Went to St. Petersburg recently and it is a magnificent city that I can recommend to all Steemers. Of course I did all the touristy things like the canal cruise, bus tour, visit Peterhof and the cathedrals.
The Hermitage and other museums and palaces I’ll do next time as I just wanted to get to know the city first. I also visited the Grand Maket which is Russia in miniature with many many many trains !!!! I will write about that in my next post but this time I want to tell you about the great Craft Beer culture in St. Petersburg.
When we arrived at our hotel I noticed an unexpected yet very promising sign next door: “Craft Beer Shop”. For some reason my wife immediately accused me of booking this hotel because of its proximity to this shop. I honestly had no idea but as wives are: they just don’t believe you.
When I searched the internet trying to find craft beer bars in St. Petersburg I was not very successful. The bars I found on the web looked quite touristy or had too many side activities to be considered a real craft beer bar.
So much to my surprise there was this craft beer shop right next to our hotel. It was tucked away in a somewhat run down courtyard but at least the signage was adequate enough to locate the place where the lack of signage is all too often a big problem in Russia. It even had a small bar to sample and drink the many fine crafts they had for sale. The very helpful and perfect English speaking shop assistant not only helped me pick some fine IPA’s but also gave the addresses of St. Petersburg best craft beer bars. He wrote the names and addresses on a beer coaster (how appropriate) and it turned out to become of the best advice I have ever gotten!!
Craft Beer Bar "Taps&Bottles" (Тапки) Liteyniy prospekt, 64
This bar is in a courtyard behind a gate so just ring the bell and they will open it for you. The interior is very attractive and they have a nice selection and knowledgeable staff. The kitchen was recommended to me as Serbian with very good prices. Turns out they only had Serbian style hamburgers and with hamburgers Serbia does not exactly come to mind but boy were they good. Huge burgers that were nice and spicy with big, excellent tasting beef patties. The beer was great too so I can highly recommend this place. For cat lovers like myself: a few doors down is the cat café. Tea, coffee and pastries with two rooms filled with cats!!!!
Craft Beer Bar "Jawsspot" (ulitsa. Mayakovskogo, 11)
Excellent true craft beer bar. The simple interior is perfect as it does not distract you from what this place is all about: Craft Beer!!! Great staff that knows what you are looking for when you ask for a Russian IPA as bitter as possible. People were enjoying their craft beer outside the café on the sidewalk as the weather was beautiful. Go check this place out!!
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Craft Beer Bar "Redrum" (ulitsa Nekrasova, 26)
This bar has the combination of craft beer and interior a bit mixed up as it looked a bit like a Cuban cocktail bar to me. However, the beer selection was good (AF brewery beers St. Petersburg) and the staff was very helpful. Close to Jawsspot and my next stop so add to your list.
Craft Beer Bar "Ward #6" (Tchechova 10)![IMG_1616.JPG]
Small hole in the wall, but very nice place. Beer lovers run this place so good advice on what to drink. They also have local artists display their work in the café and they change art every Saturday. Close to aforementioned bars so it should be part of your craft bar hopping tour of St Petersburg.
Happy Hop Hunting!!!!!!