Recommendations sought in Berlin

because it's damn sour, that's why !

Well, if you're the kind that does not recoil at the idea of Cantillon, you'll like Berliner Weisse, especially as it's quite low in alcohol (2.5% ABV or so)

Haven't been to Berlin for 13 years and a half, I'm afraid...

...but do have a look at Ron Pattinson's (pretty good) website, as there's a page about Berlin :

Cheers !

Laurent

Now there's a thing. I regard Cantillon as a severe insult to my precious stomach lining - but Berliner Weisse I found acceptable and moreish. OK it was bitter, but not sour, and even better without the strange green stuff some people were putting in it.

Cheers

When I was in Berlin I was given the choice of green beer or red beer. Knowing nothing about bier, I asked what the difference was.

"Erm, Gruen bier ist gruen, und rot beer..."

And sure enough, it really was very very green.

The green stuff is woodruff extract (Waldmeister), the red is raspberry (Himbeer), I think.

Weisse is a Berlin speciality, but it's hardly the definitive style of beer in the city. The major western brewers, Kindl and Schultheiss, produce not-particularly-special run-of-the-mill pils and export type beers. Berliner Pilsener, from the east of the city is rather nice, though.

There are some brewpubs in Berlin now, too; these are being installed all over the country and are often owned by chains. They tend to serve an unfiltered beer as a speciality. I've definitely been in 2 of these in Berlin, but can't remember offhand exactly where they were. One of them *may* be on the Gendarmenmarkt.

There's a restaurant by the old chain ferry at Caputh, just outside Potsdam, which serves a delicious concoction called, IIRC, Neustifter Klosterbraeu. This is a dark, sweetish brew which they are not allowed to call beer, as it does not conform to the Reinheitsgebot (it contains caramel). Yummy!

I looked it up later, but I wouldn't know a woodruff if it was sat next to me...

The problem I always have abroad is persuading people I don't want the not-particularly-special run-of-the-mill pils and export type beers. I was at a brewery (actualy we did two, hic) in Brno last month, and they were very surprised that I really did want the dark beer. I've found the only sure way wwhen I don't speak the language is to get "a beer please", then "a different beer please". Life can be hard :-)

I found a place in a tent-style structure by a huge road junction near the YHA in Dresden which did beers with extract(/flavour?) of banana or cherry. It was a strange combination of repulsive and addictive.

Then there was the waitress in Bremen who mistakenly thought we had ordered non-alcoholic malt drink, which tasted like being downwind of an animal feed cake works in Hull.

Hmmm, Malzbier aka Malztrunk... when you know what to expect, some of them are drinkable enough, but indeed most are much too sweet.

Cheers !

Laurent

Sounds like Mann's Brown Ale...

But when two foreign backpackers showed up at a microbrewery's pub and seem to be asking for something like that, I think she really should have double-checked!

We (intentially this time) had something similar in the Czech Republic, but from a tap rather than a bottle. A bit like a cheap cola gone flat, but I've no idea what it was.

Right maybe they didn't want drunken Brit hooligans on the premises... bl**dy preconceptions !

Malzmühle in Cologne also do a Malzbier that's areal beer whose fermentation has been stopped at 2% ABV. Available on tap and in bottles, very malty, with a hefty dose of diacetyl... I've noticed that keeping the bottles for three months in the fridge does reduce that, though.

Cheers !

Laurent

It's one of the commonest weeds in Britain - there's certainly a huge patch of it on a local traffic island!

Mike Roebuck wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

You'll get funny looks, but ask for it without the syrups - much much nicer with a tart taste - very refreshing.