Holy Craft Beer Bar: Düsseldorf’s International Craft Beer Hotspot

Düsseldorf’s Holy Craft Beer Bar Celebrates a Decade of International Brews

Düsseldorf’s first craft beer store, Holy Craft Beer Bar, is celebrating its tenth anniversary, offering a diverse selection of beers from around the globe. Founded in 2015, the bar has become a destination for beer enthusiasts seeking alternatives to traditional German brews.

Located in the heart of Düsseldorf’s historic Old Town (Altstadt), Holy Craft Beer Bar was the vision of Sebastian Knepper and Thorsten Kulmann. Knepper, initially a wine enthusiast, discovered his passion for craft beer during a trip to the West Coast of the United States. “I actually wanted to visit the classic wine regions in Sonoma Valley, but the wineries were less attractive than I thought,” Knepper explained, according to Visit Düsseldorf. “Instead, I found a craft beer bar with 25 taps.”

After an extensive tasting, Knepper returned to Germany and partnered with Kulmann, a fellow trained gastronome, to bring the concept to Düsseldorf. The pair initially lost touch after working together in the same hospitality company, but reconnected and decided to launch Holy Craft.

The bar’s interior blends modern design with vintage elements, featuring light wood and shabby chic furniture. A world map adorned with pins marks the hometowns of the bar’s international clientele. Guests are encouraged to add their location to the map if they are from outside of Düsseldorf.

Holy Craft currently offers 12 craft beers on tap and over 60 bottled varieties. The selection is constantly changing, sourced from small, independent breweries primarily in the USA, Scandinavia, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Knepper actively seeks out unique brews, sometimes relying on online beer apps and user reviews to discover new offerings. “Sometimes it’s a blind purchase, where you have to rely on ratings and comments from other users,” he said, as reported by Visit Düsseldorf. “Our guests expect a constantly growing assortment, so we have to take some risks when purchasing.”

The bar caters to a diverse crowd, with an average age between 30 and 51, and roughly one-third of its patrons being female. To encourage experimentation, all beers are available in 0.1-liter glasses.

While Holy Craft offers a wide range of international beers, it also serves traditional German Altbier and Helles for those seeking familiar flavors. The bar has evolved over the years, initially opening a store on Friedrichsstraße in 2015, which closed in late 2023, and later opening the current bar location in 2017. A second location in Essen was also opened in 2020 but closed in November 2023. Knepper and Kulmann cited a desire for a better work-life balance as a reason for scaling back operations.

Holy Craft Beer Bar hosts craft beer tastings and “Tap Takeover” events, where a brewery takes over all the taps for an evening. The bar is also available for private events and company tastings. They offer curated tasting flights with five different beers.

According to OpenTable, reviewers praise the bar’s “amazing” beers and “great” service. Tripadvisor currently rates Holy Craft Beer Bar 4.4 out of 5 stars, ranking it #228 of 1,486 restaurants in Düsseldorf as of today, February 3, 2026.

Holy Craft Beer Bar is located at Liefergasse 11, 40213 Düsseldorf.