Unfiltered in Berlin

My quest for unfiltered German beer has lead me to Berlin, and in particular the brewpub Eschenbräu. This is not particularly easy to find, being hidden away round the back of another building, but it's worth it for their unfiltered beer, cider, and a wicked apple juice.

It's a funky laid back sort of place typical of Berlin, and has the highly commendable policy of allowing drinkers to bring their own food.

The Pilsner is a juicy golden colour but for me had a tad too much carbonation...

They also do a cider which was decent but again a bit too fizzy.

Onto "Hops and Barley", a brewpub which is located on a street full of hippy shops and stuff.

It's a cozy convivial place inside...

Their unfiltered pils seemed to use some non-standard hops; at first I found it a bit odd but it gradually grew on me.

Their 'special' was a Helles which, unusually, I didn't regret ordering.
If you ever saw "King of the Hill" then you might remember that once an episode there was one character who would speak a load of unintelligible gibberish in a strong southern USA accent. Whilst I was there an American geezer came in and started asking the staff for recommendations in what sounded like a double-speed impersonation of this character. He eventually got a Pils and retired outside, after which the staff conferred to try and come up with some guesses as to what he might have been asking.

Finally we have Brauhaus Südstern, a brewpub with a beer garden bordering a large park.

This place is highly unusual in that it does a Roggen Ale, which they tragically have renamed "Roggen Roll Ale" (the pub has a music theme). Despite this, it's a highly commendable German attempt at a top fermented beer.

There were some very interesting flavours in there because of the rye and barley - the only other one of this style I tried was the Stortebeker one, and this was far superior to that one.
The Helles is unfiltered and was infinitely superior to the bland ones you get in Munich.

All three are recommended, but Südstern comes out on top.

Kreuzberger Molle

"Distinctive" is not a word that you can usually use when describing German beers. There is a distinct conformity clogging up the whole of German brewing, visible nowhere clearer than in German brewpubs. Almost without exception they will offer the same tedious triad of beers; in Bavaria it will nearly always be light lager, dark lager, and wheat beer, with some slight variation in different regions of Germany.
It's a relief then, to find the odd exception, such as Berlin's Brauhaus Südstern, which offers "special" beers including IPAs, brown ales and fruit beers.
One of its beers, an unfiltered lager, is available at Berlin's "Max & Moritz", one of those places described as an "institution", although for what type of inmate it doesn't specify. This means that hardly any of the punters in there will be speaking German, the menu will have English translations, and the food will be overpriced. Never fear, though, for the beer, "Kreuzberger Molle", is one of the most distinctive in Germany. It has a surprisingly creamy element for a lager, and like Franconia's unfiltered lagers it goes down without you even noticing it. Fosters it ain't.

Berliner Weisse

"Ohne Schuss???!!?!?!!!?!???????!?!?!?!?!!?!??!?!!!???!?!?!?!?!?" The question is asked with great incredulity, and even suspicion if you are a foreigner. Does this idiot know what he's asking for? Such is the response when you request to drink Berlin's and possibly Germany's finest beer without the addition of red or green syrup.
And there you have it: an enormous portion of the beer drank in Germany is exceedingly bland and tedious, and yet they consider it to be the finest in the world. And then, when it comes to an excellent beer like Berliner Weisse, what do they do? Turn it into an alcopop. You just couldn't make it up.
Even the tourist literature tries to put you off: one pocket Berlin guide opines "Unfortunately Berlin's one native beer, Berliner Weisse, is only palatable with the addition of a fruit cordial". They must have a different definition of "palatable" to me, as with Schuss it tastes like a Creme de Menthe or something, and with the addition of the straw that they serve it with, it could well be Mark Almond's go to beer when in Germany.
The first time I tried it without this noxious addition, I braced myself for what I expected would be a mouth puckering sourness, and yet it isn't even remotely in the same ballpark as a Geuze. In fact the sourness is quite mild, and makes it a nice gentle quaffing experience.

Berlin Beer

Berlin once had, like the whole of northern Germany, a meaty brewing tradition influenced by Belgium. This was, unfortunately, obliterated by the evil Reinheitsgebot, so blame the Bavarians for the beeristically challenged nature of the modern Berlin beer scene. The more open minded nature of this part of Germany compared to their mountain dwelling southern cousins though is reflected in the fact that you consistently get a wider and less parochial choice of beer when browsing the shelves of a local supermarket.

These Braufactum beers weren't available in the Munich Galeria but were proudly on display in the Berlin branch on Unter Den Linden. They are a brave attempt by a German brewer to copy non-German styles such as IPAs and barley wines, and are all of a consistently high standard. They are let down though by the unnecessarily high price tag which means it's always cheaper to get these imported on the web - it's difficult not to suspect that the price is to make them "reassuringly expensive".

Achtung!!! Lausitzer Porter!!!

At the other end of the scale of German kopykat brewing, we have the truly vile excuse for a "porter" that is the Lausitzer variety. These have the ingenious extra ingredient of an entire year's sugar production of Brazil in each bottle.

I am rich, and drink Braufactum Porter     

I am poor, and drink Lausitzer "Porter"