Sportfreund and Zwickel

A trip east of Cologne in search of some fourth division footballl and a brewery tap.

Back in the 2010’s, I started making trips to Germany taking in a couple of football matches and brewpubs - my autumnal "Bundesliga and Beer" breaks.   Reviving them this year, tickets for a top flight clash eluded me.  No way was I lining tout pockets to get into 1.FC Köln at wickedly inflated prices - not to mention that I’d spend the whole build-up worrying if the ticket would actually get me in.
I looked instead to the fourth division…"Regionaliga and Riesling", maybe?

It’s 87 minutes on the RE train from Köln to Siegen, exactly the amount of time it takes to watch Stand By Me, or to make some progress through the new Mick Herron book. Except, after a while, the scenery of rolling wooded hills and meandering rivers became a distraction.

The city of Siegen is home to just over 100,000 residents. Being at a significant rail junction proved unfortunate in WW2, making the town a target for bombing raids which led to 80% of the buildings being destroyed.  So, what could have been a charming hilly University town drawing in the crowds with olde worlde gabled buildings now has little in the way to attract the tourist masses.

To be honest, the murals looked better than the real thing...

You get the Unteres Scloss next to an old church on the hill, my photograph scuppered by the construction of a Christmas market on the square in front of it.  And you get a bear donated with thanks from Spandau (the borough of Berlin, I think, rather than the new romantic hit-makers).

 

But...
And this is the game-changer...

They've got a Gasometer...

It's a 'protected monument' and one of only four such spherical gas holders remaining in the world.  I'm such an oddball tourist that this really clinched my decision to make the trip to Siegen.  That and a brewery tap...

Brauhaus Irle (Haupstrabe 18, 57074, Siegen)
Good news for reaching my 10,000 steps (and way beyond) - bad news for aching feet - was that the brewery was over a mile-and-a-half out of the centre in the wrong direction for the football ground.
I shaved 1/3 off Google's estimated walking time which meant I arrived scruffy and sweaty, at odds with most of the clintele of this smart place.

Irle are the big regional brewer, dating back to 1693, with a considerable complex of brewery buildings surrounding their brewery tap.
The stylish restaurant hadn't been quite what I was expecting, a fair number of Sunday lunch parties arriving after me.
I grabbed a cocktail lounge-style cushioned high stool at the bar in front of the beer taps.  First up: the Festbier seasonal special, a darker shade of pale with sweet toasty malt flavours.
Followed by my favourite: the dark, malty Zwickel Dunkel.
And finally the Zwickel Helles...

All in super-quick succession.  I felt the need to apologise for the speed I was knocking 'em back, unecessarily explaining to the lovely bar staff that I was against the clock with a long walk to the football ground. 

The only Irle beer currently available that I missed was the Pils, which I'd happen to find later at the stadium.  I set out with Google maps to hand, directing me over residential hilly streets which cut off a corner and meant I didn't need to bactrack right to the middle of the town.

Seriously, who put the brewery and the football ground so far out the centre in opposite directions.  C'mon Tristan Vitt - stop practicing your Jimmy Carr grin and sort out the town layout...or at least some more buses on a Sunday.

Just under an hour later (🥾...strewth) I was happy to be traipsing across a gravel car park towards a portacabin where a few scarfed football fans were queuing to buy tickets.
€12 gained me entrance to the Leimbachstadion for this Division 4 tie against Fortuna Düsseldorf U23's.
By the time I'd brought some chips (€4), beer (Irle Pils, €4, plus the necessity to buy another sturdy plastic beaker), and souvenir mug (€9.90), I'd still spent five times less than they were asking for 1.FC tickets. 

I loved it in the Leimbachstadion, although I might not have said that had it poured with rain on the open terraces.  I was able to wander around the ground to my hearts content and watch the match from various vantage points.
Three-quarters of the Leimbachstadion is an old oval bowl with concrete terraces. Along one side is the covered stand with seats behind the team benches and a couple of standing sections in either corner.

Trouble with letting these Under 23's or B'teams into the leagues is that it zaps any atmosphere that away fans would have brought with them.  There is a lone Fortuna flag hung from the fence at the far end of the empty curve, but no-one visible cheering on the visitors. 
Not that they would have had a lot to cheer on - Sportfreund Siegen were two-up within 17-minutes thanks to a free kick and a penalty.

The hardcore Siegen support gathered in a corner of the covered stand and made a steady racket throughout, orchestrating the occasional call and reponse chant with supporters across the pitch on the open terrace.

 

Who on earth put that sticker there?

Düsseldorf kept themselves in the contest, slotting a goal in on the 35th minute, suggesting they may just sneak back into this.  That was until Dustin Willms scored a super 2nd half goal to make it 3-1 and guarrentee the 2,706 supporters left the stadium happy with 3-points.

Trekking back to the centre I realised I'd have 45-minutes to wait until the next train.  Would there be anywhere for a beer in this distinctly under-pubbed town?
Fricke's will do (it'd have to)...

Fricke's (Alte Poststraße 9, 57072 Siegen)
I can't say I was particuarly impressed by Fricke's, with its dubious font on the signage, dour staff, and lack of comfortable seating.  Somewhat dull, regardless of how many coloured lights have been strung from the ceiling.

There were about a dozen blokes in, several more arriving back from the football whilst I was there.  1.FC Köln's big Sunday afternoon fixture was showig on the TVs, Paulaner was the pick of the big name German brews on offer.
The bar was just a bit sparten and souless - crying out for a carpet, bench seating, breweriana, and Timothy Taylor Landlord on cask.

Oh well, it passed 25-minutes until it was time to head to the station.
Not a day for craft beer and cosy pubs, then, but a day I'd enjoyed none-the-less for a great lower-league football excursion.
And the gasometer.  Not to mention the urban cows...

Aachen - Craft Beer & A Cathedral

A rainy day trip to the city of Aachen, where I ambled around the cobbled streets trying not to get too wet, marvelled at the cathedral, and found some top quality beer.  Of course.

I spent longer than most folk probably do trying to decipher the fare plan for the VRB transport network and tackling the ticket machines at the station. 
Then scooted up onto the platform in time to catch the RE19 service for the 50-minute trip to Aachen.

Aachen is roughy 70km to the west of Cologne, close enough to the border with the Netherlands and Belgium for Untappd to tell you about nearby check-in's in Limbourg and Maastricht.  

Around 261,000 inhabitants make it Germany's 27th biggest city.  So what makes them all want to live here?
Cathedral. Confectionary.  And Craft Beer...possibly. 
Or maybe the "thriving black metal scene", which Wikipedia reports exists. 
Aachen is twinned with Halifax which definitely delivers craft beer, if not black metal so much.

Trekking past the street folk hanging out by the station listening to Motorhead, I made the 10-minute walk into the city centre and marvelled at the exterior of the cathedral and the characterful olde-worlde streets with some impressive buildings.

The tourists queued at the counter of the bakery selling the local speciality Printen - gingerbread-style cookies made with a secret recipe including spices and honey.  I grabbed a small bag as a souvenir and took a picture of the Christmas display in the window (the earliest acknowledgement of the festive season this blog has seen to date!)

Accepting that the drizzle wasn't about to clear up to provide me with blue sky pictures, I figured shelter in a beer bar would be a good plan.
I visited on All-Soul's Day, which is a big holiday day in Germany, meaning most of the shops were closed and many of the pubs too.  My first target, the Aachen Brauhaus, was all locked up.  Better luck at the craft beer bar...

Hopfen+Malz Beer Shop (Elisabethstraße 6, 52062 Aachen)
Technically this is listed as a beer shop, as evidenced by the long run of fridges and shelving down one side when you enter.  But it's far from a shop with a couple of tables.  In a sizeable and quite ornate space there were several different seating areas - a front room reserved for a beer tasting later in the afternoon, a dimly lit back section with tables next to brewing kit, and the old cinema seats right at the front, which I made a bee-line for.
The beer list wass pretty stunning...

Despite being in a corner by borders with two different countries, I wanted to stay loyal to the German brews.  First pick: Yankee & Kraut 'Gettin Hammered' (but doing so responsibly, the brewer hastens to point out in their description of beer.  This 6.2% New England IPA has made the trip from Ingolstadt in Bavaria, and made for a great start.

I wasn't such a fan of the bar's own home-brew red ale, but the Freigeist 'Speckerla', an 8.5% smoked dopplebock, was an absolute stunner.

Then I deviated from the Deutsch theme when I spotted the sole American interloper on the beer list scored an impressive 4.27 on Untappd.  Outer Range come from Frisco and their 'Super Ultra Mega Classic' is a 10.5% fruity, murky beast, generously hopped with Citra Cryo, El Dorado and Galaxy.

Hoppen+Malz had come up trumps - a great craft bar with a fine selection where I could easily have settled-in for the rest of day.

As it was, I picked completely the wrong time to leave - minutes before the heaven's opened and the rain came down in buckets.  Sightseeing is rubbish from under an umbrella whilst trying to avoid the puddles in shoes unsuitable for wet weather (I could hear Mrs PropUptheBar tutting at me all the way from Oxford).
So I did what any sensible folk would do and found another pub.

Domkeller (Hof 1, 52062 Aachen)
Looks great from the outside - a building with a Flemish feel to it, respectable hanging baskets, and big enough umbrellas to allow for outdoor drinking undisturbed by a downpour.
There were no tables available inside this wet-led bar although, not taking up much space, I managed to stand at the bar without getting in the way too much before a better perching spot became available.

The Domkeller had a reasonably long-list of trad beers, but I stuck local with Aachen's own brewery Bahkauv and their quaffable pale ale.

 

This made for a nice little pit-stop - a bustling busy bar with some great nooks and crannies.

Finishing the last of my beer, I set off again, pleased to see the rain had eased off.
I wanted to call in to the cathedral before any more beer distractions came my way.

Yes, I know...Retired Martin would have got a whole blog post out of a visit (NCSS:5) and my solitary indoor picture here doesn't really do it justice.
It's UNESCO listed and one of the oldest cathedral buildings in Europe - the site of many a German King and Queen being coronated.  It is fantastically ornate throughout, features the dazzling gold of the Shrine of Charlmagne and a fiendishly ornate pulpit, plus magnificent frescos on the octagon ceiling that may lead to a crick in the neck for the rest of the day. 

It's a short walk from the cathderal, round the back of the town hall to the Marktplatz am Rathaus - from where the first picture on this post is taken.
Various shops and eateries lined the market square, soddden empty outdoor tables in front of them on this dull and eerily quiet day.  I figured I'd take my custom to the Golden Swan...

Goldener Schwan (Markt 37, 52062 Aachen)
I've found a few places like this in Germany: full of character from outside - completely lacking any within.  This Schwan has had a modern refurb within, making it ultra smart and stylish and eliminating every last bit of character from what was once probably a trad town centre gasthaus.

With a total of two other customers (Saturday afternoon!  All Souls Day, you have a lot to answer for!) the staff were super-friendly, allowing me to plonk myself on the high table in front of the bar with a great view out to the Rathaus.

After struggling to describe the beers they had and bringing me a taster, I ended up with a zwickel brewed by Priatbrauerei Thomas Konig of Gersthofen.

I also ordered some food here from the unexpected page of vegetarian options in the menu.  This wasn't the only place I found on this trip with veggie sausages and plant-based schnitzel.

I let Google maps direct me through the streets to the north of the market square, eventually reaching my final beer destination in the city.
It didn't have quite the architectural looks of the other bars today, but it promised me good beer, if only I could find the way in.  (Probably not the one with all the doorbells for flats, you numbskull)

The Wingman - Beer & Booze Bar (Annuntiatenbach 3, 52062 Aachen)
The Wingman is a U-shaped bar with the counter at the back and seating areas to each side lit by the big picture windows.  It's a neatly designed place - perhaps with the exception of the sliding door to the toilets - always a challenge to work out a door slides after a couple of double IPAs.
Beers were listed on a chalkboard to one side of a bar with a choice of 8 on tap, plus lots more in the fridge and a fearsome selection of spirits.

I ordered a beer brewed by Atelier Vrai who are based in Heidelbach, Hessen - the name is a bit of a mouthful - 'Das Ozeanische Gefuhl Parallel Ego Series 1/5'.
I think I just saw 'Oceansize' and thought: Janes Addiction.  

Then another deviation from Germany for my last beer in Aachen - I went for the quite marvelous Polish Moon Lark 'Ghost' black IPA, getting a nod of approval for a choice well made.

I couldn't fault the enthusiasm of the two guys running this place - one of them popping back and forth to a beer tasting event on one side of the bar, giving the punters the run-down on the latest bottles he'd picked for them to sample.

If I lived in the flats above Wingman I suspect I may 'accidentally' go through the wrong door and end in the bar a fair few times on my way home.

150 bottled beers, you say?  I'll catch my return train just as soon as this fella finishes sweeping up all the leaves...

Viktoria Köln and Craft Beer

Finally I've managed to make another Bundelisga & Beer trip to Germany - the first since Mannheim and Hoffenheim in 2019 - I'm somehow still blaming the pandemic for the gap.
This time around it's Budesliga 3 side Viktoria Köln and Kölsch beer.

So without further ado...let's get on with trying to enter the ground through the wrong turnstiles and stickering the toilets.

With a 13:15 departure from Heathrow I'd figured I would have loads of time for a leisurely saunter to the stadium, which was a miscalculation on my part.  Not helped by the S19 crawling on a stop-start trip from the airport to the hauptbahnhof in three-times the time it usually takes.  Then being defuddled by the transport maps after dropping my bag at the hotel and trying to leave Neumarkt underground station by every exit except the right one to catch tram 1.  The sight of a couple of football scarves reassured me I was heading the right way.

Sportpark Höhenberg, in the east of the city, is a short - very dark - walk from the tram stop of the same name.  I purchased my €15 stehplatz ticket from a portacabin and proceeded to try and enter through the wrong gate - which has become something of a tradition on these trips.

Once in the right gate, the rather alarming Gillingham-style stand greeted me...

I would have been slightly nervous had everyone decided to bounce in unison.
And slightly unhappy had it decided to pour with rain.

Behind the scaffolding holding the stand up was a merchandise hut, a bratwurst counter, and a beer stall.  I procurred myself a Früh kölsch and found myself a good spot.

The handful of Ingolstadt fans were situated on the (more stable looking) terrace at the half-way line.  The team from Bavaria spent a couple of seasons from 2015-17 in the top flight but have bounced between 2nd and 3rd tiers since.  I figured they may have brought more fans until I realised their journey had been a longer one than mine from Oxford.

The game was mostly dominated by Viktoria, despite the two sides sitting next to one another - 10th and 11th - in the league and Ingolstadt having had better results in the past few matches.
And yet...against the run of play...Ingolstadt opened the scoring on 16 minutes, driving a long ball down the pitch which was cooly slotted in.

It took until ten minutes into the second half for Köln to make their possession count, David Otto tapping in a long throw that landed handily at his feet in front of goal.  I celebrated with another Früh.

Viktoria seems like a very friendly little club to visit.  I was comfortable on the terrace behind the goal with the drum-banging, flag-waving support - a wide range of different folk around me.  There were a few English voices to be heard, including those of a gang of Merseysiders who were spilling more and more of their beers from the cardboard carriers as they kept on topping up supplies.

Lex Tyger Lobinger (Lex Tyger? Have I really got that right?) gave Viktoria the lead on 68 minutes, then sealed the 3-points on the 78 minute mark with a superb volley, ensuring the majority of the 3,612 crowd went home happy.

I made a quick trip to the surprisingly well-maintained toilet block where the ceramic tiling provides an impressive gallery of Viktoria Köln stickers...

 

How did that get there?....

I returned to the city centre on the same tram line - this time an uncomfortable squash in the carriages with lots of people seemingly heading for a ghoulish night out, some inventive make-up and costumes donned for Halloween.
Time for post match craft beer for me...

Craft Beer Corner (Martinstraße 32, 50667 Köln, Germany)
Confusingly not really on a corner - it's only currently the last building on the street due to a building site next door.
This was a pleasant bar with several rooms, hops hanging from the ceiling, a decent Friday night crowd in, and a cracking beer list.

A mostly German-Belgian line-up from which I had no idea what to pick at first glance.
Hence I ended up conceding to halloween and ordering the Strabenbrau 'Pumpkin Ale', a 6% brown concoction from Berlin.

Then I was slightly foolish and grabbed myself the Hop Hooligans 'Apple Pie Lullaby'.  A 14% beast of a sweet chewy imperial porter from Romania's big craft brewery.  And - wow! - it was good.

I was in danger of getting no further than Craft Corner on my first night in Cologne.
So I made a concerted effort to catch the metro to the suburb of Ehrenfeld and tick off the second of the 'must-do' beard-stroking craft beer spots. 

Braustelle (Christianstraße 2, 50825 Köln, Germany)

Now this one is on a corner - in a bustling neighbourhood - looking not dissimilar to a pub you might find in north or west London.  It's open-plan within: an L-shaped layout with a section to the back containing brewing kit.
I took the easy option and grabbed a stool at the bar, ordering myself a 5% brown ale: 'Auturn Leaves', costing €4 for 0.3l.
Okay, not the best place to grab a picture of the place...

The Braustelle beers were chalked onto the beam nearby - the Triple Bock shouting out "go on, you know you want me!"
After a day travelling, racing across town to the football and forgetting to eat tea, a 9.4% beer at midnight probably wasn't ideal.  
What harm could it do?

With the beneft of hindsight, it'll make getting started the next day twice as hard as it should be - lying in bed eating cold Ditsch pizza slices whilst glued to Christmas movies dubbed in German.
I'll leave with a late night shot of the Braustelle brewing kit, before finding more German craft brews in Aachen in the next post.