INCIDER – This multi-award winning Swiss Cider company will be the headline act at a great beer festival in Liestal on Saturday 10th May. Tickets are just CHF5, if you get in early and book online (Ticket link is at the end of this article).

There will be 18 breweries and three food trucks at the festival which opens at noon and will finish at 10pm.

One of the many perks of travelling around Switzerland is that people keep giving me their alcoholic drinks to try!  I know – it’s a hard life.  Last week, 10 bottles of cider dropped into my lap with the sentence, ‘You must try these Bruce’.  And so, I did.

INCIDER has alcohol ‘in’ it and OUTCIDER is ‘withOUT’ the alcohol.  Clever that eh?

I do admire branding when it’s that catchy.  They even put a ‘G’ in front and came up with GINCIDER.  I’m hoping to get some, but don’t tell my wife.

When Arwed, the founder of the business went to England, he travelled through Hereford, Somerset, Cornwall and Kent.  It was there that he fell in love with the idea of one day owning his own cider company.  But of course, everyone needs some help and a year later Fiona jumped on board.  Together, they run and own this wonderful, award-winning business, which is now entering its 5th year.  On 7th February, this year – they won several new accolades at the Swiss Cider Awards in Switzerland, picking up a GOLD Award for their – ‘Cloudy Apple’.

It came first for taste!

It has not always been smooth sailing, and this is often a common and challenging factor for start-ups.

Can you imagine, they started the business, set up deals to supply restaurants and hotels and a couple of months later we all went into that Corona ‘lock-down’ period.  I asked them how they dealt with that challenge.

“It was hard work,” commented Arwed.  Fiona added, “If we could start again, we would start with the online shop first.”  Luckily, both had a strong desire to succeed, and their perseverance soon paid off.  You can taste it in Fiona’s favourite ‘Met Cider’.  At 6.5% alcohol it certainly gets the party moving.  They make one tipple called ‘Apple Pie’ that you can drink hot or cold.  It’s novel and I must admit, I quite liked it.  Then there’s an excellent pear cider and a passionfruit infused cider and lots of non-alcoholic options.  

Arwed and Fiona are both Swiss, in their early thirties and the epitome of young and outgoing entrepreneurs with a passion for their product.  Arwed has tried (purely in the name of research) a staggering 500 different types of cider!

Make sure you try the ‘Met Cider’ – it’s the best cider I have ever tried!

Liestal is in the canton of Basel-Landschaft.  Arwed and Fiona officially invite you to their very own beer, cider and food festival on Saturday 10th May.  There will be 18 breweries and plenty of food.  Just lock in the date.  You can’t really turn down an invite from the Swiss.  It would be rude to say ‘I can’t make it, got plans to go hiking…’  It’s a pretty little town and just 17km from Basel.

We hope you enjoy the cider.

  • Bierfestival Liestal date: 10th May 2025 (Mainly an outdoor / street-style event)
TICKETS – Bierfestival Liestal

This article was written by Bruce Anderson for SwissMeUp.com and the many cider appreciating people in Switzerland.

Looking for wine? We’ve been to Vinorama in Laupen and tried their amazing wine selection. Get in touch with Juliana and Nicolas. They speak English and have thousands of bottles of wine in their cellars. Their French reds are exceptionally good!

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