Berlin / Hamburg / Lubeck

Beer Travel
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Before going to MBCC this year, my wife and I are going to go to Berlin, Hamburg and Lubeck for the previous week. I understand that Lubeck is not much of a beer city, but does have one nice brewery that will likely be closed on the day that we will be there.

As for Berlin, here is what we have planned/considered:

  1. KASCHK by BRLO
  2. Protokoll Taproom
  3. Muted Horn
  4. Two Fellas
  5. Vagubund
  6. Biererai Bar
  7. Brauhaus Neulich

And for Hamburg, we are considering the following:

  1. Malto
  2. Schanzenhofe / Beyond Beer
  3. Hopper Brau
  4. UberQuell
  5. The Baby Goat Barn
  6. Groninger

Is there anything on this list that we are missing that is a definite must-go? Is there anything that we should be deleting? I know that RB places isn’t what it once was, and I relied on it some here. In any case, any advice would be appreciated. If any Germans want to grab a beer, I would not be opposed.

thanks all!

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Not done Hamburg for perhaps 8 or 9 years so won’t pass comment … ditto Lubeck but can’t imagine it’s got much better (as you allude to).

For Berlin the one bar I would be heading to (above some others in your list) is …

Bräugier Taproom Ostkreuz • RateBeer

They have another taproom I haven’t visited but the above has more taps if that’s your thing.

It’s right outside Ostkreuz station (big transit hub with good connections) and on my visit I reckon I was averaging 3.65/7 on the 15 or so beers I had.

There’s a few other venues near it … Strassenbrau a stones throw away and the old skool Hops and Barley in the same area, plus another I think … check the map.

Any of these are kicking out better beer than Nuelich, wouldn’t bother with them.

I would also prioritise Braugier above BRLO and Vagabund (if you are time limited), not that theres anything wrong with those two, I just think the beers were far better overall at Braugier.

One place I’ve not made it to on my recent Berlin visits is the Big Brewdog facility, the old Stone place, as it’s a bit of a schlep from the centre. However it’s supposed to be an impressive venue and BD Berlin (separate brewer to the main BD in Scotland) are kicking out some decent beers right now … we get them in the UK and I always go to them above the main BD brewery these days when in their bars.

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Pretty good choices. But i would skip Groninger in Hamburg. A must visit is Bar Oorlam. The Taproom of Buddelship. One of my absolut favorites in Hamburg. Always a fantastic selection and oldschool alternative Hamburg vibe.

And Beyond Beer is not @ Schanzenhöfe. Thats the location of the Ratsherrn bottle shop and their Bar Altes Mädchen. Both ok choices. Beyond Beer is few minutes away and worth the walk! They have the best bottle selection in Hamburg and 4-5 taps as well!

For Berlin I would also recommend Strassenbräu! Hops& Barley is nice as well. Muted Horn by far the best Craft Beer Bar in Berlin.

Brew Dog in Mariendorf is an impressive huge location. The serve the Berlin brewed stuff as well as beers frommScotland and guest beer. Not as good as it was when Stone had 50+ taps. And its pretty far out. But if you have enough time its worth the trip.

Have fun! Would love to hear afterwards.

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Thank you I am dropping Groninger. I actually did have Bar Oorlam, but I just did not have the right icon.

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Thank you. Neulich is out and Braugier is in.

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And i forgot the Astra St. Pauli Brewery @ the Reeperbahn. They have up to five taps only available at this location. And if you are into live music, best spot Molotow, next door.

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Just round the corner from Braugier is the HOME Bar on Neue Bahnhofstr. I recommend chilling there for a beer or three. I was there in May 23.

Lubeck is hard work beer wise, October 2018 was my last and only visit, Im Alten Zolln was a pleasant little bar back then.

Hamburg, I concur about Bar Oorlam but again not been since 2018.

Enjoy your trip.

<*))))))><

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Is that place still open? I went loads of times to it’s previous location but last I heard it was being threatened with closure

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Yes, the Molotow is still alive! The got evicted until july but it caused huge protest. Thousands got together in december for a protest march through Hamburg. Until now, the Molotow got an extension of time until the end of the year. We will see what happens next. So go there while its open. Molotow must stay!

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I spent most of my time last week in the Friedrichshain-Ostkreuz area - a hub of multiple nice places to visit.

Definitely do the combination of Straßenbräu Taproom - Bräugier Ostkreuz - HOME Bar just by the Ostkreuz station - in no particular order.

Straßenbrau’s always looking to improve, had a great Sticke from them and some other tasty stuff, a tasty helles and some others. Bräugier is hyped for its hoppy beers, and actually had a pretty nice helles, but the pils and export they had on tap were truly sub par - and the fresh NE they had just then just a tad rough, but the Moersleutel/Ritual Lab collab pastry stout was class. Both places were pretty nice to hang out too. Sadly, I didn’t have the time to visit HOME, skipped it to hang out with friends.

The KrĂĽger Eck in the neighborhood is a fun but sadly smokey dive bar featuring beers from rare Berlin micros/brewpubs. Maybe okay to visit as something different.

Didn’t feel Hops & Barley changed any from 14 years ago when I visited it. The Berlin folk and frequent visitors are hyping their lagers, but eh, the Pils I had was so-so, though the hype is mainly for the Bernstein and Dunkel. The ales were okay, the Pale Ale quite fresh. Should-visit in combination with others.

Schalander has a nice Biergarten, and the two beers we had were very well crafted lagers (I think the Helles and the seasonal Märzen - which I also stumbled upon 14 years ago when it was their first ever seasonal at their old location. Skippable, but if in the area on a crawl…

Protokoll is an obvious must when in the area, 24 taps - mix of their own, nice German lagers and modern styles and imports, though I have yet to become a big fan of their own beers.

Along the Frankfurter Allee, there are two places of interest, the Brewdog Berlin Friedrichshain which has a ton of taps, mostly common Brewdog stuff, for fairly much, but I didn’t dig the vibe somewhat, too popular in a way, too much buffalo sauce in the air and so on. The tiny fancy pizza & beer place Salami Social Club was fun - the pizza is allegedly very good and it has something like 8 taps, including their own, brewed at Strassenbräu I think - I liked the basil sour!

Anywho, Muted Horn can be a night for itself, fantastic place on a level of its own - and very combinable with the small but really well curated Lager Lager - where I had the world-class Mönchsambacher Weihnachtsbock on tap in great shape. The tap list was great - a helles from Potsdam, bit odd but drinkable AF, then Taras Boulba, a Lichtenhainer from Belgium, a great Schwarzbier from Buddelship… you can see that whoever’s selecting that knows what they were doing.

Also, I’ve heard nothing but praise for Birra and some others but sadly haven’t visited it yet. There’s time, Berlin’s but 4-4:30 hours away from me. :smiley:

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Oh, and keep well in mind that many/most places open after 17 - many working till very late and adapt to that perhaps if you can/want to.

That means you can do the touristy stuff in the mornings/early afternoons and combine it with the early-opening outliers perhaps, and then cruise from place to place as they start to open in the afternoon.

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A major problem at our last visit to Hamburg! We enjoyed our stay to much in several places and did not have enough time to do our planned pub crawl.

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I haven’t been in Berlin for quite some time so won’t comment that section.

I was in Hamburg like 2y ago and my memory goes like that:
Bar Oorlam - absolutely must visit place. It’s a bit out of center, but was worth every step.
BrewDog St. Pauli - maybe one of the nicest Brewdog bars I’ve ever been. Good selection, good service.
ÜberQuell - place was somewhat busy, but that doesn’t excuse poor service and quite large number of beers not being available. Not the best experience. Side story: I came from Reeperbahn via some strange side street, lots of stairs (basically straightest route from metro) and never seen such a concentration of drug dealers per in my life. That was scary experiment and wouldn’t recommend.

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Thanks for the advice. As for drug dealers, I live in Philadelphia, so I am not too worried haha.