Berlin Beer Week
Sep. 5th, 2021 04:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeIt has been a week largely dedicated to drinking, on account of it being Wolfie's birthday and then the start of Berlin Beer Week - a 10-day festival of craft beer at various venues all over the city. I keep calling it Leeds Beer Week, perhaps on account of the Leeds Beer Festival also taking place this weekend. Alas, we have had to miss it for the first time in seven years (last year's cancellation aside), which we are gutted about. Still, we did manage to secure refunds and Berlin Beer Week is a happy substitute. This has enabled us to try a range of different places and beers, starting off with Berliner Berg and Muted Horn on Friday evening. It was a nice way to start the festival as the weather was very pleasant, meaning sitting in the beer garden of the Berliner Berg Brewery was a good way to start the weekend. We have set up a Telegram group for a number of local interested furs and on Friday evening, Fiasco came to join us, although by the time he finished work, we had been drinking for nearly four hours. I felt a little bad about being a little drunk but he caught up incredibly quickly, being quite drunk by the time we moved over to Muted Horn in Neukolln. This is a craft beer bar not too dissimilar to those back in the UK, which made Wolfie in particular pleased, while we were also allowed to order food from a local takeaway and have it with the beers. There were a number of sample trays available, which we imbibed, and by the time we had gotten to midnight, we had had enough. It was great to sample a range of new flavours, but with me starting to feel down, we thought it would be best to leave. We also had Saturday's schenangians to enjoy.
We started early on Saturday, heading out to the Fuerst Wiacek Brewery for 1:30pm. This was two hours later than we had initially intended, initially thinking their brewery tours were at noon rather from noon on every hour. Upon arrival, we realised we had to sign up for a brewery tour and had missed out on the 2pm, but they squeezed an additional tour at 2:30pm so we could have a look around. Their brewery is in Siemansdamm, quite close to where we live in Spandau, and is on an industrial estate. It's a small but efficient operation, with a load of new equipment which made Raevinsky, a furry who works in the brewing industry, feel somewhat jealous. We had arranged to meet up with him at Fuerst Wiacek, where we shared a few beers from cans while we were waiting. It was in a car park and the weather was somewhat overcast, but perched on pallets with huge nails sticking out of them, there was quite a good vibe and we even saw a number of people who had been down at the Berliner Berg Biergarten the night before. We got talking to a Scottish guy who had a Polish girlfriend - someone who seemed to drown out his girlfriend's presence - and he ended up travelling with us to the Vagabund Brewery up in Wedding, where we were due to go after Fuerst Viacek. Considering both the Scottish guy and Raevinsky live up there, it was odd that I had to do the navigating once they had fucked it up, but we did get there eventually, after dropping by Raevinsky's house for a tactical piss.
Vagabund was quite busy and is situated in an old industrial complex of light orange bricked mills and similarly styled chimneys. It had a Northern Monk vibe to it and here we got to meet some of Raevinsky's work colleagues, who also work in the industry. Many of them were Americans, with a huge range from cool guys to slight tits, but it was humbling to be asked about my pronouns from one - the first time this has happened to me outside of the furry fandom. The queues at Vagabund were insane - taking forty minutes at one point to serve the beer - meaning that we didn't drink too much here. We were also stood outside and it was getting progressively cooler as the night wore on, becoming quite bitter once the sun had gone down. We grabbed some southern style fried chicken in a scone from the one and only street cart vendor - this was incredible but somewhat insubstantial - while the Scottish guy and his Polish girlfriend left us without saying anything. At one point, we became a little split up as Wolfie and I headed inside to find a table and some of the other guys became fragmented too, but by the time 9pm rolled around, having had all of the Vagabund beer, we fancied going somewhere else. Cue Schneeeuler Taproom - a place that only does sours and Berliner Weisse in the neighbourhood. It was a fifteen-minute walk through a park but it was quite pleasant chatting with the brewery lads and once there, the owner of the bar seemed delighted to see us. It was very quiet, but he was very knowledgeable and took us through all of the sours, which were stacked in the fridge from youngest at the top to oldest at the bottom. The Russian lady behind the bar was really knowledgable too and started cutting huge chunks of Dutch cheese for us to sample from a truckle after the owner said he was happy to give it to us. A few people had a beer and shot chaser, but we confined ourselves to the tangy sours, while Fiasco, who had arrived at around 5pm at Vagabund and we had made him wait there for forty-five minutes, brought some chips in from a local takeaway which went down well. Equally interesting was the artwork in the toilet, one of which depicted the Queen ripping the head off a corgi and the other an autopsy of Zippy from Rainbow being performed by Ed the Duck, Gordon the Gopher and Sooty and Sweep, amongst others. It was very British specific, which made it quite out of place in a bar in a Berlin suburb.
Wolfie was all beered out today, so he decided not to join me as I headed down to Bar Amelie for the Unverhopft and Friends takeover. This was very IPA-heavy, with about twelve available, all 0.3l samples for €4.50. They were pretty standard affairs, but interestingly the bar wasn't a craft beer one, it was just one getting in on the craft beer action. It was good though, although being alone was a little saddening. I had two beers there and bought five cans back for Wolfie and I to sample later, with Unverhopft primarily being a craft beer shop in Neukolln. We had intended to go down to here and Brewdog later in the day, but we have probably had too much to drink over the last few days.
The other thing that happened this week was Wolfie's birthday on Wednesday. This saw us finish work early and then head over to Manifest, where we had invited some of the Fureigners out. In the end, it was just Taliesin and Notefox in addition to Wolfie and I, with a few people suffering from depression or insomnia and thus unable to come. Still, we met the same waitress we had met back in July when we visited and she remembered us, giving Wolfie a range of shots including Mexicanas and a Listerine-type thing to celebrate his birthday. We also drank a good number of beers from their menu and chatted about a range of stuff. Sat outside in the sun, underneath some plants, it was all very pleasant and we were quite surprised just how close the place is to Spandau by public transport. It certainly lightened my mood after another difficult week at work, where it is clear I am paid to do rather than to think. Having been berated for showing initiative twice in as many weeks, and effectively to wind my neck in on Wednesday, I have decided I'll just do what I am told and will leave it at that. With Wolfie likely to be quitting his job in the coming days, I will stick on here until the New Year at least, but I can't say I am happy with how things are. They may change, and I'll see where we stand in a few months' time, but maybe next year will see another change of direction regarding my career.
The only other thing we have done this week was on Thursday, when we went on the Seven Lakes Boat Tour. We had been meaning to do a boat tour for a while and noting that they stop in early October, we thought Thursday would be a good opportunity to do so. We had booked the Thursday off following Wolfie's night out, but in the end, weren't feeling too bad. We were certainly able to get down to the harbour in Spandau, some five minutes' walk away, for 2:30pm. It was a three and a half hour tour around the lakes to the west of Berlin, with some absolutely stunning scenery. The way the Havel River opens up after Spandau into a huge lake upon which there are many sailing boats and canoes was breathtaking, as were a number of interesting churches and follies we saw as we chugged on by. We had a few beers en route, along with some sausage and delicious potato salad, but my bladder was playing up and I needed the toilet quite regularly. Most of the people on the cruise were elderly, with most doing all of it, but some getting on and off at Kladow. They had cake in the downstairs area on their shortened cruise, while us holidaymakers bagged all of the open-seating upstairs. It was relaxing and fun chugging along, getting to see a range of different things, although the journey was perhaps an hour too long. Still, it was great to get out and about and we're hoping to do the Spree Tour before they wind up in a month's time.
We started early on Saturday, heading out to the Fuerst Wiacek Brewery for 1:30pm. This was two hours later than we had initially intended, initially thinking their brewery tours were at noon rather from noon on every hour. Upon arrival, we realised we had to sign up for a brewery tour and had missed out on the 2pm, but they squeezed an additional tour at 2:30pm so we could have a look around. Their brewery is in Siemansdamm, quite close to where we live in Spandau, and is on an industrial estate. It's a small but efficient operation, with a load of new equipment which made Raevinsky, a furry who works in the brewing industry, feel somewhat jealous. We had arranged to meet up with him at Fuerst Wiacek, where we shared a few beers from cans while we were waiting. It was in a car park and the weather was somewhat overcast, but perched on pallets with huge nails sticking out of them, there was quite a good vibe and we even saw a number of people who had been down at the Berliner Berg Biergarten the night before. We got talking to a Scottish guy who had a Polish girlfriend - someone who seemed to drown out his girlfriend's presence - and he ended up travelling with us to the Vagabund Brewery up in Wedding, where we were due to go after Fuerst Viacek. Considering both the Scottish guy and Raevinsky live up there, it was odd that I had to do the navigating once they had fucked it up, but we did get there eventually, after dropping by Raevinsky's house for a tactical piss.
Vagabund was quite busy and is situated in an old industrial complex of light orange bricked mills and similarly styled chimneys. It had a Northern Monk vibe to it and here we got to meet some of Raevinsky's work colleagues, who also work in the industry. Many of them were Americans, with a huge range from cool guys to slight tits, but it was humbling to be asked about my pronouns from one - the first time this has happened to me outside of the furry fandom. The queues at Vagabund were insane - taking forty minutes at one point to serve the beer - meaning that we didn't drink too much here. We were also stood outside and it was getting progressively cooler as the night wore on, becoming quite bitter once the sun had gone down. We grabbed some southern style fried chicken in a scone from the one and only street cart vendor - this was incredible but somewhat insubstantial - while the Scottish guy and his Polish girlfriend left us without saying anything. At one point, we became a little split up as Wolfie and I headed inside to find a table and some of the other guys became fragmented too, but by the time 9pm rolled around, having had all of the Vagabund beer, we fancied going somewhere else. Cue Schneeeuler Taproom - a place that only does sours and Berliner Weisse in the neighbourhood. It was a fifteen-minute walk through a park but it was quite pleasant chatting with the brewery lads and once there, the owner of the bar seemed delighted to see us. It was very quiet, but he was very knowledgeable and took us through all of the sours, which were stacked in the fridge from youngest at the top to oldest at the bottom. The Russian lady behind the bar was really knowledgable too and started cutting huge chunks of Dutch cheese for us to sample from a truckle after the owner said he was happy to give it to us. A few people had a beer and shot chaser, but we confined ourselves to the tangy sours, while Fiasco, who had arrived at around 5pm at Vagabund and we had made him wait there for forty-five minutes, brought some chips in from a local takeaway which went down well. Equally interesting was the artwork in the toilet, one of which depicted the Queen ripping the head off a corgi and the other an autopsy of Zippy from Rainbow being performed by Ed the Duck, Gordon the Gopher and Sooty and Sweep, amongst others. It was very British specific, which made it quite out of place in a bar in a Berlin suburb.
Wolfie was all beered out today, so he decided not to join me as I headed down to Bar Amelie for the Unverhopft and Friends takeover. This was very IPA-heavy, with about twelve available, all 0.3l samples for €4.50. They were pretty standard affairs, but interestingly the bar wasn't a craft beer one, it was just one getting in on the craft beer action. It was good though, although being alone was a little saddening. I had two beers there and bought five cans back for Wolfie and I to sample later, with Unverhopft primarily being a craft beer shop in Neukolln. We had intended to go down to here and Brewdog later in the day, but we have probably had too much to drink over the last few days.
The other thing that happened this week was Wolfie's birthday on Wednesday. This saw us finish work early and then head over to Manifest, where we had invited some of the Fureigners out. In the end, it was just Taliesin and Notefox in addition to Wolfie and I, with a few people suffering from depression or insomnia and thus unable to come. Still, we met the same waitress we had met back in July when we visited and she remembered us, giving Wolfie a range of shots including Mexicanas and a Listerine-type thing to celebrate his birthday. We also drank a good number of beers from their menu and chatted about a range of stuff. Sat outside in the sun, underneath some plants, it was all very pleasant and we were quite surprised just how close the place is to Spandau by public transport. It certainly lightened my mood after another difficult week at work, where it is clear I am paid to do rather than to think. Having been berated for showing initiative twice in as many weeks, and effectively to wind my neck in on Wednesday, I have decided I'll just do what I am told and will leave it at that. With Wolfie likely to be quitting his job in the coming days, I will stick on here until the New Year at least, but I can't say I am happy with how things are. They may change, and I'll see where we stand in a few months' time, but maybe next year will see another change of direction regarding my career.
The only other thing we have done this week was on Thursday, when we went on the Seven Lakes Boat Tour. We had been meaning to do a boat tour for a while and noting that they stop in early October, we thought Thursday would be a good opportunity to do so. We had booked the Thursday off following Wolfie's night out, but in the end, weren't feeling too bad. We were certainly able to get down to the harbour in Spandau, some five minutes' walk away, for 2:30pm. It was a three and a half hour tour around the lakes to the west of Berlin, with some absolutely stunning scenery. The way the Havel River opens up after Spandau into a huge lake upon which there are many sailing boats and canoes was breathtaking, as were a number of interesting churches and follies we saw as we chugged on by. We had a few beers en route, along with some sausage and delicious potato salad, but my bladder was playing up and I needed the toilet quite regularly. Most of the people on the cruise were elderly, with most doing all of it, but some getting on and off at Kladow. They had cake in the downstairs area on their shortened cruise, while us holidaymakers bagged all of the open-seating upstairs. It was relaxing and fun chugging along, getting to see a range of different things, although the journey was perhaps an hour too long. Still, it was great to get out and about and we're hoping to do the Spree Tour before they wind up in a month's time.
