Nikolaiviertel in person: Annett Greiner-Bäuerle and the Georgbraeu
One of Berlin’s few in-house breweries is located directly on the banks of the Spree: Brauhaus Georgbraeu – run by Annett Greiner-Bäuerle since 2014.
How long have Georgbraeu and the Nikolai Quarter been a part of your life and how much time do you spend here?
I’ve been in the Nikolai Quarter since 2010 and actually only go home for a night’s sleep. In fact, the center of my life is actually here, just like it is for the residents and many other business people. But as a real “East Berlin kid”, I knew the neighborhood before that, of course.
Oliver Kassan and I bought the Georgbraeu in 2011. Oliver had been the master brewer here since 1992, when he was the youngest master brewer in Berlin. In 2010, the owner at the time, Peter Härig, told him that he wanted to retire and sell the business, preferably to us. We didn’t have to think about it much and then we convinced the bank of our abilities. We finally got the financing and took over the business, but on November 6, 2011, my husband had his first biopsy and then came the cancer diagnosis. I’ve been running the company by myself since July 2014, and before that I also cared for my husband.
How long has the Georgbraeu actually existed with this name?
The Georgbraeu was opened in October 1992. Before that, there was a self-service restaurant called “Spree-Büffet” on the premises.
That’s a long time. What makes the Georgbraeu a special place for you?
We are a real family business here. We treat each other like a family and we stick together. I value that very highly. There are many personal relationships in the team and in the entire neighborhood. For me, the Georgbraeu is simply one of the most beautiful places in the world. There’s our beautiful beer garden, the location on the Spree, the beautiful view of the Georgsdenkmal and so much more.
And of course: we produce our own beer. Our brewing kettle is basically in the middle of the dining room. Guests often praise the great decoration and we often have to explain that it’s not decoration, but real equipment that we use for production. And in the basement we have our serving tanks.
What is a serving tank?
In a restaurant or pub you normally get your beer from 50-liter kegs, which first have to be transported there by the brewery or wholesaler. This always means that the beer is moved around a lot and of course that the cooling chain is interrupted, neither of which is really ideal. And here our beer always flows directly from the serving tanks to the tap.
What do you put in the glass?
Let me put it this way: we were already making craft beer when nobody was calling it that yet. By the way, you can also buy our beer for home consumption, but only directly from us and not from retailers. And of course we also brew a naturally unfiltered beer and don’t remove all the tasty and good stuff like many large breweries do. We also make four special beers each year, where the brewers can have some creative fun. Mostly Maibock, a pale ale, summer wheat and a Christmas beer. But of course everything is brewed according to the traditional purity law, without adding any “exotic” flavors. I still find it fascinating how you can create completely different flavors in beer with different yeasts and hop varieties.
The food on the menu is also traditional…
Yes, and we always freshly prepare everything on our menu, to the extent that we even grind the meat for the meatballs ourselves. Simply because we want to know exactly what we have in the pan. And our guests know exactly what they are getting. Our bratwurst is also only available here, made according to a Georgbraeu recipe by our butcher, and the knuckle of pork is not grilled but braised. I’d call it Berlin cuisine with passion. We also don’t do Oktoberfest, because: we are Berliners.
No Weisswurst?
No Weisswurst.
But of course we are also evolving with the times and there are now many more vegetarian dishes on the menu than a few years ago. For example, our Christmas menu will once again include our red cabbage roulade with a chestnut filling. So yes, you can have a great Christmas dinner without meat.
Finally, let’s come back to the location. What makes the Nikolai Quarter special?
First of all, of course, the obvious fact that you have a quiet haven in this bustling city. You walk in here and have the impression of being in a village. And people know each other here, which I think is great and important. And as a business location, the big difference to shopping malls is that the business owners actually work here. They work for themselves and for their team and not for a corporation or a chain store. That makes a huge difference and our guests really appreciate that.
Brauhaus Georgbraeu • Spreeufer 4 • 10178 Berlin • Tel.: (030) 242 42 44
Website: georgbraeu.de • E-Mail: info@georgbraeu.de