I am going to Berlin with some friends at 23 and 24 of february.
Some good suggestions?
Festivals. Rare breweries and beers. beer tastings.
Ok we are tourists…and we can not drink beer all day.
Any nice rare suggestions for tourist stuff?
Most of us have been in Berlin before, so Brandenburger Tor, Checpiont Charlie etc has been ticked off.
Some of the most common local breweries have also been ticked by me, but not the others
Have been at Hofbrauhaus. Are there any other good beer halls in Berlin?
Take the ferry from Wannsee to Alt Kladow. It’s included on your ‘day pass’ with VVB (Zone AB). Not sure how often it runs in the winter, but it’s a lovely way to see a bit of Berlin away from the crowds. You can get to Wannsee on the S-Bahn or on a bus through the Grunewald, again another quiet part of Berlin. From Alt Kladow get a bus to Spandau and visit the brewpub there before heading back into the city on the S-Bahn.
It totally depends on what sort of beer you want to drink and what sort of place you want to visit. Berlin has a bit of everything.
There are several “craft” beer bars where you’ll be able to try interesting local beers plus several European ones: Muted Horn, Monterey Bar and Hopfenreich are a few of those. The BRLO brewpub also has a nice range of house and guest beers and some creative smoked food/BBQ dishes.
The best bar for a range of top-quality traditional German beers is Foersters Feine Biere in Steglitz. Well worth the detour.
I like to bring guests to Foersters, and/or to the Muted Horn plus the nearby Klunkerkranich, a rooftop bar with great views over the city and fresh Pilsner Urquell tankbier.
Almost forgot to mention the Stone brewery. It’s a large and impressive place, pretty good food, and I think the most taps in Germany (60). Not the cheapest though. And it’s a hike.
When you’re in the city center for tourist stuff, here is something to get you started:
Vagabund actually has one of the best bottle lists in town… But you’re right in that they don’t bottle their own beers. Which are usually very good.
If you do to go Wedding, the shop Hopfen & Malz (it’s Berlin, you can drink on the sidewalk if you want) and the Eschenbräu brewpub are also well worth a visit.
Was just there on Thursday night. Drank Schönramer Hell, Knoblach Lagerbier & Knoblach Bockbier, all in terrific condition and beautifully poured. It’s a great place.
Many thanks for that Joe. As it happens I will be in Berlin for a week from this Friday for the first time in a few years and was quite excited by the range of new beer places since I last visited. Until I saw the opening times!
I was getting started on the lengthy and tedious process of checking the opening times for all the worthwhile places and trying construct some itineraries to take in the places that are open during the day. Since I’ve been to Berlin several times and done most of the obvious tourist stuff I was facing a rather large void in things to do before the evening. This helps a lot!
One thing. Any chance of expanding the list somewhat? There’s enough there to keep me going for a couple of days but it looks a bit thin for a whole week. Or would I be wasting my time in trawling the lists for additional daytime options? If so I think I’m going to have to find some day trips out of the city (bearing in mind I’ve been to most of the longer established places round the fringes before)…
Might be able to piece it together. Rule of thumb is that places in Mitte, tourist spots and restaurants have a greater chance of being open. If it is hip and specializes in beer, it is more likely to open in the late afternoon/early evening, especially on weekdays.
Day trips are never a bad idea though. Potsdam has two rather good brewpubs. Leipzig is very achievable by train for a Gose day out. Hamburg too.
Thanks Joe. I’ve “done” Potsdam before and visited two brewpubs there, although I see there are now three listed on RateBeer (unfortunately I can’t remember which ones I’ve been to). Leipzig was definitely on my radar - provided the “no booze during the day” ethos doesn’t prevail there too. Otherwise, I think I’ll have a trawl through the “Boozers/Unspoilt Taverns” category in my old copy of 80 Beers, which I’ve fortunately just unearthed. Although I have no big aversion to whiling away a few hours going through the craft stuff I could get at home in Brewdog, it’s not exactly what I go to Berlin for.
Laboratory flasks, eh? That’s… new. Pretty sure I drank from a willibecher last time.
Chris, if you’re in that area and want a good “boozer/unspoilt tavern,” check out Victoria Stadler (not far from Strassenbräu). Proper corner dive that has the full range of Schönramer beers (which are excellent). And have a Pils there whatever else you do. Best Pils in Germany for my money.
