When approaching the gate of Élesztő, a quiet murmur reveals that we are at the right place. Turning in, we find ourselves in an inner yard that looks like a ruin pub with a lot of greenery, adequately quiet music and a very long line. The thirsty masses.
Still, we are served in ten minutes. We can spot one of Élesztő’s owners, Dániel Bart behind the beer taps. He is the author of the Folyékony kenyér blog (Liquid Bread blog) and the organizer of Főzdefest. For those of you who don’t know the story: he started as a wine drinker and was later asked to write Gösser’s sponsor blog so he became absorbed in beer. So much so that shortly afterward he declared a beer revolution, organized Főzdefest, a beer festival, embraced the cause of craft beers and now he serves everything in a glass worthy of attention (on the left in the picture below).
As we look above the counter, we discover why there is so much excitement:
These are draft beers. 17 different kinds (by Saturday only 16), which in itself is puzzling, and all of them are specialties. Old beer, sour cherry beer, brutal, millet and elderberry, you can get all sort of beers here. For now, they are all Hungarian brands, but barrels will be coming from London soon.
We get our beers, a glass of Hopfanatic, Splash and Távoli Galaxis (Distant Galaxy). As we walk to the rear, we notice a semi-dark inner room with armchairs on the right. From here you can go down to an especially scary cellar to the restrooms with the lingering smell of fresh paint still in the air.
You can feel the residual atmosphere of the former Tündérgyár (Fairy Factory) everywhere, which the owner has yet to transform from one of getting high and lying about to one of drinking beer in a fun atmosphere. Apparently they did not have enough money for it, which is later confirmed by Dániel: the entire budget can be found on invoices from DIY stores.
However, the place will still undergo changes. As shown on the invitation card, the owners want to set up a gastro boulevard with the yard in the middle turned into a walking street with several rooms on the right and the left. They will be expanding in the hundred year-old building step by step, which was originally built as a glass-blowing plant, but later it was used as a parking lot and nobody cared much about its condition.
There will be a beer tasting and brewery school, a theatre hall, lectures, an apartment restaurant upstairs where you can also stay, beer dinners downstairs, and next to the entrance a coffee bar is opening shop.
And now the beers. I started with a Hopfanatic Splash, which is a light lager, but you shouldn’t think of tasteless watered-down beers. This is an exciting beer rich in flavor, produced by a brewery recently opened in Kiskunhalas.
But what really astonished me was Távoli Galaxis. This beer made by the Legenda Brewery just recently received the Grand Champion title of the 2nd Hungarian Homemade Beer Competition, and accordingly, it’s an incredibly exciting drink. First, the scent of elderberry hits you, and with the first sip you begin to sense intense aromas and a full body, but it’s not an offensive bitterness, it’s a sip that you can bite on and something easily drinkable and pleasant. The aftertaste has its own afterlife, staying in your mouth for a long time with its sweet, pleasant aromas. Brilliant. By the time I finished my mug, I was told that they had run out of it. Not only for that evening, but for good, since that was all the brewery produced. That’s what is meant by craft beer: a brewer makes a few hundred liters that people drink quickly and that’s it. Then comes the begging, like please make some more of it, because it was so good.
I’m sending the same message to Zoltán Róth, the brewer of this beer.
So, Élesztő is a great place, the beers are wonderful and the atmosphere is pleasant. The interior could do with some revamping, but if the plans materialize, this will cease to be a problem. You can see the prices yourselves. If you don’t buy the cheapest mass-produced beer in the city center but something a bit more expensive, you’ll end up paying the same. The experience, however, is light-years away from what you can get there.
After the test Csaba and I went over to Léhűtő as well. In principle it’s the same kind of venue, the drinks are of the same quality, and Dániel Bart is also one of the founders, but it’s still different. It’s a few meters away from the busy Gozsdu Court and located in a basement, but after Élesztő I wasn’t in the mood to sit down here. It was quiet, with a sense of stuffiness, and the candles didn’t manage to convince me that I should stay.
I still recommend this place to those who come around here. You can get seven kinds of craft beer on tap, and although the prices are a bit higher than in Élesztő, you don’t need to leave the center of the city’s nightlife to do so.
Élesztő
1094, Budapest, Tűzoltó utca 22.
Opening hours: Monday through Sunday, 15:00 – 03:00
elesztohaz@gmail.com
Léhűtő
Budapest, Holló utca 12-14.
Translation provided by Helpers Business and Immigration Services. Find us at www.helpers.hu
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