Élesztő

Ruin bar vibes with a small central courtyard, bars and a to go food place in the buildings. Relaxed and lively! Twenty some taps with the bars combined, all Hungarian craft. Service was speedy and thorough, helpful with our questions. Beers were of good quality, love what they do with fruit here

I visited Élesztő a couple weeks ago, checking out beer bars in Budapest. Élesztő is an interesting place, with a couple of associated bars situated around a shared courtyard area. The area is covered, so it’s basically indoors, and has a very Bohemian, post-industrial setting. It’s a little too clean for me to call it a ruin pub, but it is definitely a similar kind of setting. The service was very friendly in both Hungarian and English.

There were something like 26 or so beers on tap when I visited, spread out between the two beer-pouring counters connected to the courtyard. I think every single one of the beers on tap when I was there was brewed in Budapest, with offerings from Mad Scientist, Horizont, Fehér Nyúl, Reketye, First, HopTop, and one beer from Cece, which I suppose is not in Budapest, but is at least Hungarian. They also had several “house” beers (an IPA, a wheat, a lager), brewed by various breweries specifically for them.

 

 

 

This bar is one of our regular places in the summer time. The place features around 28 taps, give or take a few. There are a few regular beers, and most of them are changing beers from various hungarian micro breweries.

The staff knows what they are dealing with, they are used to customers who are overhelmed by the vast amount of beers available. They can offer you beers , once you let them know your preferences, and 90% of the time you will get one that you like. Also, it's a good idea to just have a different beer for each people in the company and keep on tasting them - otherwise it's impossible to taste most of the selection without getting wasted.

I think the only drawback of the place is this new "ruin pub" cosmetics, which consists of ruinous walls, old furniture and things, this is one of the trends of the city nowdays - but everything cannot be perfect at once.

 

 

Popped in right after opening at 15:00 on a Sunday, so it was totally dead. This is one of Budapest's typical 21st century 'ruin bars', so I imagine it is full in the evenings. Would be a place to go if you want to 'go out' in Budapest, and you want to do something hip and gritty.

Decor was a mix of mismatched old furniture and Brooklyn-style exposed brick and trusses. Maybe a bit steampunk. Also had a nice sized beer garden outside in a stylishly derelict courtyard. Looks like it would be relaxing in the summer time.

Large selection of beers from around Hungary. Many reviews say it has the largest selection in the city, but I can't speak to that.

I think it opens at 15:00 every day.