Berlin: A True Beer City

I have been to many Cities across Europe and the German capital is the most unique, while many Cities like Barcelona and London seem to be thick condensed Urban jungles; Berlin is spread out and open giving it a relaxing atmosphere. One thing that will forever be linked with Germany is the beer and the craft beer scene in Berlin is a strong hot bed of excellent beers and bars.

Day 1 - We arrived at a damp Berlin Schonefeld just after 3 and with maintenance work on the usually reliable German railway, it took us a bit longer to get to the hotel in Mitte. As Chelsea were playing and my brother is a big fan we had to hunt down a big screen TV which led us to find The Kilkenny, an Irish pub directly underneath Hackescher Markt Station where the Warsteiner poured throughout. Having had it in a number of times in bottle and on draft in the UK, the quality as expected was so much better it was clean cut, crisp and flavoursome - but I knew this was a trip only to get better and it did with a short trip up the road to Brauhaus Lemke which I had a delicious house IPA, sadly the bar staff were delicate from the night before and decided to shut early which was a shame because that was one of the best beers of the trip.

Day 2 - The day started a bit bleak and rain fell being a typical tourist around the Victory Column, Soviet Memorial, Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate before the need of some food and a beer which took me to the highly recommended DasMeisterstuck. As you walked in a huge scent of burning wood and smoked meats smacked you in the face with an extensive list of beers. I asked for a West Coast IPA, I was however given a red beer called Wuiderer which was actually a good beer so I can't bash them too much just not what I wanted and was the most expensive place in the trip. We continued to be stereotypical tourists and walked the majority of the East Berlin Gallery with fantastic artwork, the legs grew weary and another beer stop was on the cards - sadly the walk to Hops & Barley killed them off so I made the most of the beers on offer - a really well rounded fruity C-Minor IPA from an American company called Titletown. I then moved on to the house beers called 'Friedrichshainer' sampling there Pilsner, Dunkel & the standout being the Wheat beer, a really typical wheat beer, however, the freshness really made it come alive. The day finished off with my highlight of the holiday I wanted to do the most and that was a session at the recently opened Mikkeller bar. Looking at the board my eyes lit up and much of my cash crossing into the till as 10 individual beers were consumed. With the highlights being the fantastic Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, an old favourite in The Beer of Milk and Honey and Beer Geek Flat White - dark beers really are Mikkeller's feather in the cap. The thing I love about the Danish legends is their willing to experiment and be different, sometimes it works like the AHHH BA White Wine which is the AHHH beer fermented in White wine barrels it really adds a more acidic note which refreshes the taste buds; however some do not work like the Cucumber Berliner Weisse which was watered down vinegar, yet again in a strange way does have it's place in the palate cleansing drinks. Sadly leaving at 1 am, we missed the last S-Bahn meaning walking over 5.5km back to the hotel.

Hops and Barley

Day 3 - Following the walk in the early hours my body was dying, then as I traipsed around Museum Island the thoughts to the night action and sitting in one excellent pub, drinking through the menu sounded ideal. Failing to gain a place on the Kegelbahn at Tante Lisbeth we had to make do with just a pint of Pilsner Urquell having had it in Prague I have my standards high, this really was of a good quality so not all was lost. A short walk we arrived at that one excellent pub I craved, it was at Hopfenreich - what a brilliant pub this was, greeted with the hedgehog mascot it was all so very Berlin. I started Scandinavian with halves of Shock Series !!PA Citra & Galaxy by Danish giants To OL and a delightfully juicy beer in the form of Passion Pale Ale by Poppels of Sweden. My brain then slapped me and said get on the local beer and I fully obliged with selections from Bierfabrik, Haffner, Schoppe, Buddelship and Spent Brewers Collective all of which very good - with Bierfabrik's Maple Walnut Stout really standing out from the crowd. I finished off the night with a trip to the States and the big boys of the menu - starting off with a really typical excellent DIPA with strong notes of citrus and pine called DirtWolf by Victory Brewing. The final drink was the amazing Double Bastard Ale, the bigger brother of 'Arrogant Bastard', the malt and hops beating your mouth to death and you can not help but love this 11% beauty.

Mikkeller Berlin

Day 4 - The last day is always a bummer, the feeling of coming back to normality and the usual, but this did not stop us in getting the most out of the day. The weather was beautiful with sun beaming with clouds few and far between, a trip to the idyllic town of Potsdam really made the last day a very pleasurable one. We then had an appointment to the top of the Reichstag dome, with this a beer up during the day was off the cards; Following the walk around the dome, a trip to the Kolsch House down the road for authentic German food and the freshest Gaffel Kolsch straight from the ever pumping barrel of the ale. It is worth to note that the locals in there had a tray of the small 20cl glasses instead of us gluttons downing the 40cl glasses, at my guess to make the beer as fresh as possible which is a tip to myself and others to do in future.

Hopfenreich

I loved Berlin, it was really clean, friendly, comfortable which for a major capital City is a rare thing. The food was good, the beer even better and I am very certain I will make a return trip in the future, hopefully with more sunshine than clouds. I would give a left arm for as good a bar as Hopfenreich back home, I would live there. Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland.

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