lost horizon blackwell 2025 - wild ale port ba

The craft beer business is fast-paced and merciless. Breweries that have just landed a real hit can find themselves on the verge of collapse weeks later. Beer is a luxury item and not always at the top of consumers’ priorities. When times are tougher or money is tight for other reasons, highly specialized craft breweries and their brews, created with a great deal of love and time, often find themselves at a disadvantage. The Blackwell Brewery from Burgdorf, Switzerland, also fell victim to this negative trend. Before that, however, the team had launched a collaboration with the Buddelship Brewery from Hamburg. Blackwell no longer exists, but the collaborative work from this collaboration will remain with us – at least until the last bottle is emptied.

This collaboration brew is truly special for more than one reason: Lost Horizon Blackwell (named as a tribute to the Burgdorf brewery) is a wild ale fermented with a blend of wild yeasts and then aged for more than five years in port wine barrels. The yeast gives the beer funky undertones and a complex, fruity acidity with great presence, while the wooden barrel delivers notes of port wine, dark grapes, vanilla, and oak. A fine tipple that transforms a simple evening into a small celebration.

Farewell, Blackwell!