Back to Baran and Cacti

After my first visit to Baran Cafe earlier this year, the cafe has become one of my favourite beer temples in Bergen. Friendly bartenders, a nice atmosphere and an excellent selection in draught beers with 16 taps. That some of them are dedicated to craft breweries like Haandbryggeriet, Nøgne Ø and Ægir make Baran a must for visitors to Bergen. In addition to this Naboen and Henrik are nearby, so the Engen area of Bergen has become a mecca for beer lovers.

On my recent visit to Baran Cafe I wanted something simple and ordered a lager. Not just any lager, actually, as I decided to have a Pilsner Urquell. Sure, it is better on tap in the Czech Republic, but it is probably the best lager beer you can get on tap in Norway.

From the visitor statistics I see that many visitors these days look at my post about Cacti Art Cafe in Bergen. A new visit was therefore neccessary to see if the cafe had changed during the last months. Cacti Art Cafe has a reputation of having many beers available, but this month I only found three draught beers. Just like in August these were Bitburger, Mack Arctic Beer and Erdinger wheat beer.

Of course the bottled beer menu is large at Cacti Art Cafe, but I am interested in draught beer. I can drink bottled beers at home. Therefore I ended up with Mack Arctic Beer from tap. This is a nice Norwegian pale lager with a distinct nose and body with a grainy character. It was as expected at Cacti Art Cafe, but I should have chosen the Bitburger. It is a better beer.

Cacti Art Cafe has a better draught beer selection than most pubs in Bergen that normally only sell Hansa or Ringnes pale lagers. But to have exciting draught beer, I prefer other places than Cacti Art Cafe. Baran Cafe is one of them, but it is on the other side of Bergen's city centre. But if you want bottled beers in that neighbourhood, why not try Bar Barista at Stølegaten street? It has an exciting and cozy atmosphere that Cacti Art Cafe lacks.