A friend of mine is coming to visit from Berlin, and he takes requests for beer. What hard-to-find styles or good labels should I ask for?
It depends on what you like... and if you want beer from Berlin or any other German beer. As long as you don't really know, your friend will have a big problem to decide --> for great beer from Berlin I can recommend http://www.brewbaker.de/ - their beers (75cl) can be bought at their own outlet (Arminiusstr. 2-4, Berlin, inside the market hall, Mo-Fr 11am-8pm, Sa 11am-4pm). A great bottle-shop is http://www.ambrosetti.de/ - they have lots of stuff that is difficult to find in the Berlin-area and the prices are ok.
About 15 years ago I was in Berlin and had Schultheiss Berliner Weisse with and without the woodruff syrup. The fact that this beer is no longer brewed is nothing less than beer vandalism. Shame!
I ended up with Flensburger Dunkel (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2854/6711) and Stortebeker Schwarzbier (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/12511/26881) - things you can get in the duty free in Schönefeld airport. Not Berlin-specific or the most hard-to-find beers, but more interesting than just plain lagers.
Last year I was in Berlin for 2 days and saw Berliner Lager which I thought was below average quality. Brewbaker sounds great. I stayed in Sendlingerplatz? Could you recommend a neighborhood to stay and a good list of pubs to hit? Thanks
Excellent bottled beers from Berlin: Flessa, Heidenpeter, Brewbaker, Fräulein_Brauer, Schneeeule. And some from Bierfabrik, Schoppe and Lemke.
