Information in english
13th International Berlin Beer Festival
from 7th to 9th August 2009
Records in “ the longest beer garden worldwide “
More than 2000 specialities, 86 countries, 300 breweries
On its 13th anniversary the International Berlin Beer Festival taking place from August 7th to 9th 2009 is putting a special country into the centre of its attention for the second time. After having taken place against the background of “ 1000 years of traditional Czech beer culture “ last year - 2009 the traditional beer mile in the centre of Berlin is going to have “ beer land Belgium offers the very best “ as its motto.
In 2009 the beer land of Belgium is represented with 12 breweries. Brouwerij Housebrouck from Ingelmunster is selling its cherry beer “ St. Louis Kriek” which is one of the two festival beers of this year. It contains fresh sour cherries ( krieken in Flemish) , and within 6 months it ripens into a distinctive speciality. Due to cherry stones being processed the beer has a breath of almond flavour. The other festival beer of 2009 “ Grimbergen Dubbel” of Brouwerij Alken-Maes is a full-bodied, dark abbey beer with double fermentation.
This year Belgium also offers the beer novelty “Chimay”. This trappist beer is brewed by Cistercian monks and drunk from goblet-shaped glasses.
Further hits in the charts of beer novelties are “Lion Stout” from Sri Lanka, “Yebisu” from Japan, “Lekkerbier” from Amsterdam and “Beerlao”, a lager beer from Laos. Breweries taking part in the Berlin Beer Festival for the first time are e.g. “Old Speckled” from Bury St. Edmunds in England, the Jäcklein Brewery from Ilmenau , Gröninger Brauhaus from Hamburg, Burgbräuhaus Belzig, and the Brewery Hops and Barley from Berlin.
After last year´s big success of Czech beers having been in the centre of attention ( by the way, most of the breweries are taking part this year again ) its growing international character is giving a further impuls to the Berlin Beer Festival. There is a record participation in all spheres. This year there will be more than 300 breweries from 86 countries selling over 2000 brands of beer along the beer mile, which is 2.2 km long and ranges from Strausberger Platz to Frankfurter Tor. About 800 000 visitors and tourists are expected to enjoy the culture of beer.
A further attraction and special thing for beer lovers and collectors is the Pro-(Beer)-Mug – a small, limited beer mug with festival logo for 0.2 litres of beer. It is available in “ the longest beer garden of the world” and entitles visitors paying 1.50 Euro per filling to enjoy their different brands of beer. The fascination of the beer mile lies also in the fact that more than 300 artists from Germany and abroad will entertain the whole family by attractive live music on the 18 stages of the 20 beer regions. And all this is at free admittance ! Of course, there will be different culinary delicacies again representing the different beer regions.
PRAESENTA Ltd. in Berlin is the organiser of the festival. Its ideational sponsor is the association Private Breweries Germany e.V.
13th Berlin Beer Festival 2009
opening hours :
Friday 7th August: 12 to 24 hours
Saturday 8th August: 10 to 24 hours
Sunday 9th August: 10 to 22 hours
free admittance
infohotline: 030 -65 76 35 60
www.bierfestival-berlin.de
International Berlin Beer Festival
Every year at the first weekend in August more than 240 breweries from 80 countries present 1,800 different brands of beer. The Berlin “Beer Mile” which is directly located in the city centre is 2.2 km long.
This “longest beer garden of the world” reaches from Frankfurter Tor to Strausberger Platz stretching along Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin Friedrichshain.
In 20 different beer regions you can enjoy cultural and culinary specialities – beer is in the centre of attention with its inexhaustible variety, of course. Each brand of beer is only served once at the festival ground. The festival is accompanied by a live music programme which is taking place on 18 stages. Admission is free.
This unique annual Beer Festival has been taking place since 1997 and has been attracting hundreds of thousands of national and international guests since then. Last year a record number of 750,000 visitors came to the festival.
What is so special about this event?
Well, first of all it has the fascinating atmosphere of a folk festival with international quality, but at the same time it is a fair for experts and lovers of beer. Several new brands of beer are introduced each year, e.g. “Estrella Damm” from Spain, “Mord und Totschlag” from Germany, “Piast” from Poland or “Molson Olson” from Kanada.
Both young and old meet to enjoy this unique variety of beer in the beautiful summer of Berlin. The Berlin Beer Festival is a tourist attraction surrounded by the unique architecture of Karl-Marx-Allee.
Visitors can buy the official Pro(Bier)Krug (Pro(Beer) Mug) at the information points along the Beer Mile. The beer mug with the festival logo is a very special item for collectors and costs 3.50 Euro. It can contain 0.2 litres which can be filled for only 1.50 Euro at all stalls which participate in this trying-out-action. There is no deposit, no hassle! It just means to enjoy the party and to get a pleasant memory of it.
The festival is divided into 20 beer regions and each year another beer region is in the centre of attention.
After Northrhein-Westfalia in 2003, Baden-Wuertemberg in 2004 and Thuringia in 2005 the organizer of the event has chosen a special highlight on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the event in 2006. For the first time there was a brewery procession where a variety of historical brewery vehicles could be admired on the road. The year after 3 breweries of the north have been the centre: Flensburger brewery, Vielanker brewery and Stralsunder brewery. This year the International Berliner Beer Festival will come up to a new dimension. 32 breweries of our Czech neighbour will be the highlights.
The Federal Association of Medium-sized Private Breweries is the non-material representative of the festival, and Mr. Dr. Franz Schulz, Mayor of the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, is its patron.
The 13th International Berlin Beer Festival takes place from August 7th – 9th, 2009.
The organizer of the Berliner Beer Festival is PRAESENTA Ltd. Fairs and Events, Köpenicker Straße 325, 12555 Berlin; Telephone:030/ 65763560, Telefax:030/ 65763569, Internet: www.bierfestival-berlin.de, email: info@praesenta-berlin.de