BH202009 – Page 2 – Martijn.be

Brewery Day!

Published on 12th September 2020

My last day in Berlin starts with a slightly unconventional brunch: döner kebab! Different location—Hisar Fresh Food this time—but basically the same planning as about a year ago, when BrewDog organised its first European AGM in Berlin.

Although never even officially announced, this exact Saturday the second edition was supposed to take place, and even though this isn’t happening for obvious reasons, I decided to go to the brewery anyway. Still no S-Bahn station in front of the premises, so it was a bit of a walk again.

I had taken a tour the last time I was there, but it was only a short version, and at the time they hadn’t even started brewing their own beers yet. So I decided to take the tour again: the full version this time. The included tasting gave me the opportunity to try some of the beers brewed there, and after that DogTap still had a couple of beers on draught I hadn’t tried yet.

But I wouldn’t have called this post “Brewery Day” just for visiting one brewery: on the opposite side of town—after a coffee at Stück vom Glück— I also visited Two Fellas, and Bräugier, and there are some more to come after dinner!

Livin’ it up Friday night

Published on 11th September 2020

I felt like chicken tonight—not the sauce popular in the nineties—so I went to Die Henne, where they basically serve one dish: half a crispy fried chicken. Just add some Kartoffelsalat, and that’s a meal!

Tonight’s bars were HOME Bar, and the best place to end the night—at least that’s what I’ve been told—Protokoll. There I met up with friends I already knew, and friends I had just met, and I stayed there until half past three…

Berlin from Below

Published on 11th September 2020

I started the day with coffee and an almond croissant at Bonanza Coffee. I visited their roastery café before, on a very rainy last day during a previous trip, but their espresso bars are even nicer to visit.

Since I had already visited most regular museums in Berlin, I decided to go underground this time, and went on a Berliner Unterwelten tour. The theme of the tour was Dark Worlds, giving us an insight in the life of the average Berlin citizen during the WWII air raids that destroyed up to 80% of the city centre. Unfortunately, taking photos was not allowed, so you’ll have to take the tour yourself, if you want to see how it was…

Originally I planned to have lunch at Mogg, since I had heard good things about this place, but apparently they only accept cash, and I didn’t have any. So I went for dessert straight away, at Samy’s Berliner Pfannkuchen Cafe, for a Pfannkuchen, the doughnut-like pastry typical for the city. Although my salted caramel version was slightly less typical…

From then on, I slowly moved onto craft beer territory again, but since Kaschk is both an espresso bar and a craft beer bar—how cool is that?—I started my afternoon with another espresso macchiato.

The remainder of the afternoon I visited Lager Lager and the Biererei. The first one is actually a beer shop, but luckily they also serve serve beers—draught as well—to drink at the terrace!

Back in Berlin

Published on 10th September 2020

So almost exactly a year after my last visit, I’m back in Berlin! After checking into easyHotel Berlin—same as last year—and dropping off my baggage, it was time to get some food in my belly.

When I visited Berlin the very first time, I already visited Markthalle Neun, At the time, they were already closing, so I didn’t really have the opportunity to check out the market itself. This time round, however, it was Street Food Thursday, meaning the food stalls were open late! Of course, brewery Heidenpeters was still there to provide me with some beer to accompany my dinner…

While I was in the neighbourhood, I paid a quick visit to Hopfenreich, before heading back north of the Spree river again.

The newest kid on the block—only soft opening tonight—is the Manifest taproom. Unfortunately, they only accepted cash their first night, which severely limited my time there. But they had a dog, so that’s a plus at least. And their beer menu, that was impressive too!

The shortened visit to Manifest at least give me the opportunity to visit Message in a Bottle as well.

A bit closer to the hotel, and already familiar, were BrewDog Mitte, and the Mikkeller bar. In the latter I finally had the an opportunity to have my Mikkeller Passport stamped!

Off to Berlin!

Published on 10th September 2020

Wait, what? Straight to Berlin? What happened to Wien and Budapest? Well… because Hungary suddenly closed its borders for tourists, I had to change my plans a bit. The sleeper train adventure has been put on hold for now, and on this trip I will only visit Berlin and Hamburg, meaning I’m going straight from Brussels to Berlin. I’m still keeping it classy though: first class tickets all the way!

As usual, I had to change trains in Köln, giving me the opportunity to quickly grab something to eat. Don’t be afraid to ask them to put your order in your own reusable packaging, even abroad! No time to grab my usual coffee in the coffee bar just outside the station, so a train coffee had to do… Really nice of Deutsche Bahn to serve it in proper cups, at your seat!