'Currydurst': Beer and curry ketchup in a glass

The German classic fast food snack, Currywurst, or curry sausage, has been a staple in the city of Hamburg for decades, and is often washed down with a local Astra beer.

Now the Astra St Pauli Brewery, located in Hamburg's heartland near the Reeperbahn entertainment disctrict, has teamed up with Hela, which produces a legendary spiced curry ketchup, to reinvent a popular neighborhood classic.

Adding the Hela curry mixture to a classic 6.5% alcohol Astra beer, the so-called "Currydurst" (Currythirst) was born as a homage to street food culture in Hamburg.

Brimming with the spicy, slightly smokey flavour that marks the Hela condiment usually reserved for roadside sausages and chips, the beer is a strictly limited, special edition release.

St. Pauli's cult classic beer

Astra is popular beer across Hamburg, but is mostly associated with the St. Pauli district, a working class and alternative culture hub where the city's port and red-light district meet.

The brewery's origins date back to 1647, when a Flemish brewer in Hamburg brewed a "Bavaria" beer — then simply the name for local pilsener, and not inspired by the southern German region of Bavaria.  

Forward to 1909, when the name Bavaria was changed to Astra. After a take over, the makers became the Bavaria-St. Pauli brewery in 1922, and its "Astra Urtyp" (Astra Archetype) brew became synonymous with the neighbourhood.

After Astra nearly closed in the 1990s, the city of Hamburg ultimately intervened and bought the brewery, which was then sold to Holsten — the city's other major brewery. The cult classic was then given a makeover.

A new advertising campaign was launched under the slogan Astra. Was dagegen? (Astra. What about it?). The beer was also given a new logo — the heart and anchor — to symbolize its rebellious yet tolerant St. Pauli heritage.

The ultimate street food collaboration

When Astra joined forces with spice company Hela to create the Currydurst, it was a match made in Hamburg.

Founded in 1906 in the northern German city, Hela was located next to the slaughterhouse and supplied the butchers with spices and seasoning salts.

In 1963, Hela's famous Curry Gewürzketchup (Curry Spiced Ketchup) sausage condiment first appeared on German supermarket shelves. It was a response to the rising popularity of the Currywurst, a sausage served with curry powder-infused ketchup that had been invented in Berlin approximately 15 years earlier.

"For 60 years, our ketchup has been the perfect match for sausage — now, you can add beer to that list," is the slogan for Hela's offbeat Currydurst ad campaign. 

The broader Currydurst promotion plays off consumer taste expectations: "Some say, 'will this even work?' We say, 'Of course!'" goes the tagline.

Whether the Currydurst will be a one-hit wonder or become a new cult classic remains to be seen. For now, only 2,000 liters of the special edition beer will be brewed.

This article was originally published in German.