Berlin 2018 - Friday 3 August

With the weather forecast showing llittle chance of rain and a high chance of hot sunshine it was a day for wearing sunglasses, sandals and my green Downton Brewery polo shirt

At least there was some morning shade on the west facing patio of St Michaels Heim hostel where I could take my coffee (NB bring your own kettle and mug) and breakfast snack (also brought from UK to avoid 10 euro breakfast charge).

Having spied a tweet from Joe Stange on 24 July by searching for Biermeile on Twitter, my plan was to arrive at the 22nd International Berlin Beer Festival at opening time (noon) and head for the vicinity of lamppost 47 to start with a Schönramer Pils.

Barrel organ player on the shady side of Kurfürstendamm

The route from Grunewald hostel involved a 5 minute walk, bus to Kurfürstendamm U-bahn stop, a 5 minute walk to Zoologischer Garten station (once the central transport hub for West Berlin) and then 6 stops on the S-bahn eastbound, passing through Hauptbahnhof, to Alexanderplatz.

etched windows from interior of U5 line train

After going down from an elevated platform to an underground platform, past tempting bakery kiosks, the final stage was 4 stops on U5 from its current western terminus to Frankfurter Tor, the eastern end of the 'Biermeile'. This would be the first of several U5 journeys during the festival weekend!

Frankfurter Tor 1993

On arrival, I stopped to photograph one of the historic B&W photos of the Frankfurter Tor area in the underpass section of the U-bahn station.

Soon I was at street level and could take a contemporary photo of the same scene, showing Karl Marx Allee stretching westwards from Frankfurter Tor. The monumental socialist boulevard was built by the GDR between 1952 and 1960. At ground level, the 89 metre wide space has two separate roadways on the south side and a broad strip of grassland with trees on the north side, which is the location for the beer festival.

Tim - no protective headgear!

Unfotunately, I had forgotten to bring my Allagash Brewing cap to provide protection from the sun. There was time for a look around a multi-storey HUMANA charity shop at Frankfurter Tor 3, but there was no luck in my search for alternative headwear.

At noon I joined the queue at the festival information stand to buy a 'ProBierKrug' glass with 0.2l mark for 3.50 euro. I resisted the sales pitch to buy a lanyard with a carabiner clip (to attach to the handle of the glass) for an extra 3.50 euro! 

2.5 tall 'map' pages from 13 in the programme - that's 350 breweries!

The glass was supplied with a free festival programme 'Bier-Kompass' showing entertainment details and rough location of the beer stands. (The festival website also has a link to a 'Die Biermeile' tab which has multiple pages showing brewery stands between the lamppost numbers.)
With a ProBierKrug glass most breweries offer at least one beer at the 'ProBierPreis' 2.50 euros for 0.2l (2017 beer price was 2 euros). Without a festival glass, a Pfand (glass deposit) is also payable and the minimum measure may be 0.3l at a higher price per litre.

Schönramer Pils - from the green octagonal stand.

I went to the Schönramer stand where they were still setting things up. However, after a few minutes I was able to obtain the first glass of Schönramer (Bavarian) Pils. I found a seat at a bench on one of the few tables that had a sun umbrella. It was a nice surprise when Joe Stange appeared and introduced himself.

Joe Stange

Once Joe had a Schönramer Pils and a sausage he sat down and even took a look at the West Berkshire CAMRA Ullage magazine that I edit. Joe is an American living in Berlin and I was grateful for his suggestion that on my visit I should visit Foersters Feine Bier as it was the best beer bar reasonably close to my hostel in Grunewald.

Zachary Johnston - Twitter avatar

We were joined by a friend of Joe's, Zachary Johnston, another expat in Berlin, whose office is nearby. Originally from Washington's Olympic peninsula, Zach writes and broadcasts about beer,  food, music and travel..
Zach's Berlin BierMile instagram story for uproxxtravel includes video clips from the Biermeile and brief interviews with Joe Stange about Dérer's 'beer in disguise' and Schönramer Pils.

When it was time for another beer we went to the Dérer stand by our table and Joe explained that the Dérer branded Pils is brewed for the importer by Kout na Šumavě based in the Bohemian Forest of the Czech Republic.

Joe's and my tweets about meeting near lamppost 47 had been worthwhile as we were soon joined by beer writer 'Tandleman' (Peter) and his wife to swing our group's balance back in favour of the UK.
(I would meet up with Peter and Joe (briefly) again, six days later, at the Great British Beer Festival in Olympia, London, where Peter was a CAMRA volunteer and Joe had been leading a tutored tasting with Tim Webb 'New Influences on Belgian Beer').

I was keen to try one of the New Zealand beers selected as the festival's Motto 2018 - Beer from the other end of the world 'Neuseelands Hopfenseite'. This involved a bit of a walk to find the stand but I was pleased with my choice of draught Tomahawk, a 5.6% ABV American Pale Ale by Tuatara Brewery of Paraparaumu, north of Wellington.

The final link in the Twitter rendezvous was to meet up with Ron Pattinson an expert on the history of beer whose blog is Shut Up About Barclay Perkins.

A pleasant while later, when our group shrank with the departure of Joe and Zach, I joined Ron's table under a shady tree, behind the La Chouffe stand, where his wife and their two sons were already based. Although shadier it was also popular with wasps but somehow we managed to avoid spilling beer or getting stung! Ron's family had travelled from Amsterdam by train the previous day. His entertaining write up of Friday at the Biermeile is: Berlin day two (part two).

Nikolaiviertel

Brauhaus Georgbraeu (Photo: Mark Geeson)

When it was time for Ron and Andrew to depart and rejoin Dolores and Alexei who had gone back to their hotel earlier, I set off to meet up with Mark Geeson and his group who had now checked into their hotel and were at Brauhaus Georgbraeu, Spreeufer 4, a bar and brewery with copper vessels in Nikolaiviertel on the north bank of the river.

en route from Alexanderplatz to Nikolaiviertel: St Marienkirche and Fernsehturm

On the walk from Alexanderplatz U-bahn station to Brauhaus Georgbraeu, I noticed building work going on.

A poster on a temporary barrier explains the works are for extending the U5 line from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof with a new station at Rotes Rathaus (Berlin's Town Hall - built of red brick).

Zum Nussbaum

When I reached Brauhaus Georgbrau, Mark and the group had finished their beers at an outdoor table and were ready to head to the beer festival. However, a compromise was reached that we would go to Zum Nussbaum (Under the Nut Tree Inn) first. This was only 100 metres, along Propstrasse, at Am Nussbaum 3.

St Nikolai-Kirche - opposite Von Nussbaum

The original inn was destroyed by a bombing raid in 1943. In 1987, it was rebuilt in the Nikolaiviertel (the quarter around St Nikolai-kirche), as part of the DDR creation of an old town for tourists.

Zum Nussbaum - the 'Farnham Travel / Trubbel' group!
L to R: Dad, Geoff, Den, Peter, Wookie, Gillian, Bod, Mark, John & Phil

Although the tables were busy outside, we found two adjacent tables in the front room of the inn. A waiter took our orders including my Potsdamer Rex Pils from Berliner-Kindl-Schultheiss-Brauerei (4.20 euros / 50cl) which was served in a tall tankard with a handle.  

Von Nussbaum - Mark Geeson's panoramic photo

With the room to ourselves, we decided to have a second beer here and this time I enjoyed a tall glass of Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen (4.50 euros / 50cl).

Belin Biermeile (evening)

Fernsehturm and Rotes Rathaus

It was nearly 7pm by the time we passed the Rotes Rathaus on the way to Alexanderplatz for the U5 back to Frankfurter Tor.

It took a while for the group to get their festival glasses so I went ahead to get a Montestella lager from the Birrificio Lambrate stand, near the information stand.

(The beer is named after Monte Stella, a 25 metre artificial hill, built from WWII bombing rubble in Milan under the supervision of architect Pierro Bottoni who dedicated it to his wife Stella.)

The most impressive stand was the pirate ship for Störtebeker Braumanufaktur. Based in the Baltic coastal town of Stralsund, in 2011 the brewery was renamed from Stralsunder Brauerei in homage to the German pirate Klaus Störtebeker (1360-1401).

We had sausage or pork steak in a roll for supper from one of the many grill stands at the festival.
The Sussex CAMRA crew (Phil, Wookie, Dad, Geoff, John and Den) tired of the festival and headed to Zur Letzten Instanz from Weberwiese U-bahn station half way down Karl Marx Allee. 

My last beer of the evening was a 6.9% ABV Mysterious Orange IPA brewed in Zwolen, Poland by Browar Maryenzstadt. I said goodbye to Mark and Bod and headed for Weberwiese U-bahn station.
Mark and Bod carried on walking west, stopping at beer stands on the way. By the time they reached Strausberger Platz U-bahn at midnight the festival was closing so they headed directly back to their hotel.

Returning to my hostel involved U5 from Weberwiese and S-bahn from Alexanderplatz to Zoologischer Garten. I forgot to turn right at the road junction outside the station and ended up walking near Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, a landmark with its bomb damaged spire. Eventually I found the bus stop on Kurfürstendamm and after the bus ride and a final walk, on a warm night, got back to the hostel soon after midnight.

Friday Summary:

Beer writers met for first time c/o Twitter: 4
Beers enjoyed from: Germany, Czech Republic, New Zealand & Poland.
Travel trips (using 7 day pass) on: Buses (3), S-Bahn (2), U-Bahn (4)

Tim's Berlin Biermeile tips:

Do:                                          Don't:
Bring: sunglasses, suncream, water, euros    
                                                 Forget: headwear, emergency beermat
Spend 3.50 euro to buy the 0.2l festival glass
                                                 Spend 3.50 euro to buy a lanyard with a clip
Get a festival guide 'map' from an info stand
                                                 Expect card payments to be accepted
Check 'Die Biermeile' tab on festival website
                                                 Forget to take photos to remember details and faces
Plan a rendezvous in advance eg near lampost 47
                                                  Expect all stands to be ready at noon on Friday
Move to a seat in the shade if you can find one    
                                                  Sit in front of a stage if you don't want music
Visit excellent bars in Friedrichshain as well        
                                                  Expect high standards from temp festival staff
Enjoy grilled sausages etc from the food stands
                                                  Expect to find a variety of vegetarian food
Be aware of wasps that may be intoxicated!  
                                                  Be shocked by revealing outfits at some stands!
Find quiet times at afternoons or Sunday evening
                                                  Get trampled in the Friday & Saturday night crush

         
See also my posts that include further visits to the Biermeile, bars and breweries:
Berlin - Saturday: Stone Brewing,  Berlin Biermeile, Protokoll Taproom, Labor Berlin
Berlin - Sunday: BRLO Brewhouse, Berlin Biermeile, Hops & Barley, Zur Letzten Instanz
Berlin - Monday: Foersters Feine Bier, Frau Maus, Spinnrad

Berlin 2018 - Saturday 4 August

Another fine day - indicated by the south-easterly view from my top floor room at St Michaels Heim hostel.

Bismarckallee bridge over Hubertussee

With some time to spare before meeting up with Mark and the group at the East Side Gallery, I walked west to Grunewald station, via quiet, tree-lined streets and Hasensprung footpath which crosses Koenigssee by a stone bridge.

Using this S-bahn station gave me an opportunity to visit the Gleis 17 memorial to Berlin Jews who were transported from platform 17 of the freight station to ghettos and camps in Germany and occupied lands between 1941-45.

The discreet memorial, constructed by Deutsche Bahn AG in 1991, consists of latticed steel sections placed on the track bed.

Each section has details of a train's departure date, number of passengers and destination embossed on the edge which lies parallel to the platform.

Berlin Ostbahnhof

I caught the S7 train direct to Berlin Ostbahnhof, a 26 minute journey with 12 stops via Berlin Hauptbahnhof and waited on the platform for Mark and the group to arrive at 10.40am.

La Trabant by Birgit Kinder

We walked the short distance to Mühlenstraße in bright sunshine and passed the murals painted on a 1316 metre long remaining section of the Berlin Wall that makes up the East Side Gallery which is free to view.

We slipped through a gap in the wall to find a cafe by the river Spree where some enjoyed an ice cream or an early beer at outside tables. A paddle steamer called at the pier by the cafe to pick up passengers during our visit.

We could see the double-deck Oberbaumbrücke, with its two distinctive towers, which links Friedrichshain (formerly in East Berlin) and Kreuzberg districts from the cafe.
After this break we continued walking along the river bank and then up the slope of Warschauer Strasse to enter the station for the U1 U-Bahn line.

We caught the westbound U1 over the upper deck of the Oberbaumbrücke and on to Hallesches Tor and changed to U6 southbound and continued to the terminus of the extended line, Alt Mariendorf, built in 1966. 

A short bus ride to the Greinerstrasse stop took us to the entrance to Marienpark, a former gasworks site.

Old water tower (1901), Marienpark

 

Stone Brewing Berlin

We walked to Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens by a less circuitous route than the one cars must follow to the car park and arrived in the spacious, landscaped gardens.

The bistro and bars are in the front area of the massive brick building with the brewery in the rear, visible through an interior glass screen.

We arrived about 1pm and although the bistro and gardens were not busy it took a long time before we were all able to obtain our beers from the bar.

We were able to find several tables close to each other where our group could sit together.
The beers I enjoyed here were Quince-Essential Hazy Ale (0.3l, 4.90 euro) and Stone Tangerine Express IPA (0.5l, 6.90 euro) which was infused with mandarin and pineapple. Free glasses of iced water were also available from the bar.

The 25 draught taps are for beers from Stone Berlin (13), Stone San Diego (9) and Arrogant Brewing (3) including Arrogant Bastard Ale brewed at Stone Berlin.

A smaller second bar area includes a shop for merchandise and a bakery. Bicycles feature as decor here and in the main bistro area.

Decades old American beer cans are also featured as decorative items in one area of the bistro.
Hearing the same instrumental music over the sound system became tedious after a while. My request to staff to change the music only resulted in skipping straight to the next track. Perhaps the record collection at Stone needs expanding?!

 

Berlin Biermeile 

Our group left at 4pm and we travelled to the International Berlin Beer Festival by bus and U-bahn.

The first beer to fill my festival glass today was Herrnbräu Zwickl from Ingolstadt, a Bavarian city on the river Danube.

The meals at Stone Berlin were expensive so I waited until the festival for my main meal - Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle) and sauerkraut served with mustard and bread. Eating this with only a plastic knife and fork had to be done carefully!

My favourite beer at the festival on this evening was suggested by Mark - W.P.A. Westphalian Pale Ale by Brauhaus Zwiebel from Soest, about 20 miles east of Dortmund. The 5.2% ABV beer is described as the Westphalian interpretation of an India Pale Ale with 53 IBU.

 

Protokoll Taproom

The festival was busy and we decided to move to Protokoll taproom, Boxhagener Str. 110, only 300 metres from Frankfurter Tor, the eastern end of the festival's 'beer mile'.

We arrived at 8.45pm and it was still warm enough to be outside but all the pavement tables were taken.

Inside there were 24 taps to choose from. I chose Protocol of Haze brewed by Zagovor Brewery, near Moscow. There were three other beers from Zagovor, two from Weird Beard and one from BrewDog on the list.

This 0.4l glass of 6% ABV New England style Pale Ale cost 5 euros. Some of my favourite tunes were playing on the sound system including: Every day I write the book by Elvis Costello; Pulled Up by Talking Heads and Charlie don't surf by The Clash.

Labor, Berlin

Mark and the group were ready to go back for a drink at a bar near their hotel (Holiday Inn Express - Alexanderplatz) but I wanted to visit Labor Berlin before returning to my hostel.

I had heard about Labor from OoohBerlin.com publishers of free fold up neighbourhood guides, e.g. Oooh! Friedrichshain, with a hand drawn map 'Bezirksplan' showing cafes, shops, restaurants, bars and unusual places.

Labor, Grünberger Str. 83, is only 300 metres away from Protokoll and 200 metres from Hops & Barley. The colourful periodic table style squares are used as distinctive beer identifiers. They appear on the outside of the bar building as well as behind the bar itself.

The white bar is lit by a medical lamp. Mihaly kindly put on his lab coat uniform and accepted a copy of West Berkshire CAMRA's Ullage magazine from me for a photo.

The beer range is from Mad Scientist of Budapest, Hungary.

 I ordered a 0.2l glass of Double Hoperator an 8% ABV New England style Double IPA of 80 IBU which cost 5 euros.

I found a table in the dimly lit room next to the bar and enjoyed my beer while listening to some chilled out music on the sound system that included Time to Begin from Domenic Cappello.
I was relieved that I had not bothered to encourage Mark and the group to join me at Labor as they may not have appreciated the price of the beer or the ambience.

Friedrichshain 'Bezirksplan' by #OOOHBERLIN - Labor = #5