Beer Hunting Berlin

Germany 2 v England 3

Saturday 26 March 2016

International Friendly

Played at OlympiaStadion, Berlin

Twitter @ball_sup

Just 3 nights in Berlin. So, limited beer hunting. I was in at least 2 minds. We associate Germany with certain beer styles. Light, helles, pilsner styles. Various weissens. Regional capers such a kolsch, altbier, rauchbier. Why go looking for other stuff?

I blow hot & cold on the Reinheitsgebot. The so called German Beer Purity Law. I'm currently influenced by people telling me it leads to “pure but low quality ingredients”. So, this week, I'm #antireinheitsgebot. Anyway. Here goes.

I was over in The East on UK government business when The Wall was still up. Effectively as a guest of the DDR, the East German Government. My East German colleague introduced me to Berliner Weisse.

Here you go. All you bearded beer Hipsters. Your modern Brett Sour beers. Me & the Eastie Boys were piling in in the 80s.

So, for old times sake, nostalgia, I did;

1. Berliner Kindl, Weisse at 3%. Of course me & the Easties weren't drinking it sour. Taking the edge off. We weren't savages. Green. Flavoured with Waldmeistersirup.

2. Berliner Kindl, Weiss at 3%. Rot. Flavoured with Himbeersirup.

Moving on…

3. Berliner Pilsner on keg. Standard sugary, cooking lager. No redeeming feature.

4. Franziskaner, Dunkel Weisse from a bottle at 5%. Still a great, go to beer if you're struggling. Refreshing. Lots of flavour. Some complexity. Im that, not just one flavour.

We did two Brauerei Lemke locations.

Brauhaus Lemke am Hakeschen Markt. The central location. Set in the railway arches.

Brauhaus Lemke am Schloss Charlottenburg. As suggested. Bang opposite the castle.

Both are great places for a drink (and food if inclined). Friendly, efficient, welcoming. There was brewing at Charlottenburg. A couple of open fermentation tanks. Both places had the same eight of their own on keg.

5. Brauerei Lemke, Hopfenweisse on keg at 7%. Great example of that style. Which I love. Some vanilla. But essentially, a big Welcome To Germany sign.

6. Brauerei Lemke, Original (Wiener LagerBier) on keg at 5.4%. Slightly disappointing. Dark & malty enough. But nothing to kick it on.

7. Brauerei Lemke, Imperial IPA on keg at a whopping 10%. Safe. A lot of the sweetness is still there. Some deep bittering. But, it didn't quite get there for me.

8. Brauerei Lemke, Indian Pale Ale on keg at 6.5%. Superb on the nose. Great aromas. Make you want to dive in. All about the Hops. Damn. The taste doesn't quite live up. Although it is full of flavour.

9. Brauerei Lemke, Bock auf Lemke on keg at 6.5%. All about the Malt. Nice beer. Swirling sweetness with just a hint of toast.

We headed out to Heiden Peters in Markt Halle Neun over in The East. The market hall has gone all foodie, artisan, gourmet, craft. One stall specialising in (wait for it) New Zealand style PIES. Heiden Peters is hidden away in a corner of the hall. Small bar front. Small standing/perching area. Very friendly.

10. Mix up. We were so early. Chomping at the bit. The blackboard hadn't been written up. The bar lady pitched it as Lager, IPA, a lighter Pale Ale & a fruity Pale Ale. I asked for the normal pale. Man. It was glorious. Tangy. Bitter. Effervescent. Grapefruit upfront. Straight into superb bitterness. Turns out. She'd served me the wrong one. Call it Fred. Call it Ginger. I'm calling it hands down, Standout Beer Of The Trip.
Heiden Peters, Aurora Pale Ale on keg at 4.8%.

11. Heiden Peters, American IPA on keg at 6.5%. The bitterness was woody. Reminiscent of an English Bitter. Nice enough. But nowhere near enough going on to merit calling it an IPA.

On the way up to Tegel to fly home, we hit Brauerei Vagabund up in Wedding. One room affair. Small brewing kit on view  behind a glassed door.

12. Vagabund, A Beer With Chinook on keg at 4.9%. Great beer. Nice and citrus, great bitter finish.

13. Vagabund, American Pale Ale on keg at 5.2%.

14. Vagabund, Double IPA on keg at 7.5%. More bittering please.

15. Vagabund, Code Orange on keg at 5.7%. I loved that. Belgian style. Spicy. But, dominated by swirling Barley Sugar sweets.

296/623