Around The World In A Weekend With Only A Beer Glass
The International Berlin Beer Festival, an annual an event on the first weekend in August, offers over 1,800 different varieties of beer from over 300 breweries in 86 different countries Tam Eastley for NPR hide caption
The International Berlin Beer Festival celebrated its 15th year this weekend with sunny weather, countless bottles of beer, and bizarre bands covering music from around the world and throughout the ages.
The festival had a typically German feel; candy stands sold Germany's famous gingerbread hearts, sausages were served fresh off the grill, and the smell of fish sandwiches and roasted garlic lingered in the air.
But the International Berlin Beer Festival had more to offer than the normal German fare.
On Saturday evening, I stepped out of the Frankfurter Tor U-Bahn station onto Karl Marx Allee. The famous and grandiose domed towers loomed overhead and the music of Muse, the clanging of beer glasses, and the noisy cheers from a suspected 800,000 drunk beer enthusiasts echoed in the background.
I weaved through the tight crowd, claustrophobic at times, through the over 2 km long beer mile, which strives to be the longest in the world. On every side of the walkway was a different beer stand serving over 1,800 different varieties from over 300 breweries in 86 different countries. There were a variety of well-known beers from Germany, like Becks, Flensburger and Astra, as well as many different international beers for those looking to try something a little different.
The St. Louis Brewery of Belgium served cherry beer. The Guinness beer stand was accompanied with a serenading Irish folk singer and a guitar player strumming well-known Irish tunes. A quarter of the way down the beer mile, bamboo stands with paper lamps served Vietnamese cuisine and Saigon, Habeco, Sabeco and Hanoi Beer. Baltika Beer from Russia had a large beer garden close to a stage pumping Elvis Presley songs.
Karl Marx Allee hosted the festival 2 kilometer long beer mile. Tam Eastley for NPR hide caption
The International Berlin Beer Festival is an exciting, albeit somewhat exhausting event. As the day lingers, the crowds get larger, drunker and more rowdy. In addition, although entrance to the event is free, the beer is quite expensive (at least 4 euros including deposit).
But when the weather is warm, and the music is playing from 18 different stages, there's nothing better than sipping an unconventional beer and spending a night wandering along the former GDR's majestic boulevard with 800,000 of your closest friends.
Do you know of unexplored neighborhoods, markets, or hole in the wall spots I should visit in Berlin? Send me an email at tam.berlintravel@googlemail.com and we'll talk.