I'm going to be spending the bulk of the summer in Berlin, and I am curious if anyone knows the city well. Are there any great local (or nearby) breweries? If I'm hitting up a bottle store, what should I track down? This isn't my first time to Germany (I have spent a lot of time in Darmstadt), but this will be my first time in Berlin. I'll be living in Charlottenburg.
1.) Try posting in the German forum - you'll get a better response 2.) Search the German forum, there was a thread on Berlin not long back
Berlin is actually pretty underwhelming beer-wise, at least if you're looking for micros or plenty of variety in styles. However there's always Brewbaker, which is a gastropub/classic brasserie type thing if I'm not mistaken that also brews its own beers. Plenty of city breweries to look around for, and on a non-beer related note: if you're into a comedy, Berlin has a great English comedy scene with American, British and Canadian expats. Most of it is found around trendy Kreuzberg.
They relocated a few of the venues since last time I was there (comedian myself and I do the odd English gig abroad), so I'm afraid I don't know the details any more. A proper Google search should yield all the details though. Have a great time, and make sure to feel right at home on Alexanderplatz with a bottle of ice cold Berlin Pilsner. I might go back there in August for a few days.
I've actually been living in Charlottenburg for the last six months. The best bottle shop in the city is in Charlottenburg: Ambrosetti's on Schillerstrasse. In terms of bars there is Haus of 100 Bier on Mommsenstrasse and Dicke Wirte on Savignyplatz. Neither is great by international standards, but decent for Berlin and have a range of German brews on tap. I've really been underwhelmed by Brewbaker, but it's worth visiting once. My favorite brewpub in the city is definitely Hops and Barley in Friedrichshain, which is pretty accessible from the S-Bahn. To previous points, though, Berlin is not great for beer. You will likely end up appreciating the few decent places. cheers
I had read about Ambrosetti here on BA, and I saw that I'm pretty close to Dicke Wirte. It's great to get the Hops and Barley suggestion; I'll be sure to check it out.
Should also check the Bier-Spezialitätenladen on Karl Marx Allee, it's the biggest bottle shop in Berlin and they pack a decent British selection as well. Mostly German, which is ironically nice to see in Berlin, since it appears 75% of all beers available are Belgian macros. I was in a hotel about a mile down the road and I just had to see it once. Good thing about it is the whole "Berlin-ness" of it. You can walk in, pick a bottle, have the owner crack it for you and taste it there and then. Lots of regular customers coming there for a simple Berliner Pilsner as well. Bit expensive and they don't seem to actually know all that much about beer, but it's still very bohemian and Eastern European in its concept
Was in the city last fall and actually more interested in drinking wine than beer so we visited Weinbar Rutz (Chausseestraße 8 10115 Berlin, Germany, 030 2462-8760). They had beer as well though that might interest you. Here's the current list (sorry it's in German): unsere biere. helles vom fass, privatbrauerei am rollberg, neukölln - berlin 0,33 l 4,90 € meckatzer weiss-gold, meckatzer löwenbräu - benedikt weiß, meckatz, allgäu 0,33 l 4,90 € tannenzäpfle, staatsbrauerei rothaus, hochschwarzwald, baden 0,33 l 4,90 € eisweissbier, weissbierbrauerei hopf, miesbach, oberbayern 0,33 l 4,90 € leo weisse, schlossbrauerei maxelrain, oberbayern 0,33 l 4,90 € unertl mühldorfer weißbier, weißbräu unertl, mühldorf am inn, oberbayern 0,33 l 4,90 € unertl mühldorfer weißbier, weißbräu unertl, mühldorf am inn, oberbayern 0,5 l 6,50 € unertl mühldorfer weißbier, weißbräu unertl, mühldorf am inn, oberbayern 3,00 l 65,00 € 2008 1598 edition privee, fürst wallerstein brauhaus, schwaben, bayern 0,75 l 59,00 € 2009 oude geuze, brouwerij 3fonteinen, belgien 0,375 l 9,50 € ipa - brooklyn east india pale ale, brooklyn brewery, brooklyn, new york, usa 0,355 l 6,90 € picon biere mit tannenzäpfle staatsbrauerei rothaus, hochschwarzwald, baden 0,33 l 5,50 €
Ended up finding several interesting German IPAs. I write about them in my blog if you're interested: http://churchyardbrewery.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-german-ipa.html
