Aufsturz

Bar, Eatery

Oranienburger Straße 67
Berlin, 10117
Germany

(49) 30 28 04 74 07 | map
aufsturz.de
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.98
Reviews:
11
Ratings:
13
pDev:
11.81%
View: Place Reviews
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Rated: 5 by Raime from Korea (North)

Sep 23, 2015
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Reviewed by catwoman from Virginia

3.3/5  rDev -17.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5
I went here recently due to the high rating on BA. This place has a large selection of German and Belgian beer in bottles. However, most of the Belgians I get in the US and what I was hoping to find was local or other German craft beer. I was excited to find a gruit brewed at the Stadtbrouwerij in Gent Belgium. That is rare to find in the US. Of course it is possible I ordered the last one. In any case, good selections of bottled Belgian and German beer, but if you seek German craft beer you will need to visit one of the other places such as Monterey Pub, Hopfenreich, or Bier Kombinant. Service here was perfunctory and busy.

This section of town is interesting. There are several nice-ish restaurants with indoor/outdoor seating, there is a funky crumbling old building with a large roach 'sculpture' coming out of the wall near the roof, and Rick Steve's description of the prostitutes who all seem to buy their Barbarella outfits at the same place was spot on. However, they were quite attractive and the outfits were really cool. There were just a few and they didn't seem to be bothering anyone but added local color. Prostitution is legal in Germany and this area is fine to walk around at night. The selection of Belgians no doubt is what has led to the high ratings on BA, don't expect any of the new wave of local or regional German craft beer here however.
Aug 13, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Gamsy from Germany

Feb 17, 2014
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Reviewed by Dennoman from Belgium

3.35/5  rDev -15.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5
Located in the Oranienburgerstrasse, supposedly one of the trendiest neighborhoods of Berlin, Aufsturz is quite obviously catering to a younger audience. Though I admit not having checked the interior, the outside feels very “picknicky” due to an arrangement of oversized park benches. Being Belgian myself, I very much dislike going through the trouble of travelling abroad to visit a beer bar, only to find that more than 50% of the list consists of commercial and easily available Belgian brews. This mostly isn’t the case for the Aufsturz beer list, as it mostly does consist of German brews. The menu however just doesn’t seem like a very interesting read: I’ve had much more fun browsing through the menu in bars that had less than half of Aufsturz’s bottle selection. Food is reasonably priced and, although a bit poncy, definitely not overcomplicated. The only thing where this place really stands out, is that none of the waitresses are a day over 25 and I’m fairly sure there are also employee standards for cup sizes. Can I get a PHWOARRR?
Sep 03, 2011
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Reviewed by BlackHaddock from England

4.14/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
The 'happening street' in Berlin currently, the whole area is a mass of bars, clubs and eating places. We missed this bar initially, because of scaffolding that was covering the front, plus the street is numbered strangely. We were on the wrong side of the road, no problems once we realised.

Don't know what it'll look like outside, but inside it is very basic, with wooden floors and loads of seating/tables. Some interesting paintings, lite very well, to highlight each ones striking points (like a spot light onto a nightscenes moon). We all liked the vibe of the place (two 50+ year olds and two 29 year olds). Lots of American English being spoken around us, as well as German.

The bottled beer selection is very interesting, the only tap being Heineken of all things. I didn't really look past the German beers, but there were plenty of others and as has been mentioned most appeared to be Belgian.

Service was fine on both occasions my little party of four drank here in mid April 2011. Bottles brought to the table, pour your own.
Apr 27, 2011
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Reviewed by seanyfo from Scotland

3.46/5  rDev -13.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4.5
5 min walk from Oranienburger Tor, we visited on the 28/09/2010, walking back from Schwarzwaldstuben along Auguststrasse toward the U Bahn.

Was certainly busy enough, but still easy enough to get a seat about about 7pm. Has a very basement feel about the place - with exposed vents and heating above, lots of art deco abstract art on the walls, and lots of wooden tables of 4.

Taking our seats, we had a look at the extensive beer menu, 100 bottled beer and about 40 whiskies. We plumped for the Tegernsee Helles, which was served chilled in appropriate glassware. Menu was made up of mainly Belgian and German offerings.

Service was sllooowwww. Sat for about 10 mins before getting our order in, beer came fast enough but it was no way busy enough to have to wait that long, and the waitress wasnt exactly all smiles. Getting the bill was the same, it was a nightmare to find anyone.

Didnt sample food but saw some folks eatin the pizzas and they looked plenty huge and pretty tasty.

Overall, this was place is great for their variety of beer but i just didnt like the atmosphere or surroundings. Maybe i was biased from coming out of Schwarzwaldstuben, but this place just seemed cold and uncomfortable. Definitely a one beer place for me, would only really stop by to sample something new.
Oct 16, 2010
Photo of akenethon
Reviewed by akenethon from Germany

3.6/5  rDev -9.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3
This place is probably the only place in Berlin where you can get a large selection of international beer (hence the crowd). I hate the fact that it has an almost monopoly on belgian beer, because this is not the kind of place I would go often.

The atmosphere is OK, I would have rather had it more restaurant-like.

Qualitywise, like any other good place with lots of beer, decent folks come here. Nevertheless, the rooms are too big.

Service is slow on busy days, and not always kind.

Selection is about 110 beers, which is impressive for Germany, a country of conservative drinkers. Nevertheless, I would have wished to have more belgian beers. Strange because EU's internal market makes it super easy to import that kind of stuff. I tried some of the austrian and scandinavian beers and so far they were all very good. Plus they serve each beer with its original glas, most of the time.

Food is the average drunken bar food, nachos, wurst, bouletten etc. It's not the kind of place where you would have a dinner. I don't understand why they have this bar food stuff instead of proper german or belgian or whatever food.

The prices are OK. Food is cheap, beer may be somewhat expensive sometimes.

Recommended for its beer and quality, don't expect much from food and service.
May 12, 2010
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Reviewed by ScoPi from Virginia

3.65/5  rDev -8.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 2
This was another stop of mine when we hit Berlin a few days ago, and it was indeed the most enjoyable of the beer-related stops we managed to make. For one thing, it was fantastic to sit down at a place in Germany and be able to order something other than a traditional German beer. Indeed, this place really does attempt to offer something beer connoiseurs such as the Beeradvocate readership would enjoy. As mentioned by others, you can get an impressive array of Belgians here as well as a few English ales and, of course, several good German beers. But the fact that their selection of beers was capped at less than 100 and concentrated so heavily on a few countries did nothing but remind me how good we have it in the States. While I am not attempting to say that Aufsturz's beer selection was small by any standard, it was amazing that the biggest city in Germany and the second largest city in western Europe didn't offer an establishment with even more. When I think of places I've been to in the States--even "rinky-dink" places near where I used to live--it reminded me that their selection was often twice as large and included 20+ draught selections.

The point of this rant is to say that I'm amazed by Germany's staunchly traditional view of beer, so traditional that even great places like Aufsturz still seem muffled in some way.
Jan 24, 2010
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Reviewed by lstokes from Illinois

4.3/5  rDev +8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
This is *the* bottle destination in Berlin. Best Belgian selection I've seen even including a Geuze, two different Rauchbiers, Aventinus, all the pilsners you can imagine, even a beer or two from Sweden and Denmark. Everything is served in appropriate glassware, and nothing is over four euros. More common beers are available in half liter sizes for 2.80.

The service is perfectly fine, but can be a little slow on crowded nights. I've really only been there when it's been crowded, so it gets a little bit cozy, but still, mostly a nice friendly vibe. High quality place and my standard bar in Berlin.
Jan 20, 2010
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Reviewed by 4thoseabout2bock from Illinois

4.14/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
This is definitely the place to go for their bottle selection.

Conveniently located in Mitte, just north of the Bode Museum complex which houses the Pergamon Collection and a couple other Museums, Aufsturz is an easy walk from Fredrichstrasse and Hackescher Markt Sbahn stops, or right above Orangienstrasse stop. This is a beer bar up front and music venue in back, set in a basement on a main street. Some picnic tables out front are used for smoking (probably year round) and for seating more generally in fine weather. I think their motto is "Come drink where Humboldt lived". Inside is pretty basic street level pub -- art on walls, plenty of tables, long bar lining the front wall.

We did not try the food but we enjoyed the impressive bottle list, and decent service. There is also free WLAN, a real bonus and not as common in Berlin as we had hoped.

Extensive bottle list is categorized by style plus a special section with specialty beers that included Altenmunster, Andechs Dunkelbock, Barbar, Brigand, Duvel, Engel Hell und Dunkel, Gordons Scotch, Hovels Bitter, Jenlain, Kasteel, Kwak, Export Guinness, Samiclaus, Rothaus and Bryggmastarueus from Sweden.

Because I prefer dark beer I only have the dark beer offerings written down -- they included schwarzes from Bernauer, Eibauer, Kostrizer, Krusovice, Kindl (Markischer Landmann), Neuzeller, Lausitzer, Staropramen and Torgauer.

Of course there were plenty in the weizen and dunkel categories among others that I just didn't write down.

Aufsturz is a great way to take a beer tour of Brandenberg and Sachen while sitting in Berlin. A recommended stop for beer lovers and tourists.

Other closeby recommended and somewhat cozier destinations include Schwarzwald (just up Tuholskystrasse, which has Rothaus on tap) and Sophieneck at the corner of Gros Hamburger and Sophienstrasse which has an Alt and Kolsch on tap.

Although they are both located in this part of town, it kills me that Max Beer and Gros Hamburger Strasse don't meet. That would be a great pub location.

In general, this is the best bottle list in town.
For fresh and adventurous beers, Brewbaker is the best brauhaus in town. Between the two, you will have had a great experience.
Nov 09, 2008
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Reviewed by swizzlenuts from Wisconsin

4.45/5  rDev +11.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
When walking into this place, it's darkly lit with candles all over the place. It's nice and cozy. They have a fairly good selection of beers at the bar, but it's mainly continental beers and most of them are from Germany. The prices seemed to be in line with most Berlin places, and the food was pretty tasty.

The service was really good, the waitress was helpful and fast. They didn't seem very knowledgeable, but that could be because of the language barrier.

I'd highly recommend this place because of it's atmosphere and selection of German beers.
Apr 04, 2008
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Reviewed by ballewblake from New Jersey

4.33/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
One of the few beer bars I found in Berlin, a city and country that seem near impossible to find a good selection of beers, and one of the only, if not few that carry a nice amount of Belgians (50+!). The German selection was better than most bars, with maybe 15 offerings (A LOT for bars here.) Once I found this place I pretty much hibernated there and became a regular really quick. Beers were served in proper glassware, even the brewery glasses. Food was a little above bar fare.

Ran into a number of tourist in this place, though there were plenty of locals. The atmosphere was upper yuppish, even though this is east Berlin (and on the prostitute stretch of road.) The crew for the most part didn't have problems understanding me and I got around pretty well here (not knowing much German at all.) Was hooked up with a 750 of Duvel at my last session there (for a good journey home.) Fun place to meet people and have some good brews, and a selection of them to boot.
Feb 11, 2008
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Reviewed by elmocoso from Nebraska

4.03/5  rDev +1.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
This is a great place, in a pretty cool location. It is kind of busy during tourist season, but it is cool to see all the girls in their summer dresses, drinking good beer.

It is quite the beer bar, with many beers in many styles, some rare. Lots of Belgians at great price (compared the states, fresher too!). The only drawback is the of all the beers they have, they only have heiny on tap. Pity. They do have correct glassware for every beer I've ordered, but you get generic glasses if you sit outside.

Speaking of sitting outside, there are many ladies of the night hanging around along the street outside. Not too close. mostly across or down the street. still, something to watch.

The place is a little to hip sometimes. There is a club in the back open on random weekends. But good beer prevails.

I've had the nachos, Cheese/olive plate, and other stuff which is good and pretty cheep. Overall, its a good beer joint in pilsner town.

el
May 05, 2007
Aufsturz in Berlin, Germany
Place rating: 3.98 out of 5 with 13 ratings