By Stuart Whytcross

When in Germany, time must be put aside to visit Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne, all of which are literally next door to each other. These cities are steeped in a proud brewing tradition, and when it comes to beer, they are as passionate as anyone.

The rivalry between Cologne and Düsseldorf is fierce and goes back hundreds of years. There are no road signs in either direction that will tell you how to get from one city to another, and apparently asking for a Kölsch bier in Düsseldorf, or an Alt bier in Cologne is enough to have you immediately escorted from the premises.

The Kölsch biers of Cologne and Alt Biers of Dusseldorfs are both top fermented beers (ales), but are both treated like lager biers. Both are survivor’s of the pre-lager brewing tradition of North Germany, belonging to the family of Rheinländische Bitterbier.

Kölsch is strictly defined by the Kölsch-Konvention, an agreement between the members of the Cologne Brewery Association, and is restricted to the twenty or so breweries in and around Cologne. It is a pale, highly attenuated, hoppy, clear, top-fermenting beer with an original gravity of between 1.044-1.065.

Some call it the 'the ale that wants to be a lager'. Kölsch is soft, rounded, delicate and sweet, there is little ale character to be found apart from a little fruitiness. True Kölsch is still served direct from wooden barrels by kobes (the blue apron wearing waiters).

All Kölsch bier glasses are 200ml and referred to as a ‘Stange’ (pronounced like 'stunner') and ‘Little and often’ is the theme. The kobes have a refill placed on your coaster before you can put your empty glass back on it. They place a small notch on your coaster to keep a tally, and once you have decided you’ve had enough, you place the coaster on top of your empty glass.

One of the things that impressed me the most, was the fact that you walk in and sit down, and automatically have a Kölsch placed in front of you. Each pub, with a few exceptions, serves only their own, from wooden barrels. If you want a different bier you have to go a different Brauhaus. A menu is also placed in front of you, with traditional German snacks and meals, mainly pork and potatoes in massive quantities. What if you’re after something different? Well you’ve come to the wrong place! Even ordering a Coke is frowned upon, and 'water?' well there’s plenty of that in the Rhine!

Personally, Kölsch was a style that I found hard to explain, as I had only ever tasted a handful of homebrewed and local microbrewed Kölsch’s, with most of them not really having much in common with each other. I was determined to leave Cologne knowing their local specialty inside out.

After stepping straight off the Haupbahnhof , I was greeted by the impressive Cologne Cathedral which began construction in 1248 and took until 1880 to complete. Just around the corner from this impressive structure is Fruh Am Dom.

Fruh Am Dom

Fruh stared brewing here in 1889 and has since survived the war and several fires.

 

Fruh Kölsch with Halven Hahn, a dish recommended by Michael Jackson in several of his books, I was a little disappointed when it came out as I was actually expecting roasted chicken! However I have since been hooked on cheese and mustard.

 

One of the many tap rooms inside Fruh Am Dom.

 

Fruh Kölsch
Brilliant pale straw, with superb clarity and fluffy glowing white head. Aroma of sweet malt, honey and slight grassy hops. Very commercial pilsener like, slightly more complex malt. Sweet, soft honey, quite minerally, green grass/hay with very well rounded firm bitterness (40/50)

Brauhaus Sion

Brauhaus Sion is literally around the corner from Fruh am Dom, and was slightly unluckier during the war, with its brauhaus being reduced to complete rubble. Thankfully it was rebuilt in the same location however brewing is now completed off site.

 

 

Sion Kölsch
Aroma reminds me of carting freshly cut hay bales on the farm. Very straw/cereal like. After it warms up a bit its also possesses similar Belgian like qualities, estery, and sweet candy sugar, soft subtle bitterness and very delicate with a pillow like mouthfeel, light, airy and refreshing (42/50)

Gaffel Haus

Just opposite our accommodation, and also around the corner from Sion is Gaffel Haus, which unlike Fruh and Sion, did manage to survive the war unscathed. The beer here is for some unknown reason served on pressure and the atmosphere is much more modern, however its worth visiting to give Gaffel Kölsch a try.

 
Gaffel Haus on the left, and a Gilden Kölsch outlet on the right.

Gaffel Kölsch
Quite dextriny and dusty aroma, slight sour/sulfur. Flavour is very clean, with metallic and minerally finish. Definitely the crispest, driest I’ve tasted, but also the least interesting (35/50)

 
 The Canberra Brewers Shirt gets a work out with some
Gaffel Kölsch and Medievil style Schweinshaxe

Gilden Kölsch
Pours a bright yellow with massive creamy glowing white head, good lacing and excellent retention. Very dusty and dextrinous aroma, low malt, and low hop evident. Flavour of strong honey and malt. Med to Full, quite heavy and thick for a Kölsch. Slight cloying caramel finish with firm bitterness, definitely not one of Colognes best (32/50)

Brauereiausschanks zum Pfaffen

Ok I’m going to stop staying “the next brewery is around the corner”, because the majority of the brauhaus’s are within a stones throw of each other.

 

Brauereiausschanks zum Pfaffen(not to be confused with Paffgen) is the perfect example of a rhineland brauhaus, Great Bier served from wood, great traditional food, cheeky kobes, in a friendly, cosy, traditional atmosphere. The kobes here were much younger than other brauhaus’s and were keen to banter about Australian soccer players, and also convincing me to stay longer in Cologne rather than waste my time in Düsseldorf!

 

 

Pfaffen
Aroma reminiscent of Arnotts arrowroot biscuits, very malt oriented, slight roasted caramel. Medium yellow with creamy slight off white coloured persistent head. Burnt toffee and biscuit flavours with a much fuller body than other Kölsch’s, slight cloying sweetness but a very strong bitterness helps to cut through (39/50).

Die Hausbrauerei Päffgen

The home of Paffgen brewing, established in 1883, and a good traditional Rhineland pub with great Kölsch. It is a slight walk for the centre of town (1km) but well worth it.

 

 

Paffgen Kölsch
Medium yellow, Quite darker than other Kölsch’s, pours with little head, but remarkable lacing. Massive herbaceous aroma, mainly of marijuana with some subtle tropical fruit esters and sweet malt. Flavour driven by hops, with a light biscuity caramel like sweetness. Much different to other Kölsch’s and probably more towards the ale end of the scale. Very light carbonation that leave a nice subtle fizz with very strong bitterness finishing remarkably light and refreshing. The two kobes had me convinced that yes this is very different to other Kölsch’s, but its the way Kölsch should be! (41/50)

 
A few regulars enjoying their morning Paffgen Kölsch

Brauerei Zur Malzmühle

Brauerei Zur Malzmühle is the home of Muhlen Kölsch and another brewpub that was reduced to rubble during the war, many of the before and after photos can be seen on the walls inside.

 

 

The interior of Brauerei Zur Malzmühle is typically for a German brauhaus, with the exception of the before and after photos of the war which adorn the walls.

 

 

Muhlen Kölsch
Bright White detergent like head sits atop a flat dark straw body. Aroma of subtle cereal grain, sweet malt and peach. Flavours of dark biscuit, malt, bread and flour. Medium mouthfeel with a slight tartness and very strong bitterness. A very malt oriented Kölsch bier. (38/50)

Im Martinswinkel

Situated right on the edge and overlooking the Rhine river, Im Martinswinkel gave me and opportunity to sample the lesser known Ganser Kölsch. Im Martinswinkel is very different to the tradition German pubs, this one seemed to cater more for students, however the food was ridiculously cheap, and very tasty.

 

 

A “Cologne tasting plate” with a selection of local specialties. Most of it was excellent however I didn’t go much on the small white balls of pig fat mixed with herbs.

 

 

Ganser Kölsch
Wonderful Aromas of fresh hay and lemon blossom, minimal head retention with good lacing. Flavour dominated by lemon and citrus hops mixed with a very sweet malt. Nice subtle fizz on palate, mouth feel is quite thin however the finish is extremely sweet, with subtle bitterness evident (37/50).

Peters Brauhaus

This brauhaus was originally home to Brauhaus "Zum Kranz", and like many others, was destroyed during the war. Peters reopened it in 1994 and have recreated a tradition brauhaus feel inside.

 

 

Peters Kölsch
Aroma of pleasant subtle herbaceous grass, and fresh hay. Flat appearance with the exception of a massive thick creamy head with awesome retention and lacing. Very fresh clean cereal and light fruit-pear, lemon. Mouthfeel is crisp, thin, light, low carbonation and firm bitterness. Simple and fresh (44/50).

 

 

Lastly I need to mention that if you’re deciding on travelling to Germany, and in particular the West, you must purchase Trips! (West) by Ronald Pattinson. This is by far the best beer travel book I have purchased, and at $8 it’s also the cheapest. Ronald has excellent town maps with all the beer related hotspots marked out, including history, and some excellent reviews of the local food, beer, breweries and pubs of he best beer-drinking towns in the West of Germany.

So did I leave Cologne knowing their speciality inside out? Hard to say, Just when I thought I had the perfect example of Kölsch in my head, I would try another, that would completely through me off, some are quite bitter, some are hoppy, some are very malt oriented, some even displaying dark caramel flavours. But I’d say that the one thing they all had in common, was a very soft delicate flavour profile. Really making you appreciate how hard a beer this is to make, how do they get such a complex range of subtle flavours with such basic, simple ingredients?

Next month, Düsseldorf and Alt Bier