Astra brewery pub returning to St. Pauli

The north German brewery pub will be located on the site of Möbel Brandes at the Reeperbahn’s west end. Holsten Brewery will continue producing the traditional Astra beer while experiments can be expected in St. Pauli. New types of beer such as pale ale or cellar beer will go on sale there. Around ten storage tanks and 20 taps will form the pub’s centrepiece facilitating annual production of 1,400 hectolitres of beer. The menu will feature traditional north German fare. The brewery aims to make the pub an inclusive part of the neighbourhood and foster local culture. The plans foresee performances by local artists who can also put their works on sale there.

The recipe for Astra beer dates back to 1647 and it was known as “Bavaria Beer” after the brewery in St. Pauli until the late nineteenth century. In 1909, the beer was given it’s current name: Astra Urtyp. The City of Hamburg purchased the brewery when it ran into financial difficulties in the 1990s. Eventually in 1999, Holsten Brewery took over the site. After the closure in 2003, three skyscrapers were built on the site namely the Empire Riverside Hotel, the Astraturm and the Atlantic Haus.

Carlsberg, the world’s fourth largest brewery, acquired Holsten Brewery in 2004. In early 2016, the Holsten Brewery announced a move from Altona in the south of Hamburg to Hausbruch to make room for a new suburb called “Holsten Quartier” consisting of apartment buildings and industry. The ground-breaking ceremony for the 67,000 square metre site was held in October. The area is due to go into operation in spring 2019.
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