Over the years, when I thought of Berlin beer, Schultheiss and Berliner Kindl came to mind along with the famous Berlin specialty, Berliner Weisse, a wheat style beer mixed with raspberry syrup in a big bowl-type glass.
Since reunification, the situation seems to have become confused. The owner of Schultheiss bought out Berliner Kindl, which apparently had to close (or did it?). The below site, European Beer Guide.net attempts to give an explanation.
http://www.europeanbeerguide.net/berlbrew.htm
Confusing, indeed. I have not visited Berlin since 1987 before re-unification but I hope to get there in 2016. I was looking forward to buying a Berliner Kindl glass with their great logo as pictured below:
http://www.berliner-kindl.de/
Today, micro-brews are the rage in Berlin. There are micro-brew tours you can go on, which might be a good idea.
https://www.thrillist.com/drink/berlin/freidrichshain/microbreweries-in-berlin-a-tour-of-the-eight-best-microbreweries
Berlin may not be the greatest place in Germany for beer, but given the great atmosphere, it must be a great place to drink it nonetheless. I always said I would have loved to live in Berlin in the 1920s, but what the heck! I guess 2016 is the next best thing.
