Beer Hiking Berlin: Discover the city one pint at a time

Dan Cole, co-author of *Beer Hiking Berlin*. Photo: Yvonne Hartmann

Germans would stamp their feet and exclaim in anger that hiking in a city isn’t really hiking but a mere Spaziergang. But Dan Cole and Yvonne Hartmann might be able to sway even the most stubborn native with the prospect of beer.

This isn’t a book about binge-drinking

Their book Beer Hiking Berlin hit the shelves just in time for the warmer months, with an extensive guide to no less than 40 brewpubs in and around Berlin, but also – and this is key – 40 beautiful hikes that lead you there. After all, as Cole stresses, “this isn’t a book about binge-drinking”.

Instead, it is an offshoot of a larger project that he and Hartmann have been working on for almost five years now: Hiking and Drinking, a joint blogging venture about hiking towards wine, beer and whisky in Germany and beyond.

Yvonne Hartmann, co-author of *Beer Hiking Berlin*. Photo: Yvonne Hartmann

Beer Hiking Berlin, meanwhile, focuses on breweries within the BVG zone. A trail tip from the author? “There isn’t a favourite,” Cole says motherly, “but there’s some quirky ones. In Grünheide, where Tesla is busy making self-driving cars, there’s a place called Flügel’s Hof, which is the smallest brewery in Brandenburg, if not Germany. The guy who runs it makes just two different beers and his wife makes cakes and sandwiches and stuff – it’s really quiet and cute.”

Berlin is now the best place for beer culture in the country.

Filled with well-known breweries but also places that took “fucking hours of research”, Cole and Hartmann present a must-have guide to Berlin for the bon vivant. So, put on your Wanderschuhe and pick a destination, or do it like the authors and take on the insane challenge of completing all 40 beer hikes in one summer.

It might take a toll on your liver, but with some exercise, plenty of frische Luft and sunshine mixed in, you’ll make up for this in no time – and it’s worth it, Cole says: “I travel a lot and have been to lots of places in Germany. And I would honestly say Berlin is now the best place for beer culture in the country. Fight me on that one!”