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It’s a warm summer weeknight and tables are packed at BRLO Brwhouse, a new Berlin craft beer establishment adjacent to the shipping containers that will soon become its edgy, urban home. BRLO is frequented by locals from all walks of life but remains mostly off the beaten path for tourists. Everyone from hip, young professionals to burly, tattooed bikers sample an array of craft beer and barbecue fare, mingling with the chef, brew master and staff who are clearly as enthusiastic about craft beer as those drinking it.

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For many Americans, conjuring up a beer experience in Germany equates with the beer halls of Munich and Oktoberfest. Long tables covered with large, pilsner-filled steins and bratwursts, where rowdy crowds focus more on the festivities than the beer in hand. Berlin doesn’t celebrate Oktoberfest like Munich, though you can certainly find traditional beer-drinking establishments serving up the lagers and ales Germans have created for hundreds of years. Yet craft beer establishments are cropping up in the city center and surroundingneighborhoods with increasing frequency, bucking tradition and the country’s famous Reinheitsgebot, a 500-year-old German Purity Law as they try to catch up with the craft beer trend already well established in other countries around the world.

While Germany has been slow to jump on the craft beer bandwagon, what Berlin has on tap right now will pleasantly surprise and quench the thirst of even the most discerning craft beer enthusiasts. Visitors can sip everything from Berliner Weisse to a German IPA and leave the more commonplace pilsners behind for good.

berlin craft beer experience

Photo courtesy of Berlin Craft Beer Experience

Book a craft beer tour with one of several local operatorsto get the lay of the land and a sampling from several brewers. Berlin Craft Beer Experience leads both private and public tours lasting a minimum of three hours and taking in several establishments. Tastings are accompanied by owner Clifton Kinchen’s knowledgeable commentary on the history of beer, brewing and the craft beer movement both in Berlin and worldwide. Tour goers leave with a keen appreciation for the struggle local brewers undertake just to produce craft beer in a country still holding tight to tradition and a rigid set of rules governing production and even defining what constitutes a beer. Tours stop in neighborhoods like Friedrichshain and Prenslauerberg, though brewers are also setting up shop in Neukolln, Kreuzberg and Wedding.

For those who don’t have time for a three-hour tour, Kinchen advises, “From Alexanderplatz in Mitte, take the U-Bahn 2 in the direction of Pankow,” hesays. “A few stops will bring you to Rosa-Luxemburg Ubf and Kaschk for some local and Norwegian craft beers. A stop farther will bring you to Senefelder Ubf and you’re near Pfefferbrau and Hermann for food and the best Belgian craft beer you can find; make a third stop at the Eberswalder Ubf to visit Zum Starken August for craft beer and a burlesque show.” Kinchen adds that none of his picks is more than a 30-second walk from the station exit.

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If you’re planning a picnic in one of Berlin’s many green spaces or want to bring beer back to your hotel, pay a visit to Bierlieb, located on Petersburger Strasse 30. The store sells an impressive selection of craft beer Wednesday through Saturday from 4– 10pm, andserves up theirown brewed creations on tap. Locals head here for the occasionally offered brewing courses and tastings, beer-making advice and home brew supplies.

For a convenient stop while touring, grab lunch and a beer at Brauhaus Lemke on Dircksenstraße 143 near Alexanderplatz in Mitte. The brewery serves up several craft beers on tap and offers a menu that includes German fare such as currywurst, a local specialty. Eat inside by the bar or in a secluded beer garden behind the building.

berlin craft experience- with glass

Photo courtesy of Berlin Craft Beer Experience

“Craft beer will continue to develop as an international grassroots movement,” said Kinchen. “As people become more educated about what they eat and drink I think they’ll demand better, especially from their beer. Berlin’s unique entrance into the craft beer movement has made it the best place to try it in Germany.”

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Tagged: Europe

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