Buddelship is a Hamburg craft brewery, and the place to drink it is Bar Oorlam, the brewery's own taproom on Kohlhoefen in the historic Neustadt. The bar opened in 2017 as a joint project with the Filosoof jenever distillery from Amsterdam, a few minutes from the Grossneumarkt. It pours Buddelship straight from the source.
Who would love it: a craft beer drinker who wants fresh, local Hamburg brews and a chance to try jenever properly. Who might not: anyone after a polished cocktail room, because Oorlam is a relaxed, living-room kind of bar built around the beer and the people behind it.
The draw is the tap wall. Mit Vergnuegen Hamburg counts 15 taps here, most of them pouring Buddelship with a handful of guest beers, plus around 50 bottles in the fridge. The range rotates often, so the board rarely reads the same way twice.
What to order: ask what is freshest on the day. Buddelship's rotating lineup runs from a rye IPA to seasonal one-offs like a wheat beer brewed with Hokkaido pumpkin and a tart sour ale, and the bartender will steer first-timers well. The Filosoof jenever is the other reason to come, an Amsterdam spirit you will rarely find this well kept in Germany.
Priya Nair's read: treat Oorlam as a brewery tasting room rather than a night out. Come early in the evening, sit at the bar, and work through a few small pours with whoever is serving. The conversation is half the experience here.
The room itself is small and quirky, with lounge seating and a bottle shop feel, the kind of place where the person pouring your beer often brewed it. It sits in the Neustadt close to the Grossneumarkt, easy to fold into an evening around that square. Hamburg Travel describes it as a cozy craft beer and jenever bar in the heart of the old town, which matches the feel exactly. Bottles line the shelves for takeaway, which makes it as much a bottle shop as a bar.
The crowd is a mix of Hamburg beer regulars, curious locals and visitors who tracked the brewery down. Prices stay reasonable, usually 10 to 20 euros a head, and the atmosphere runs warm and unhurried. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from late afternoon and stays shut on Mondays. There is no kitchen to speak of, so this is a place for drinking and talking rather than dinner, though snacks appear when the brewery has them.
What regulars consistently flag is the freshness of the beer, the friendly and knowledgeable service, and the strength of the bottle selection to take home. Buddelship and Bar Oorlam hold a 4.6 rating across 559 reviews, which is a high mark for a room this small. The main caution is the size, so weekend evenings fill quickly.
Best time to go: a weekday evening when the bar is quiet enough to talk through the taps, or a Saturday afternoon from 3pm. See where it sits among Hamburg's craft beer bars, read our wider guide to the best bars in Hamburg, or browse the full Hamburg bar guide.
Pair this bar with
For Hamburg's flagship craft beer hall, head to Altes Maedchen Hamburg in the Schanzenviertel. For the brewery behind much of the city's modern scene, Ratsherrn Brauerei Hamburg runs tastings and a taproom. And for a classic St Pauli brewery experience, Astra St Pauli Brauerei keeps the local beer theme going.
Sources
Buddelship official site · Mit Vergnuegen Hamburg · Hamburg Travel · Yelp Hamburg · venue listings (accessed 2026-06)
Reviewed by Priya Nair, barsforKings. Published Dec 10, 2025. Last reviewed Apr 16, 2026 · How we pick bars
