Craft Beer In Berlin: Touring Brauerei Lemke

Traveling to Germany and indulging in its world-famous beer culture is practically a rite of passage, and Berlin offers the perfect backdrop for this experience. Determined to dive headfirst into the city’s vibrant beer scene, we made it our mission to explore its iconic beer gardens (biergarten) and seek out an unforgettable brewery tour.

Among the city’s craft beer pioneers, Brauerei Lemke stood out as the must-visit destination. This microbrewery, at the heart of Berlin’s craft beer revolution, promised not just a taste but an immersion into the artistry of brewing—the guide was informative, the beer was tasty, and we left happy.

Brauerie Lemke, Berline, Germany; beer in Germany, brewery tour

Take the time to visit Brauerei Lemke in Berlin, Germany:

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Basic Info

Das Lemke Branch

Address: Dircksenstre., S-Bahnbogen 143, Berlin-Mitte, Germany
Hours: Monday – Saturday: 12:00pm ~ 11:30pm; Sunday: 1:00pm ~ 10:30pm
Join a tour: You can join on Visit Berlin

The History of Brauerei Lemke

Opened in 1998, Oli Lemke is the visionary behind Brauerei Lemke. After studying brewing engineering at VLB Berlin, he turned his passion into a hands-on project, welding his first brewing system in a garage.

Interestingly, he apparently started with a menu of ales and Japanese skewers of all things. I’m a fan of Japanese skewers, but apparently most of his clientele didn’t really get his vision. Rather than try to convince the customers he knew what they wanted, he switched up his concept thankfully.

We visited the Das Lemke brewpub, nestled beneath the historic brick arches of the S-Bahn railway at Hackescher Markt. These atmospheric arches serve as the brewery’s headquarters and the starting point for their brewery tours.

The Brewery Tour

The best way to get introduced to Brauerei Lemke? Join a 2-hour guided tour and learn about the brewing process from the brewhouse to the bottling. After enjoying that, I recommend staying on for dinner with drinks. Just makes sense, doesn’t it?

When we first arrived, we were taking through the main bar and restaurant space and straight to the back door where we came upon outdoor seating. Following our guide, it seemed like we were leaving the bar completely behind and had somehow joined a street art tour.

The street art and murals add quite the flair to the exterior in the back and once our guide opened the doors in an arch down the way, we realized the brewery was actually under some other arches. Our group tucked inside to find barrels and a long wooden table with benches.

We took our seats to first hear about the history of the brewery, the vision, and learn a bit about each of the beers on the menu currently. We weren’t seated long though as we had to go see the actual brew space, which was in the next arch over… or under I suppose is more accurate.

The barrels around us hold the slowly maturing Lemke Barrel-Aged brews. With a pretzel and some water, we sat and tasted six different beers while hearing the stories of the start, the processing today, and the maturation process.

Dedicated to quality artisan craft beer, there is a great selection of classic Berliner Weisse beers, hoppy IPAs, Helles Lager, dark Barrel-Aged Stouts, Barleywines, and my favorite, Sours.

The beers were fantastic. I enjoyed everything I tasted, but there were two sours that I enjoyed more than anything else. There’s something about the summer heat and a good crisp sour beer that really makes me swoon.

Dinner & Drinks at Brauerei Lemke

We stayed into the evening enjoying a delicious meal with plenty of beers all around. We started off with a simple but flavorful salad followed by mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and some filling meat balls. And finally, we supped on some apple pie. The menu is a far cry from that Japanese skewer start, but oh so delicious.

I highly recommend visiting Brauerei Lemke at least for dinner and drinks, but for a whole tour if you have the time while you’re in Berlin, Germany. Sit down, drink up, have fun!

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