There’s no doubt that beer plays a huge role in German culture, both in terms of brewing and producing, but for various reasons, the craft beer boom hasn’t quite managed to take over the country in the same way that it has in the US and other European nations.
Hamburg has a long history of brewing, dating back 1000 years when brewing was the preserve of local monasteries and small family businesses. However, due to the German Beer Purity Law, or Reinhetsgebot, which was initially introduced to ensure that only top-quality, time-honoured ingredients are used in brewing, classic pilsners assumed dominance and caused beer in Germany to be a little too closely regulated and stifled innovation.
Yet in recent years, a new wave of microbreweries and innovators have been eschewing the Reinhetsgebot to produce innovative beers alongside the historic brewing industry. Independent creative breweries first began to appear in Berlin, making it Germany’s premier city for beer-lovers, but Hamburg is catching up quickly. While the big brands like Astra and Holsten dominate, a new scene has been bubbling under the surface for a while and now, thanks to the likes of Ratsherrn, Buddelship and Landgang. Here are some of my favourite beer experiences in Hamburg.
The Best Breweries and Taprooms in Hamburg
Landgang Brauerei
In the middle of Hamburg Altona, a little off the beaten track, is the Landgang brewery. Formerly known as Hopperbräu, Landgang has been around in one form or another since 2014 when it was set up by beer enthusiast Lars Großkurth who brought on board Sascha Bruns, a second-generation craft beer brewer who trained with Thorsten Schoppe from Schoppe Bräu. The brewery is located in an industrial complex in Altona where you can order a brew from their 10-tap bar made from a shipping container clad with wood reclaimed from a brothel on the Reeperbahn and drink amongst the stacks of bottles and brewing equipment. Landgang offer tours and tastings on a weekend as well as the occasional brewing course. Make sure to taste their seasonal Tutti Frutti sour.
Where: Beerenweg 12
When: Thurs & Fri 5pm – 11pm; Sat 12pm – 11pm
ÜberQuell
Located in the listed Riverkasematten building on the edge of St. Pauli’s fish market, ÜberQuell is one of the newest additions to Hamburg’s craft beer scene. The Bavarian head brewer, Tobias Hess, learned brewing at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences before furthering his craft at small Bavarian country breweries. He then travelled the world, studying brewing in Russia, the Caribbean, Uganda and Mexico before settling for a job brewing for UberQuell. The on-site brewery has 7 tanks, where they produce their core range of an IPA, a lager, a white IPA, pale ale and India pale lager as well as more experimental seasonal beers. The brewery is worth a visit for its cool interior and quirky outdoor garden where you can order a pizza straight from their pizza oven. They’re also big supporters of the local art community, collaborating with the students of the Stadtteilschule am Hafen school, St. Pauli primary school and Altonaer Kinder Küche (children’s kitchen), to create the “Green Pauli” urban farming project atop the roof of the brewery.
Where: St. Pauli Fischmarkt 28-32
When: Mon to Thurs 5pm – 11pm; Fri to Sun 2pm – 12am
Bunthaus
There hasn’t been a brewery in Wilhelmsburg for over 200 years, but thanks to two friends, Jens Block and Jens Hinrichs and their brewery, Bunthaus, the southernmost tip of Hamburg’s largest Elbe island is brewing once again. Tired of hobby brewing in a basement, Hinrichs enlisted the help of friend Jens Block, a biologist looking to produce edible mushrooms for the city’s catering industry who was also in need of production space. They joined forces, set up a crowdfunding campaign and eventually set up shop in Wilhelmsburg. As the beer grew in popularity, the mushrooms fell by the wayside, but luckily Block was able to put his biology expertise and knowledge of microorganisms to use, using brettanomyces and other wild yeasts, to produce sour or wild ales.
What sets Bunthaus apart is that they’re not afraid to experiment. In addition to the more classic craft beer varieties such as IPAs, pale ales, porters, and stouts, they also produce excellent and unusual sours such as a Flemish beetroot sour, an elderflower wild ale and a Vietnamese gose with fish sauce and lemongrass. Their taproom is only open two days a week but is the place to visit if you want to sample some unique and innovative brews.
Where: Kurdamm 24
When: Thursday and Friday 6pm – 12am
Ratsherrn Brauerei
Ratsherrn brewery opened its doors in 2012 and has quickly become one of the city’s most popular and successful craft brewers. Ratsherrn isn’t a new brewery though, it has been brewing since 1951 when the first Ratsherrn Pilsner was served in a pub, brewed at the Elbschloss brewery. Sadly, brewing in Hamburg declined towards the end of the 20th century and Elbschloss closed its shuttered up in 1995.
Deciding to update and makeover a recognised brand, the new Ratsherrn brewery set up shop in Schanzenhöfen, bringing in well-known American brewer, Ian Pyle, to revive its classic brews and is now one of the city’s most well-known and successful craft brewers. Their beer is available all over Hamburg, and they even run a brewery tour, although this is mostly conducted in German. To sample their beer, head next door to their pub, Altes Mädchen, or but a bottle from the Ratsherrn-run Craft Beer Store on the same site.
Where: Lagerstraße 30A
When: Mon to Sat 12pm – 8pm
Circle 8
Circle 8 is somewhat of a hidden gem in the Hamburg craft beer scene. Hidden away in Alsterdorf, closer to the airport than the city centre, this inconspicuous low-rise building is only discernable as a brewery thanks to the few picnic benches and stacks of kegs piled up out front. Circle 8 was founded by London native Nikhil Janie, who moved to Hamburg in the late 00s and decided to start homebrewing, eventually launching her own microbrewery in Alsterdorf – in the back yard of a former laundry – in 2015. A year later, she opened her own taproom on site. The taproom is open 4 days a week, from Wednesday to Saturday and has 10 taps, serving up the brewery’s core range.
Where: Alsterdorfer Straße 267
When: Weds to Sat 4pm – 8pm
Gröninger Privatbrauerei
With a brewing tradition that goes back 225-years, Gröninger Privatbrauerei is Hamburg’s oldest brewery. Gröninger has actually existed on the site as a hotel since 1260 and is thus the oldest guesthouse in the heart of the Hanseatic City, however, it wasn’t until 1793 that they started brewing their signature Gröninger Pils. Down in the bar’s basement, the atmosphere is much the same as it was 2 centuries ago, and you can settle in the cosy confines and tap your own Pils from old wooden barrels. Alongside Gröninger Pils, the bierhaus also serves a golden Hamberger Helles and fruity Gröninger Alsterwasser Orange, a mix of 50% Gröninger Pils and 50% orange juice.
Where: Willy Brandt Strasse 47
When: Mon to Fri 11am – 12am; Sat 5pm – 12am; Sun 3pm – 10pm
Buddelship
Buddelship’s beers have been brewed in their brewery in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel since 2014 with the aim of maintaining the cultural heritage of traditional beer styles as well as attempting creative new recipes. Bar Oorlam is the brewery’s bar where you can find 15 taps serving beer direct from the brewery as well as an exciting guest selection.
Where: Kohlhöfen 29
When: Tues to Fri 4pm – 10pm; Sat & Sun 3pm – 10pm; Closed Monday
Brauhaus Joh. Albrecht
Established in 1991 and sitting in a prime location right in the centre of town near the Rathaus and beside the Adolphsbrücke bridge, Brahaus Joh. Albrecht is a local institution and stalwart of the Hamburg beer scene.
Although this is part of a chain of brewpubs, beers are brewed on-site in the two huge copper-coloured vessels behind the bar and they’re known for producing one of the best Helles in the city, a crisp and bitter brew that actually has a fairly Pils-like taste.
Where: Adolphsbrücke 7
When: Daily 11am – 12am
The Best Craft Beer Bars in Hamburg
Braugasthaus Altes Mädchen
Translating as ‘old girl’, Altes Mädchen takes its name from a song about Hamburg by 1950s singer Freddy Quinn. However, it isn’t stuck in the past: This bar is an offshoot of Ratsherrn and located adjacent to the brewery in Schernshanze. There are 30 taps serving a wide range of Ratsherrn brews as well as an extensive bottle menu.
This former 19th-century animal market has been into a cool bar and restaurant serving regional classics and modern North German brewhouse cuisine but a word of warning, the food is a little overpriced, so maybe just stop by to hang out in the beer garden and sample a few of Ratsherrn’s ales.
Where: Lagerstrasse 28b
When: Mon to Thurs 12pm – 1am; Fri & Sat 12pm – 2am; Sun 10am – 1am
Galopper des Jahres
With 12 craft beers on tap and with a wide choice of bottled brews too, small and trendy Galopper des Jahres is one of the best spots for a craft brew in Sternschanze. Designed with beer lovers in mind: the stylish interior is modern yet rustic with a hint of the traditional German beer hall and chalkboards dotted around the bar let customers know what’s on tap. Owner, Gerrit Lerch, and the bar staff are incredibly knowledgeable and willing to talk you through their tap list.
Where: Schulterblatt 73
When: Mon to Weds 5pm – 1am; Thurs to Sat 5pm – 2am; Sun 5pm – 12am
Blockbräu
Situated beneath the iconic clocktower on Hamburg’s harbourfront, Blockbräu is an enormous beer hall renowned for its fresh, traditional German beers brewed on-site. You won’t find anything too exciting or out-there here: the beer hall options are the fairly standard Helles, Pilsner and wheat beer, although they do a wide range of seasonal beers such as a top-fermented winter beer, a festbier for when Oktoberfest rolls around, the dark Hamburger Senate Buck, and an autumnal porter. The beer hall is the perfect place to sit with a beer while enjoying views across the Elbe from their waterfront terrace.
Where: Bei den St. Pauli-Landungsbrücken 3
When: Daily 11am – 12pm
Alles Elbe
Located in the basement of Hein-Hoyer-Straße 63, somewhere between the rowdy and bustling Reeperbahn and Sternschanze’s super cool Schulterblatt, is Alles Elbe, run by local Jennifer and New Zealander Nigel, who met while living in Prague. Part pub, café, and speciality shop, Alles Elbe, or Everything Elbe, looks to promote high-quality products from the Elbe catchment area: single malt whiskey from the Spreewald, gin from Altona, wine from the Saale-Unstrut region, meats and importantly, craft beer. They have a wide and varied selection on tap, mostly consisting of Czech and NZ beers but with some local brews thrown in but they also have a good range of bottled beers to take away.
Where: Hein-Hoyer-Straße 63
When: Tues to Thurs 6pm – 11pm; Fri 6pm – 1am; Sat 6pm – 12am; Closed Sunday and Monday
WHERE TO STAY IN HAMBURG
If a vibrant nightlife, cafe culture and super cool neighbourhoods are your thing, then look no further than Superbude St. Pauli Hostel. Located between the hip areas of St. Pauli and Sternschanze, Superbude oozes style and embraces the offbeat nature of this part of Hamburg. Furniture in its airy reception/dining area is made from upcycled wheelbarrows, the headboards in its rooms from old goal nets – a nod to St. Pauli’s famous football team – and clothes hangers come in the form of plungers stuck to the walls. It is quirky and humorous without being pretentious. Despite styling itself as a hostel, this is more a boutique hotel in terms of quality and customer care but without the extortionate prices. They also have a hostel located in St. George if you need your bed to be a little more central.
Check out my review of Superbude here.
