A Local's Guide (2026) Berlin is a beer city — but not in the way Munich is. Where Bavaria has beer halls and Oktoberfest, Berlin has beer gardens older than the German state, craft breweries hidden in former industrial sites, and bar owners who know more about hop varieties than most sommeliers know about wine. When I was scouting venues for my BeerBerlin map, I visited over a hundred spots. Picking five was difficult.
Here are the five beer places in Berlin I'd take a friend to — chosen to span five neighbourhoods, five very different eras of Berlin beer culture, and five completely different evenings.
Prater Garten
Berlin's Oldest Beer Garden
If you only visit one beer garden in Berlin, make it Prater Garten. Open since 1837, this is the oldest operating beer garden in the city — chestnut trees overhead, long wooden tables, and a cold one poured straight from the Berlin brewery tradition. It sits on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg, exactly where Berliners themselves go on the first warm afternoon of spring. Order a Prater Pils, grab a bench, and watch the neighbourhood walk by. It doesn't get more Berlin than this.
Kastanienallee 7–9, 10435 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg
Beer garden daily from 12 pm (in good weather)
Restaurant Mon–Sat from 5 pm
Brauerei Lemke
Berliner Weisse Done Right (Mitte)
A few steps from Hackescher Markt, under the railway arches on Dircksenstraße, Brauerei Lemke has been brewing its own beer since 1999. The speciality is something most cities don't have: a proper Berliner Weisse. This sour wheat beer originated in Berlin in the 17th century, and Lemke still produces it using traditional three-culture fermentation. They make it in several versions — a pure Budike Weisse, one fermented with real raspberries, one with real woodruff, and one aged on oak barrels. Brewery tours (in German always, English for groups of 10+ with advance booking) end in the pub with a tasting. If you want to understand why Berlin has its own beer style, this is the classroom.
Dircksenstraße, S-Bahnbogen 143, 10178 Berlin-Mitte *
Daily 12–00 pm
James June Sommergarten
Tank Pilsner on Karl-Marx-Allee (Friedrichshain)
Set in a green oasis on the grand socialist boulevard of Karl-Marx-Allee, James June pours unpasteurised, unfiltered tank beer Pilsner Urquell — the real thing, shipped in tanks directly from the brewery. On a good Berlin summer evening, there's no better afterwork spot. The 1,000 square metre site is being fully redesigned in 2026 and reopens in May with a new look that leans into the retro 1970s aesthetic of its surroundings.
Karl-Marx-Allee 93, 10243 Berlin-Friedrichshain
(after May 2026 reopening)
Daily 3 pm – midnight (summer season)
Hopfenreich
Kreuzberg's Craft Beer Pioneer
If you want to know where Berlin's craft beer scene actually started, it was here. Hopfenreich opened as Berlin's very first dedicated craft beer bar and has been a pilgrimage site for hop lovers ever since. The list rotates constantly — 22 taps pouring everything from German IPAs to experimental Berlin-brewed sours, with international guest kegs dropping in whenever something interesting lands in town. The bar is small, warm, and exactly the kind of place where the person pouring your beer actually knows what fermentation vessel it came out of.
Sorauer Straße 31, 10997 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Daily from 5 pm
BRLO Brwhouse
Modern Craft in a Train Container (Schöneberg)
On the edge of Park am Gleisdreieck, BRLO Brwhouse is the most photogenic craft brewery in Berlin. The building is made of stacked shipping containers, the beer list rotates through creative small-batch brews, and the kitchen is proudly vegetable-forward — a rare combination in a country that likes its sausage. Founded in 2014 by three friends (Katharina, Christian, Michael), BRLO has grown into a full craft operation, with an outdoor beer garden in summer that catches the evening light over the park. Come for the beer, stay for the grilled cauliflower.
Schöneberger Straße 16, 10963 Berlin-Schöneberg
www.brlo.de ([email protected])
Tue–Fri from 5 pm · Sat–Sun from 12 pm · Closed Mondays
Want More Berlin Beer? This list is just the tip of the tap. If beer is your way into Berlin, you'll want more:
Besides on my BeerBerlin map, you can find more of Berlin's beer spots on my blog:
And the real thing: my BeerBerlin fold-out map covers every spot above (plus 30+ more) on three walking routes through Berlin's beer-heavy neighbourhoods. Printed, pocket-sized, made in Berlin by a Berliner.
Discover Berlin like a local. 🍺
Write a comment