Craft Corner

* After many difficult months, brought on by the Covid crisis, Craft Corner had to shut its doors in April 2022 * Craft Corner opened its doors over two years ago in December 2017 in Bonnevoie, not far from the central train station in Luxembourg City. The bar was founded by a small group of friends and family members, turning their hobby and passion for good drinks and food into their profession. This self-proclaimed "gastro bar" has quickly become one of our favourite and go-to places to grab a drink and is definitely one of a kind in Luxembourg. Its unique concept, philosophy, as well as interior design just sets it apart from the many pubs, or so-called "cafés", you find in the Grand Duchy.

When you walk into the bar, it becomes quite evident that craft beer plays a very important role at Craft Corner. Craft beers are brewed by smaller, independent breweries, often using hand-selected ingredients and producing only smaller batches of each beer. This quite clearly sets them apart from the big, mass-producing brewery corporations.

With usually around 10 craft beers on tap and many more available in bottles and cans, Craft Corner is a craft beer lovers dream. On the menu, which is handwritten and displayed on the wall next to the bar, you can find all the beers available on tap, and they usually have a good, balanced mixture of different types of craft beers, such as IPAs, NEIPAs, stouts and ales as well as sour beers (my personal favourite). Generally, you can find one or two local Luxembourgian beers as well. There are three different beer glass sizes available: small (0,2l), medium (0,3l), as well as pint-sizes (0,5l), and prices per glass vary depending on the type of beer, the brewery and where it was imported from.

The menu changes regularly and you can always check what they are currently serving on their Untappd profile. Make sure to follow them on Untappd to receive updates and alerts about anything that is happening at Craft Corner. For all the beers available in bottles and cans you can also check the menu on their website or on the tablet next to the till. Plus, for those who need to drive, there are great quality alcohol-free beers available.

If one of the beers on tap runs out, bad luck, but they will immediately bring out another keg from their line-up. This also ensures that you always have great quality, fresh beer from all over the world. In case you are not familiar with the different kinds of beers, the Craft Corner staff is extremely knowledgeable and always happy to help you choose the right beer for you. We can also really recommend their beer flights, which is a selection of 5 sample size beers from their tap menu, either chosen by you or the bartender. This enables you to try and discover different types of beers and breweries at the same time.

If you do not like beer or do not drink alcohol, Craft Corner is still a great place to go. They have a nice selection of wines, white, red and rosé, sparkling wine (a must in Luxembourg) as well as handcrafted cocktails and long drinks such as Apérol Spritz, Gin Tonic or my personal favourite, a Dark 'n Stormy. Craft Corner has also recently released its own range of home-made soft drinks, such as iced teas, lemonades, colas and tonics, which are great for the summer. They are not as sweet as store-bought drinks, and they put out some creative flavours such as lemonade with rose and lemon or a tonic with cinchona and juniper. They are currently working on some house cocktails, which are crafted with their home-made soft drinks and I can't wait to try them all!

They also have cold brew coffee including the very trendy nitro cold brew. This special coffee is infused with nitrogen gas through a pressurized valve and served from a whipped cream container. Through this process, the coffee comes out very creamy and foamy and it very much resembles a pint of Guinness.

You can go and grab a drink at Craft Corner at any time from 4 pm till 11 pm Monday through Wednesday, from 4 pm till midnight on Thursday and Friday and 2 pm till midnight on Saturday. On Sundays, the bar is closed.

One of the unique selling points of Craft Corner is the Bouneweger Brauerei. This microbrewery was founded in 2018 and is actually located in the back of the Craft Corner building. Eric, brewmaster and creative mind of the Bouneweger Brauerei is crafting some amazing beers right in the heart of Bonnevoie, hence the name of the brewery. Craft Corner is actually the exclusive taproom for the beers of the Bouneweger Brauerei and you can't get them anywhere else. Though the brewery was only founded two years ago, they already have an extensive list of beers they have produced in the past, which you can check out on their Untappd Profile. Some favourites include Checkpoint Charlie, a fruited Berliner Weisse; Andy Campino, an Altbier and Black Pearl, a dark, barrel-aged stout. It is amazing to see what this little brewery creates and you can really taste the freshness, love and care in each of their beers. They will soon put out a barley wine as well as fruited wheat beer, which I am really excited to try.

Besides the beers which are brewed in Bonnevoie, the team has actually launched another beer project: HappKapp & Friends. Wanting to produce a good quality, straightforward IPA but limited by the room capacity at the brewery, the Bouneweger Brauerei actually collaborates with the Drei Kronen brewery in Germany to brew their IPA recipe in bigger batches. This enables them not only to produce bigger quantities but also to bottle the beer up and to create different variations of their IPA, which is called Siggy. We are big fans of the Siggy IPA range, which you quite often find on tap at Craft Corner. Usually, you can either find a beer from the Bouneweger Brauerei or from the Siggy range on the menu.

If I would have to describe the vibe at Craft Corner, I would call it casual but classy. Its interior has been refurbished with care, using light wood and contrasting dark colours. The bar is located on a street corner and has large window fronts, which makes the whole space bright and inviting. There are a couple of chairs available at the bar as well as two large high tables as well as low tables. During the summer, there is a terrace out front, where you can enjoy your beer while catching some sun. As there are currently still social distancing rules in place, indoor seating is currently a bit limited and the Craft Corner team is making sure that all health and safety precautions are taken.

The highlight of the space is, however, the tap installation: a long row of 10 different taps, on a stylish copper pipe, stretching all along the bar, which is painted in a very trendy petrol colour. On the wall behind the bar, you'll find a large selection of quality spirits. All in all, their branding and interior design are very clean and straightforward, which I personally really like. They also have great quality and chic glassware for their beers. If you want to, you can purchase them for 2 Euros per glass. Plus, on the back wall, they also display a cool art piece. They currently do not sell any merch but this might change in the future, hopefully.

Craft Corner's clientele is very diverse, young and old, locals and ex-pats, men and women, who all come to Craft Corner to enjoy a refreshing drink, alone, as a couple or as a group of friends. Often times, you will also see people playing cards or board games. Some people sit there for hours chatting about, others just pop in for a quick beer. This is a great place to come together, to hang out, have a chat or simply ponder life.

Craft Corner is located in the heart of Bonnevoie, only a few minutes' walk from the central train station in Luxembourg city and easily accessible by bus or bike. Bonnevoie is a very diverse, residential neighbourhood, that once had a bad rep but which has recently been changing quite a bit and where you can find many restaurants and bars. Parking is notoriously difficult in Bonnevoie but you are usually able to find a spot in one of the surrounding streets, where parking is free after 6 pm. Alternatively, you can use the parking at the public pool, which is only 3 minutes away on foot. The only draw-back that comes with this convenient and central location, is that it is still quite close to the train station and as with most train stations, from time to time you might cross some dodgy people, though we never really had an issue, everybody usually minds their own business.

Luxembourg went into lockdown due to the pandemic beginning of March and restaurants and bars were only allowed to slowly open back up in June. Obviously, the catering sector was hit especially hard during but the team from Craft Corner continued to keep people hydrated by offering a home delivery service for their canned and bottled beers during the confinement.

Not only was this a great way for us to support a local business but this also enabled us to try out different beers and breweries which we might have overlooked. Some of our favourite breweries we discovered during those weeks were Brouwerij Kees from the Netherlands, Brekeriet from Sweden or Pühaste from Estonia. The delivery service was actually quite successful and helped to keep the business afloat during those difficult weeks. The delivery service is still up and running, so if you live too far from Bonnevoie, you can hop onto their website to put your order in. If you are close by, you can also come to the bar and pick up some bottles or cans. There actually is a 20% discount for take-away and delivery on all bottled and canned beers.

Craft Corner is not a full-blown restaurant but they have a range of savoury snacks and small plates, which are perfect for sharing. Their menu is seasonal and changes regularly. Some of their snack staples are salted popcorn with rosemary and thyme, which sounds simple but tastes amazing, homemade pretzel with a warm beer-cheese dip, fresh picco de gallo and hummus with crackers. If you want a bit more, they have a platter with cured meat, served with bread and olives as well as a Mediterranean platter, with hummus, feta, marinated mushrooms and crackers. Feeling a bit peckish? You can get a glass of Spanish Jumilla wine, paired with a bite of Serrano ham and Manchego cheese, a great combo.

For some of those items, the price might seem a bit steep but considering that Chef Brian makes everything himself and with care, I gladly pay a couple of Euros more. Availability can be limited and sometimes they do run out of items but I feel that does speak for the freshness of the food. On some nights they also have specials, such as mini pulled pork burgers, which the usually announced on their Facebook page, alongside their events, such as quiz nights, which they hold a couple of times a year. The Craft Corner team is looking to expand their food range in autumn and fingers crossed, we might be seeing some more dishes and maybe even weekend brunches.

The craft beer industry in Luxembourg is booming but the pubs or bars where you can actually enjoy craft beers are rather limited. Craft Corner's emphasis on great quality drinks and amazing craft beers, therefore, make it a simply outstanding bar. The great thing is, everybody is going to find a drink at Craft Corner, whether it's alcoholic or not and it is definitely one of the best places to enjoy a beer in Luxembourg in a casual, yet beautiful setting. We cannot recommend this place highly enough.

If you wanna follow our beer journey, be sure to check out our Instagram and Facebook page as well as Chris and my Untappd profiles.