Vagabund

America, with its insipid lager analogues and Budweiser even daring to crown itself ‘The King of Beers’, has long been an easy target for German beer-related jokes. Germans take pride in their 500-year-old Rheinheitsgebot (purity law), which stipulates that the only acceptable ingredients for beer are water, barley and hops. For centuries too, German pilsener was prized for its consistent flavor and regional variety, until giant breweries began to dominate, the purity law now a shackle to flavor experimentation. Step forward American craft beer producers, who in the US have been sprouting up in their thousands, doing battle with the big boys and using hops, yeast, herbs and spices from all over the world for their special brews. Now three old friends from Maryland have fulfilled their dream of starting a craft brewery here in Berlin after a wildly successful crowdfunding initiative. They run a homely taproom out of their Wedding microbrewery, with a rotating menu of beers, including their punchy double IPA and unctuous coffee stout, as well as local guest kegs from the likes of Heiden Peter and Eschenbräu.