Welcome to Berlin

A new craft beer in a new town

City Hotel, Kurfürstendamm

Last week I flew to Berlin for my second visit in three years. The previous trip, with my wife Charita, got off to a bad start. We had just come from four nights in Prague, a beautiful city that we both loved. We travelled by train, a long, disappointingly dull journey and arrived, tired, on the Saturday evening. After a meal in a nearby steak house, that was us done for the night. We got up the next day ready to experience the city and .... 

Nada!

We hadn't realised that virtually nothing would be open on the Sunday. As a consequence we managed one museum, a large flea market and a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. I did squeeze in a couple of pub visits in the next couple of days, to the Hops and Barley in Friedrichshain and the Vagabund Brauerei in Wedding, but it was clear that we didn't have enough time to do justice to such a large and fascinating city. There was more, much more to see so, with a week's leave left to take before the end of March, and with Charita unable to travel, I went back on my own and I made sure this time that none of the days that I spent there was a Sunday!

I went armed with two lists; one of local breweries, most of which had taprooms or the equivalent, and one of bars. Both lists were lengthy and I didn't think there was much chance of getting round very many from each, especially as I was hoping to avoid lunchtime drinking.

The Pfefferbrau dining room and bar

My first evening trip was to Pfefferbräu Brauerei, in the Prenzlauer Berg area of the city. It took me a while to find it because it was in Schönhauser Allee. You'd think I'd know better, wouldn't you, having studied German, but I naively assumed that allee was the same as the English alley. Hell, no! Schönhauser Allee must be a good three miles in length; it's a main road and, just to add to the confusion, for part of its length it runs parallel with another road (they run either side of the U-bahn line) and as there was no street sign visible I had no idea which road I was on. And no, Google Maps was not much help here.

When I did finally find it Pfefferbräu turned out to be a long, pleasant, brightly lit room with a large dining area at one end, a theatre at the other and a bar in the middle. I sat opposite the bar, ordered char fillet and asked the waitress which beer would go best with it. I was expecting her to recommend a pilsner - not my favourite style - but no. She suggested their Prenz'l Pale, a full-bodied fruity number, weighing in at a respectable 5.6%. They did go well together and while the presentation of my meal was a bit nouvelle cuisine the char was tasty.

I followed that up with another of Pfefferbräu's brews, their Flower Power session IPA (4.7%). This was a terrific beer. Good depth of flavour and with an abundance of floral hoppiness. Very nice indeed and, if you're ever in Berlin, one not to miss.

After my various wanderings, and journeys back and forth along the U-bahn, I decided to head back to the hotel. I did have it in mind to go for a nightcap having noticed, as I'd left out earlier in the evening, a craft beer bar that wasn't on my list a mere two doors down from where I was staying!

Craft Feuer, Kurfürstendamm

Called Craft Feuer it boasted an impressive list of eighteen different brews, most of the taps so high on the wall behind the bar that they could only be reached via a stepladder. I opted for Maple Walnut Stout (7.8%), from local brewery Bierfabrik. If you're a fan of dark beer, and you like the sound of maple and walnut as ingredients, you would love this beer. It was the perfect antidote to the sub-zero temperatures outside. Handy too that my walk back to the hotel took me all of two minutes!

Station to station

BRLO

It's hard to imagine getting around a strange town these days without a heavy reliance on Google Maps. The other essential in Berlin, I found, was the U-bahn app. Yes, I know, the buses and the trams give you more of a chance to admire the place as you drive past shops/parks/monuments und so weiter, but I just found that the sheer convenience of having my list of places to see (or drink in) accompanied by the nearest station made life so much easier. It also helped that quite a few of the bars or drinking holes were right by U-bahn stops.

BRLO, an outfit that I'd read about in Ferment magazine, was housed in two converted shipping containers right by Gleisdreieck station. My first attempt to get in there was on the first night. The place was rammed and I was greeted by a woman dressed from head to foot in casual black and holding a clipboard. My name wasn't on the list and I wasn't getting in. It was a private party.

I went back the following night, having been assured that there would be no party happening, only to find the joint still stuffed full of people. I wandered in. The place had the same converted factory ambience that Brewdog's somewhat soulless establishment in Brighton has: same massively high ceiling, every seat taken, a deafening hum of conversation and barely anywhere to stand, much less sit. I took note of the large list of beers available and left, unsure at that point whether I would bother to return.

Instead I headed back to Schönhauser Allee and the Circus Hostel. Close to Pfefferbräu, it also had an onsite brewer, and had come recommended by Rob, one of my Brighton beery chums. He also asked if I'd tried Kaschk? I hadn't but it was on my list so when the Circus'  in-house Pilsner (5%) turned out to be fairly unremarkable I jumped back on the U-bahn and headed for Rosa Luxembourg Platz.

Kaschk

You know those pubs and bars where, as soon as you walk through the door, you feel right at home? That was Kaschk. It was small, it was dim, there was good music - the Kinks - discernible over the tumult of voices and there were places to sit. The bill of fare behind the bar listed twelve varied beers including two, I noticed, from Buxton. Since I wasn't there to drink English beers that left ten to choose from.  In the end I went for a tasting tray which featured two local brews : Lenny's IPA (5.1%) and Berliner Berg's Irish Stout (4.4%), plus a sour (BBQ Peach and Apricot, 4.7%) from Barcelona brewery Edge and Flamenco Roja (6.6%), a Flanders Red collaboration between two US breweries, Uncommon and Highwater.

I enjoyed them all. I'm still feeling my way with sours but I generally like them without any, thus far, standing out. Flanders Red wasn't a style I knew but it too had a sour kick. With the stout and the IPA I was on surer ground and these two were my favourites. It's hard to read any article or blog about Berlin beer without coming across Lenny. He's an example of an increasingly common craft beer phenomenon, the gipsy brewer, ie he doesn't have his own set-up but brews with friends. His IPA was a fine floral peppery brew. I decided to have a full glass to finish.

Scents of stout

Dinner at Brauhaus Lemke am Schloẞ

I began the third evening with the most classically German meal of the trip and for it I trekked out to Brauhaus Lemke's Charlottenburg site (they have three). Yes, those are German sausages you can see, accompanied by sauerkraut and fried potatoes. I asked for advice on which of their many beers would pair best with the dish and was recommended their Viennese dark lager (5.4%). This turned out to be pretty bland, like a very thin English mild. The best thing that I can say about it was that it didn't interfere with the robust flavours of the meal.

My next beer was also from Lemke although I didn't realise it at the time. I went from Charlottenburg to Kreuzberg and a bar called Hopfenreich. This one took a bit of finding and had me wandering the backstreets. These particular mean streets house some of Berlin's best known clubs, including the legendary SO 36. But I wasn't there for the bangin' tunes, I was there for the bangin' beers. 

Hopfenreich was larger and brighter than Kaschk and it had a longer bill of fare. I ordered a glass of Hopfenreich IPA #002 (5.5%) and then began to wonder who brewed it. Untapp'd  seemed to suggest it was brewpub Hops and Barley but when I asked the bartender he told me that it was Lemke. Whoever it was it was a good beer, enjoyably fruity and moreish. But I was on a mission to try as many different beers as I could so I next ventured a black IPA, this one from Hamburg's Buddelships brewery, and drolly named Mr T (6.5%).

I remembered reading, not too long ago, someone's opinion that as a style black IPA was sooooo over! Not for me, my friend. The ones that I've tried have a recognisably dry, sharply hoppy character so while this beer had a hefty malty backbone the dryness was there at the finish. I liked it. The last beer of the night was back at Craft Feuer. This time I chose another Hamburg brew, Private Landbrauerei's Schönramer IPA. Although a robust 7.8%, I thought its fruity taste then harshly hoppy finish too reminiscent of a lot of run-of-the-mill British and American IPAs I'd been drinking back at home.

The secret life of a great beer

Eden!

The one major brewing centre that I hadn't yet visited was the enormous new out-of-town Stone Berlin empire. It had been the centrepiece of the Ferment issue, published two years earlier, all about the Berlin beer scene, which I'd scrutinised carefully before my trip. There were a few reasons for my lack of enthusiasm for a schlep out to Mariendorf. One was the fact that I had drunk many of Stone's beers already and wasn't finding it difficult to track them down in Brighton. Another was the fact that I wanted to see what echt Berliners had made of the craft beer revolution. But the final reason had to do with its popularity. The day before, I had googled the Stone Berlin website in the middle of the afternoon to discover that even at 3pm I could expect an hour's wait for a table. With my BRLO experience still fresh in the mind I decided that I didn't fancy a trek out to the 'burbs only to find that, once again, I wasn't getting in.

Instead I got on with my shopping. I had bought gifts for most of my family but hadn't yet managed to find a suitable T-shirt for my 7-year old grandson, Eden. I tried the Berliner Mall in Französische Strasse but found it much too upmarket. So too was the shop in the picture! Instead I did what I would have done if Charita had been with me - I headed for the markets.

The first one I tried took me back to Charlottenburg, and the Straẞe des 17 Juni flea market, which we'd found quite productive on our previous trip. But that had been a Sunday. Presumably the flea markets are rammed on Sundays because nothing else is open? This, however, was a Saturday and barely half the stall spaces were filled. There were no clothes stalls and, disappointingly, no vinyl either. The next market I tried was a let-down clothes-wise but not in another key respect. This was Markthalle Neun, back in Kreuzberg. It had no clothes stalls and no nicknacks, just food and drink. Conveniently, and not coincidentally, the drink included the tap room of another brewery on my list, Heidenpeters.

Bill of fare at Heidenpeters Tap Room

My problem was that it was still mid-afternoon and, as mentioned earlier in the blog, I had intended to avoid early drinking. I was also aware that, apart from a chocolate bar, I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. But that list of beers did look tempting. I decided that it made sense to avoid the really strong brews but, having tried a Flanders Red at Kaschk a couple of nights earlier, I opted to try the Orange Flandern (6%).

It was one of those apocalyptic moments. This was a beautifully balanced beer that began as a sour but then plunged into a fruitiness that didn't just evoke orange but also cider, toffee and even red wine. It was fantastic. I was so impressed that I was tempted to try another of their beers but was reluctant to drink more on an empty stomach. I also wasn't sure what beer could possibly follow that one. 

And besides, I had T-shirts to buy.

Not clubbing

Supping BRLO German IPA at ... er ... BRLO!

By the time I'd found Eden a T-shirt, and treated myself to a final night T-bone steak, it was getting on for half past eight. In a Berlin clubber's day, of course, that's around breakfast time. But clubbing wasn't what I was about. I was after a last night of quality beer in a groovy environment and, since I didn't have the option of returning to Markthalle Neun - it closed at 6 - I decided to head back to Kaschk. Maybe it was too early on a Saturday but it didn't have the same buzz as on my previous visit. I stayed for one - a so-so Wet Hop APA (6%) from US brewer Latitude 42 and then headed off on my travels.

I was suddenly tired. I'd done a lot of walking over the four days and now I felt all of the 65 years I was about to celebrate next day. Maybe a last one at Craft Feuer followed by an early night? Then I remembered that the train was about to pull into Gleisdreieck station. One last try for a beer at BRLO?

It may have been 10 o'clock on a Saturday - boom time in the bars of Brighton - but BRLO was quiet. I got a beer, I got a seat and I got a chance to look around. The temperature was -7C outside so I went for their Baltic Porter (7.8%) - the perfect antidote. There were quite a few people still there, and opposite the bar was the large kitchen. I  watched the staff clearing up and idly wondered what the food was like. I also wondered what their other beers were like. There certainly were a lot of them - stouts, porters, saisons, goses (gosen?), pales, IPAs and weiβbiers. I settled on their German IPA (7%), a decent fruity number, if a bit over-hopped.

And that was that. Berlin, you spoiled me. The next day I flew home, having changed from a 64 year old drinker to a 65 year old one. But haven't you heard? Life begins at 65!

If you're planning a trip to Berlin, and its beers, below is a list of all the venues I've mentioned. Let me know what you think. And if you find some others that I ought to know about - let me know about them too! You can either leave a comment on this blog or you can get in touch on social media:

Twitter : @goateephil
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/goateephilbeer

Prost!

The bars
Hops and Barley, Wühlichstr. 22/23. (U Ostkreuz)
Vagabund Brauerei, Antwerpener Str. 3 (U Wedding)
Pfefferberg Brauerei, Schönhauser Allee 176 (U Senefelder Str)
Craft Feuer, Kurfürstendamm 175 (U Adenauerplatz)
BRLO, Schöneberger Str. 16 (U Gleisdreieck)
Circus Hostel, Weinbergsweg 1 (U Senefelder Str)
Kaschk, Linienstr. 1 (U Rosa Luxembourg Pl)
Brauhaus Lemke am Schloẞ, Luisenplatz 1 (U Richard Wagner Pl)
Hopfenreich, Sorauer Str. 31 (U Schlesisches Tor)
Heidenpeters @ Markthalle Neun, Eisenbahnstr. 42/43 (U Gorlitzer Bhf)

Also
Ferment magazine : https://www.fermentmagazine.com/