Berlin XI – where next?

When you plan to meet up with old mates after work, there is alway the tendency to postphone it or to squeeze in an hour before you rush on to other obligations. Having two days together when people fly in and don’t have other committments is ideal. So where do we see each other next? [...]

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Catch them when you can

I went to the Vinmonopolet store in Vika, Oslo, yesterday. I did not expect much – the beer range has been rather bad since Christmas, but I was hoping to pick up a few bottles of Nøgne Ø #100. I walked out with quite a catch. Some of them were rather expensive, but…..

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Berlin X – epilogue

A whirlwind tour of Berlin micro breweries does, perhaps, not give them justice. But there are some observations to be made,  and a blogger does not necessarily have to have empirical data at the core of his arguments. First some words on quality. Places like Marcus Bräu, Brauhaus Mitte and Georgenbräu do not have much of a reputation [...]

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Nostalgia and wishful thinking

The Irish Times had an article recently taking as its starting point the feature in the Christmas edition of the Economist on the death of the British pub. The Irish pub industry is facing similar challenges, you’ll recognize the complaints about limiting drinking and driving and the horrible supermarkets selling beer below cost and leading [...]

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Mikkeller bonanza in Oslo

I really don’t have time 7 February. I have a family that needs me, too. But then Amund at Håndverkerstuene informs me that they will have the following Mikkeller beers available: On tap: Mikkeller Green Gold Mikkeller Cream Ale Mikkeller Czechet Pilsner Mikkeller Fra Via Til Mikkeller Not Just Another Wit   Bottled: Mikkeller Draft [...]

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Berlin IX – best brewpub in Berlin?

The contrasts between East and West are still very evident. Or, more correctly, the contrasts between the manicured center of town with all the landmarks and museums and the residential areas where people work, play and live their lives. Friedrichshain is ten minutes by taxi or U-bahn from Mitte, but it seems far away. Some of it [...]

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Berlin VIII – New brews and old sins

The former secret police  – Stasi - headquarters in East Berlin covers a sizeable area. Some of it seems to be used for health services, some buildings are covered in scaffolding, but if you look closely, you find that one of the houses contains the temporary exhibition of the Stasi museum. This grim part of fairly recent German and European [...]

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Berlin VII – A watering hole near the tourist spots

I won’t bother you with all the walking around on Sunday morning, but after trying, without success, to get into the dome of the Bundestag building, we were in need of some refreshment again. Extremely convenient then that there is a sister establishment of the Sony Center Lindenbrau next door to the Brandenburger Tor, the Hopfingerbräu im [...]

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Berlin VI – Marcus Bräu

By now my comrades had a suspicion there was a master plan behind it all, but they happily came along to yet another brewpub. There are only time constraints for me not having visited the Marcus Bräu before, it is just a stone’s throw from the Brauhaus Mitte. A friendly young waitress took orders. The beers were [...]

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Berlin V – No room at the Nußbaum

A long hot shower and a fresh shirt does wonders for me, and at eight we were at the front door, ready to venture out again. We set out for the Nikolaivirtel again, the restored old quarter right in the middle of town. I had plans to visit Zum Nußbaum, one of the old inns restored in the [...]

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