Let’s face it, Budapest is up to its eyeballs in craft beer. Where there once was little but mass-produced lager, there are now exciting small-batch, locally brewed ales in all kinds of flavours, served at lively, high-design locales, mostly in the city centre or party quarter. Some provide top-notch food, others lay on brewery tours. Here we offer you our pick of the best. Cheers!
BREWDOG BUDAPEST
Scottish global chain BrewDoghas had a pawhold on Budapest since late 2018, when it opened at a central location. The best brews from Scotland (and special guests) flow from 25 taps, while breakfasts and brunches also feature. The selection is impressive – presented on a cinema-style schedule board – and currently includes examples from local breweries such as MONYO (Boris the Blade), Hara’Punk (Son of a Bitch) and Fehér Nyúl (Sanson Rural). You’ll find this spacious outlet in the dog-leg street of Anker köz, off Király utca, as central as you can get without serving Dead Pony Club India session ale in the underpass of Deák tér metro station.
FEHÉR NYÚL TAPROOM
Fehér Nyúl, Budapest’s own White Rabbit Brewery, had long been associated with the most prominent venues around the city before it finally opened its own taproom and started laying on tours in 2018. Set in a former textile-painting shop in south Pest, this modest drinking den operates on Friday and Saturday evenings or by appointment. Fehér Nyúl’s full assortment can be sampled, its APA, IPA, White Passion Bavarian wheat beer with mango and passion fruit, and White Stag white stout with cocoa beans and coffee. Brewery tours are also provided – the next takes place on Thursday, 25 July at 7pm. The 90-minute guided visit is carried out in Hungarian but occasional English explanations should feature – and the beer will be universal.
FIRST CRAFT BEER
One of the many success stories of Budapest’s artisanal ale revolution, FIRST Craft Beer now also run a prominent pub and kitchenin the city centre – but its headquarters remain at the brewery between the Árpád híd and Forgách utca stops on the blue M3 metro line. Here, an open bar operates from mid-afternoon five days a week, pouring FIRST’s own brews (Irish red ale, chocolate vanilla imperial stout, Belgian witbier) from ten taps. Hungarian-language – usually English-friendly – tours take place on Friday and Saturday evenings.
HOPAHOLIC
‘In Hop We Trust’ is the motto here, a funky little spot in the party quarter where ales are rotated at dizzying speed. Current examples include Hand of the Mad King, Fog Breaker and Temporal Purgatory but that can change any day now. Created by guerrilla brewer Armando Otchoa and Csakajósör! owner Gergely Kővári-Marschall, Hopaholic is beer geek heaven, the tap list and bottled selection featuring favourites from around the world. They won’t serve shots or wines, but they will have hermelín (pickled cheese) made according to a Czech recipe, and other snacks. If you’re coming with a group, book a table. Closed on Sundays.
HOPS BEER BAR
Set in Budapest’s party quarter, HOPS was opened by brothers Gergő and Zoltán, whose father had a long history in the hospitality trade. The décor is worthy of note, wallpaper created from beer coasters, a ceiling of old hops sacks. Today it’s overseen by BEERSIDE, the official local distributor of top brands such as Mikkeller, Omnipollo, Pohjala and Tired Hands, so you can sample decent specialities. It’s both a bottle shop and a bar with ten taps.
HORIZONT TAPROOM BY LÉHŰTŐ
Renowned local craft brewers Horizont run Léhűtő in the Gozsdu Udvar, offering over a dozen tap brews in two rooms. In the larger space, beer flows from 13 taps, more than half of them Horizont’s, while the smaller one serves three types of Horizont as well. The horizontal design accentuates the branding, while a monitor above the counter is connected to ale specialists Untappd to show the popularity of the brew you have chosen. Baguettes and burgers also feature, and the team often organises club nights and meet-the-brewer events.
JÓNÁS CRAFT BEER HOUSE
Open until 2am at weekends, Jónás brings the riverside Bálna building to life thanks to its range of ales and Danube-facing terrace. Run by the founder of adventurous local brewers Reketye, Zoltán Reketye-Trifán, Jónás often strays into international waters, offering global favourites such as Paulaner and Mort Subite.
KEG SÖRMŰVHÁZ
The man behind KEG Sörművház, Zoltán Halász, wrote a blog called Művelt Alkoholista (‘The Cultured Alcoholic’). Now he is riding the craft-beer wave with KEG. Halászhas transformed a former gym into a well-structured expansive space, with a small stage for acoustic concerts, TVs on the wall for live matches and a tree-shaded terrace for observing the revived bustle of Bartók Béla út. Within are 32 beer taps. Shunning the hipster trend for chalking up ale choices on a board, Halász has created a digital interface not unlike an airport departures board, showing the provenance and price of the brew concerned. Half of the selection consists of the most popular varieties, the other half of special small-batch brews, with an overall 50/50 split between domestic and imported.
NEKED CSAK DEZSŐ
More bistro and beer palace than an honest-to-goodness bar, Neked Csak Dezső stands near Blaha Lujza tér in the shadow of the Baroque Chapel of Saint Roch. This sturdy corner building has long been a graveyard for new bar ventures. This time, the bar in question is the once cultish Dezső, which garnered a substantial following from its long-term stint on nearby Dohány utca. With 32 craft beers, new-wave coffee and quality bistro food, the bar name still celebrates in name and neon the revered, once banned, Hungarian film The Witness.Source: WLB
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