A Beer Tourist’s Guide To…Budapest
Budapest was waaaay ahead of the game before most of continental Europe. We first visited in 2008 and they already had epic bars, and by the mid-2010s it was considered an early craft-beer paradise among the central European traditionalists. Since then, not much has changed, with a solid scene of stalwarts without too much recent innovation – probably because they don’t need it. Here is your guide to finding high quality, old school craft beer in the very heart of Europe, pilsner and kellerbier be damned.
Ahh, 2015. Donald Trump was only a weird orange reality tv show guy, Brexit was just a sound people made when they sneezed, and IPAs were clear, clean and smelled like pine and citrus. MONYO brings back the glory days for the last one, with the same core lineup of beers for a decade gracing its dimly lit, pub-style taproom just south of the city centre. A strong lineup of specialty beers and a fun little food menu complement the classics for Budapest’s OG craft brewery since 2015. If only it could sort out those other two things.
HOPAHOLIC Craft Beer Bar & Food Budapest
Ignore the kitsch run of the mill name; this is a phenomenal little dive bar with a tonne of Hungarian indie beer on tap and even more in the fridge. The owners are friendly and up for nerding out over their offerings, the music is indie-pop punk, and the vibe is “we’ll close when the last drinker is done, even if it’s a Sunday”. The place is tiny but everyone is pretty chatty and you could easily get stuck for a while once you’re in there.
This is where the city centre local hipsters go to drink, and the only bar on this list that is very much not set up for tourists. The beer list features 6-7 indie beers at any one time, spanning Hungary and Czechia, and each of a different style. Grab a pint from the bar for a couple of quid’s worth, try your best to find a seat and people-watch to your heart’s content.
Another name that leaves much to be desired, this is right on the stag-do tourist strip so beware the Brewdog emblem outside and a potentially rowdy vibe on the weekend. That being said, the niche appeal of having Untappd ratings on their beer list screen in their small front room scares away most of the lads on tour, so you should be fine getting tasters of a wide variety of Hungarian beers from the bartenders and finding a seat in their more spacious back area. If you’re bored for some reason, go sticker-spotting around the walls – it’s a historical and geographical gold mine of beer nerd lore.
The city centre taproom for FIRST Brewery, this is a suave, laid back spot with table service only. The enormous beer list showcases all of FIRST’s beer style diversity and quality, while the food is a US-centric homage as you might expect from the name. They also have non-alcoholic beers in the fridges from other local Budapest breweries, something that is more of a rarity in this list.
At this point, you will be forgiven for wondering why nearly every bar has the key part of their name in all caps. We are also wondering, and may we wonder together, ideally over a pint of Mad Scientist Brewery’s top rated tipples. The beer here is fantastic, creative and also, it must be said, quite expensive by Budapest standards. A large, sprawling restaurant-style venue, there is a large food menu and other high quality drinks on offer too – perfect for groups looking for the higher end of the craft beer scene.
Awkwardly situated on the junction of two busy roads in the centre of the city, Beer Brothers makes the most of it with plentiful seating and attentive table service underneath a covered outdoor arcade. Their solid beer list takes in many of Hungary’s harder to find indie breweries, at pretty affordable prices given their rarity, and their indoor space is simple, small and easy going.
Towards the northern part of the city centre, Parabolic Lazarus is a quirky little underground brewery that doesn’t get many tourists of the non-beer-nerd-ilk. Sparsely furnished with plastic seats, a TV screen, and adorned entirely with white walls scrawled with marker pen of drinkers gone by, you are encouraged to add to the aesthetic while sipping a beer made just a few metres away. The subterranean nature of the brewery makes it a perfect hideout during the stifling summer heat or the bitter snowy winter, and the beer selection is small but delightful, even if the music choice is…let’s call it “eclectic”.
There are plenty of other venues for creative boozing – this is the bar-capital of Europe, after all – but we believe these are the best places for beer tourists to Budapest to get a taste of the local indie beer scene. Egészségére!