Man’s favourite drink has been around for several thousand years and it holds a special place in both our history and our bellies. It kickstarted the agricultural revolution, it prevents kidneystones, and it gives you that last drop of courage needed to step your game up on the dance floor to amaze the ladies. We’ve looked around the bottomless pit of universal knowledge known as the internet, and managed to bring up some interesting facts about the amber brew. Be warned, though: reading this article will most likely result in an excruciating craving for a pint!
There are over 400 different types of beer, with Belgium being the home for the most individual beer brands in the whole world, with around 400 brands to their name. Not bad for a small country of 11 million people, right?
The oldest known written recipe was for beer, found on stone tablets from 5,000 years ago. The thirst for beer was actually one of the main reasons behind Neolithic people abandoning their wandering, hunter-gatherer way of life in favor of settling down and starting farming, so that they could grow grain for brewing beer, thus changing the course of human history for ever.
Beer has been serious business ever since Hammurabi has written his ancient laws in 1750 BC: his Babylonian Code called for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of watering down their beers. Compared to our time, it sounds like a good world to live in, doesn’t it? By the way, the expression “honeymoon” has Babylonian roots, too: back then it was customary for the bride’s father to supply his new son-in-law with all the honey beer he could drink, because they believed that it increases the chance of a male progeny. And since the calendar of the ancient Babylonians was lunar based, they called this period the honey month, from whence came today’s “honeymoon”.
One of the lesser known benefits of beer (besides preventing kidney stones) is its amazing mineral conent. No wonder it was a staple of many diets during Medieval times! Beer provided laborers, farmers, and even their children with much needed calories and minerals, as well as quenched their thirst on long and hot summer days.
Black Cab Burger
One of the forerunners of the gastro revolution that hit Budapest in 2011, a name that soon became the synonym of juicy, tasty burgers, Black Cab operates on Mester utca and on Rákóczi út with two classic, London-style burger joints that also serve hot-dogs as well as English ales, soft drinks and ciders. Seasonal specialties are also worth a try: ask for the Smoky Ranger in toasted buns if you want to recall the feeling of the best BBQ parties of this summer. If you’re more of a gourmet type and have a thing for hot spices, go for the Chilli Burger that will surely captivate your senses! While supplying Budapest with hellishly good burgers, Black Cab also actively promotes recycling – both restaurants collect waste and left-overs in selective bins, making the burger joint a stand-out in the Hungarian fast food scene.
Léhűtő
Léhűtő Craft Beer and Tapas Bar warmly awaits desert-throathed visitors with altogether eleven taps – 7 of which can be found in Léhűtő 1, while Léhűtő 2 offers 4 of them – dedicated to an ever-changing variety of quality Hungarian craft beers, ranging from the newest stars of the scene to the most popular delicacies. In addition, they serve about 30 types of IPAs, wheat beers, doubles and stouts in bottles, with juicy hamburgers and bitefuls of Spanish tapas dishes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the courtesy of Léhűtő’s chef who had spent a considerable amount of time perfecting his cooking in restaurants in Spain. Get lost in the whirl of amber brews in one of their pubs located exactly seven and half steps from one another and discover your inner beer aficianado!
Pepin Craft Beer Pub
Named after Bohumil Hrabal’s beloved Uncle Pepin, this craft beer pub is located in the recently refurbished pedestrian street of Tompa utca in the 9th District: the tiny but all the more homely venue represents a common ground between literature and beer, serving products made mostly by Hungarian microbreweries (although you can find a number of Czech and Belgian brews as well), in bottled versions and on taps. At Pepin, you can snack on biteful of meets from Püski Manufaktúra, and munch on cheese plates from cheese-master Mária Hóka, while sipping on a delicious draught from your own engraved pitcher.