beer cartel. The result: Every restaurant and bar had a permanent beer supplier and the bar owners were not allowed to decide for themselves which brand was served.
Fischerstube did not want to accept the beer cartel
This didn’t sit well with a Basel doctor. Hans Jakob Nidecker opened the Fischerstube restaurant in 1974, which had previously been empty for a long time. The Fischerstube was also tied to the cartel and had to purchase beer from the Anker company in Frenkendorf BL.
The beginnings of the Fischerstube in 1974
1 / 3 Legend: Hans Jakob Nidecker (right) actually wanted to serve Warteck beer in his pub. But Warteck refused to deliver. Reason: The Fischerstube was tied to Anker beer by a cartel. zvg/Ueli Bier
2 / 3 Legend: Nidecker decided to brew his own beer. He set up a brewery in the Fischerstube on Rheingasse and sold the beer directly in the bar. zvg/Ueli Bier
3 / 3 Legend: On November 13, 1974 the time had come: the first Ueli beer flowed from the tap. This moment was celebrated accordingly. zvg/Ueli Bier
But Nidecker preferred to serve the local Warteck beer. But because Warteck refused to deliver the beer to the Fischerstube, Nidecker quickly decided to brew his own beer: the Ueli beer. It flowed from the tap for the first time on November 13th 50 years ago.
Legend: Managing director Adrian Baumgartner (left) with the first master brewer Anton Welti (middle) and the current master brewer Jürgen Pinke. zvg/Ueli Bier
«Mr. Nidecker was a freedom-loving person. What he did was courageous and also a financial risk,” remembers Anton Welti, the first and long-standing master brewer at Fischerstube. Welti brewed the beer himself in the Fischerstube. However, he tried out new varieties in the laundry room at home – not always to his wife’s liking, says Welti with a smile.
2000 year old recipe
The Ueli master brewer continually brought new varieties onto the market. He particularly remembers the “Tut-Anch-Ueli”. This beer was launched on the occasion of the large exhibition about the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun in the Basel Museum of Antiquities. “The beer was brewed according to a recipe that was discovered on a gravestone. A 2,000-year-old recipe that was still absolutely perfect.”
Legend: The range has become increasingly larger over the last 50 years. zvg/Ueli Bier
Over time, beer from Kleinbasel became more and more popular. The brewery in the Fischerstube soon reached its capacity limits and had to expand. A 100-meter-long underground beer pipeline was created from the brewery to a new bottling station in the neighborhood and since 2004 Ueli has also been brewing his beer in Lörrach, Germany.
A few years earlier, in 1992, the major Swiss breweries dissolved their cartel. The pressure became too great, including from discounters like Denner, who brewed their own beer and fought against the dominance of the breweries all the way to the federal court.
New competition for Ueli
However, the dissolution of the cartel also meant greater competitive pressure for Ueli beer – so the local brewery Unser Bier was founded in Basel in 1998. Meanwhile, there are also numerous other small breweries in the Basel region that produce so-called craft beers.
The current Ueli managing director Adrian Baumgartner has no problem with this development: “We are all doing well and consumers today are more likely to choose a regional beer instead of an international brand.”
We continue to make beer for Basel.
Ueli Bier should continue to be a local beer, emphasizes Baumgartner. Expansion in Switzerland is also not an issue. «We continue to make beer for Basel. And: The people of Valais should make a beer for the people of Valais or the people of Graubünden for the people of Graubünden.”
