Kölsch has protected geographical indication status, meaning it has to be brewed within 50km of the city. It also has to follow conventions set by the Cologne Brewing Society and brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot.
Brewing giants Radeberger own six brands, but as they aren't able to outsource brewing to wherever the German equivalent of Burton-on-Trent is without losing that protected status, they've struck up a deal with Früh to contract brew for them within that 50km limit.
This post sees me knocking back 7 of the brands in the city centre at the venues below...
Früh and Sion are the obvious ommisions on my central map - both skipped on this occasion as I've visited previosuly and realised there was only so much Kölsch I could drink durng one trip.
Let's start at the bottom of the map with a lunchtime visit to Malzmühle.
If I can get there in one piece...
From the Heumarkt you're the wrong side of a tricky road layout - there were no less than 7 sets of traffic lights to tackle, tram lines to cross, and buses swinging into a layby to present one extra traffic hazzard before reaching the front door.
Let's start at the bottom of the map with a lunchtime visit to Malzmühle.
If I can get there in one piece...
From the Heumarkt you're the wrong side of a tricky road layout - there were no less than 7 sets of traffic lights to tackle, tram lines to cross, and buses swinging into a layby to present one extra traffic hazzard before reaching the front door.
Malzmühle was rebuilt after the war, the grey stone doorway being all that was standing of the original building. A revolving door whisks you into a pleasant interior of dark wood panels and traditional-looking rooms spread over a couple of floors.
€2.40 a glass, the beer mat marked with each one delivered to the table. The small measures are supposed to ensure your beer is always fresh, the expectation being that you'll stay and chalk up a few of those marks.
Mühlen was somewhere I was happy to have a few - their interpretation of the style has a malty touch, which makes sense being as they're named after a grain mill which once used to stand on the market square.
Very smart loos in the basement, too, with a nice bit of bottle top decoration...
Mühlen was somewhere I was happy to have a few - their interpretation of the style has a malty touch, which makes sense being as they're named after a grain mill which once used to stand on the market square.
Very smart loos in the basement, too, with a nice bit of bottle top decoration...
This is the same thing that caught me out in Aachen - wonderful looking exterior tempting me in...dubious moden interior. Malzmühle's revolving door was good. Having to push aside a heavy curtain that drapes around the door is ideal. Automatic sliding doors, as experienced here, are a feature that don't belong in pubs or bars.
This is somewhere that has recently had a hi-spec refurb making it all very smart whilst keeping to the trad layout of tall causual tables near the bar and dining rooms beyond. Fake wooden barrels dispensing the beer stood on an immaculate stainless steel bar counter with neon signage on the front of it.
Oh well, at least I got to try another brand of kölsch, this one now part of the Radeberger empire.
The Gilden was priced at €2.40 a glass again, although I wasn't as keen on this one as the Mühlen - a bit too carbonated and indistinguishable from a pils for my liking. A couple proved enough sat in this touristy place with a disco pop soundtrack, the cover version of Coldplay's 'Clocks' signalling it was definitely time to move on.
It's just a short walk through the altermarkt to reach the next venue: past the wedding parties taking photos in front of the unphotogenic modern side of the town hall, and the workmen laying cables in the first prep for the Christmas market.
A right turn down Mühlengasse took me to Peters.
Not the friendliest staff encountered in the city, the person by the front door deciding shuffling a pile of menus was more important that paying me any heed.
So I took myself to the taproom to exactly the same spot I propped myself almost 10 years ago when I was last here. This area has one giant table in front of the bar counter with huge 1.FC Köln flag hung above it. A good spot if you want to watch the barman filling the circular kranz carriers in which the kobes whisk eleven or more beers around the bar, replacing any empty glasses.
So I took myself to the taproom to exactly the same spot I propped myself almost 10 years ago when I was last here. This area has one giant table in front of the bar counter with huge 1.FC Köln flag hung above it. A good spot if you want to watch the barman filling the circular kranz carriers in which the kobes whisk eleven or more beers around the bar, replacing any empty glasses.
This site has brewing history, being the home of Brauhaus zum Kranz until 1898, before spending most of the 20th century in different guises. It looks traditional within, but Peter's only took over in 1994 and created their version of a brauhaus.
No denying they've done a pretty spectacular job, especially the back room...
No denying they've done a pretty spectacular job, especially the back room...
Next up, one of the handiest trad kölsch outlets in the city.
Gaffel am Dom is directly opposite the towering spires of the cathedral - the view from the seats around the barrels in the front window are a stunner. It's also very handily a couple of minutes from the railway station contributing to the fact that it always seems to be busy.
Gaffel trace their history back to a brewery on Eigelstein which was first documented in 1302. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Becker brothers purchased the brewery and started concoting ales under the name Gaffel, turning this into one of the cities best-sellers. They're currently the second biggest Cologne brewer in terms of output.
Not that any of it is brewed in the 'brauhaus' - the shiny coppers are just for show...
I went into this place with little expectation and found I really like it.
Characterful rooms bsutling with trade, plenty of casual drinking tables at the front.
I had a couple of the Gaffel kölsch, then switched to their Wiess, a cloudy unfiltered wheat beer, weighing in at 5%. It was a joy to nurse a large mug after a succession of 200ml glasses. And it was oh so drinkable.
Characterful rooms bsutling with trade, plenty of casual drinking tables at the front.
I had a couple of the Gaffel kölsch, then switched to their Wiess, a cloudy unfiltered wheat beer, weighing in at 5%. It was a joy to nurse a large mug after a succession of 200ml glasses. And it was oh so drinkable.
Time to call into what's now the only remaining brewpub in the centre of town.
It's a bit of a trek through the eastern streets of the innerstadt to reach Päffgen, but most sources tend to agree that this is an essential visit.
Unfortunately, I have no pictures to justify how nice this pub is within. The main room is a long beerhall-like space with wood panels part-way up the walls, plentiful coat pegs, some stylish lighting, and grand old pictures on yellowed walls.
As the solo drinker though, I grabbed a table along the central corridor, which in the past would have provided access from the street for the carts ferrying beer from the brewhouse at the back out to the street for deliveries.
So, another good spot for watching the beer being poured from the 10l barrels - note also the pulley system to winch the next ones into place.
I found the Päffgen by far the most drinkable kölsch - light and fruity with a subtle spicy flavour - those 200ml glasses seem to empty themselves remarkably quickly.
Next up was a Kölsch brewer that I almost missed, despite their tap being just a couple of minutes from my hotel.
The Brauhaus zur Schreckenskammer is located north of the station, next door to the Basilica St Ursula - a church which is well worth visiting but which keeps limited and challenging opening hours.
I found the Päffgen by far the most drinkable kölsch - light and fruity with a subtle spicy flavour - those 200ml glasses seem to empty themselves remarkably quickly.
Next up was a Kölsch brewer that I almost missed, despite their tap being just a couple of minutes from my hotel.
The Brauhaus zur Schreckenskammer is located north of the station, next door to the Basilica St Ursula - a church which is well worth visiting but which keeps limited and challenging opening hours.
The pub hours aren't that straightforward either - I'd had to wait until the 4:30pm opening time.
Rather worryingly, the name translates as 'Chamber of Horrors' although there is nothing to justify this ghoulish moniker within the 1950's bar.
The brewery dates back much further and was once located on the route to the cities execution site. So legend has it that the condemned were ushered into the bar for a last meal, which may just be where the name comes from. Or maybe not...
The Schreckenskammer kölsch is another good'un.
They may be small measures but were adding up and I was at that stage where photographing the WC signage seemed essential.
And, more worryingly, it took me a second glance to work out which was which.
They may be small measures but were adding up and I was at that stage where photographing the WC signage seemed essential.
And, more worryingly, it took me a second glance to work out which was which.
Finally, with dark descending on the city frightfully early on these short November days, I called in to Sünner, right in the centre of town.
Brauhaus Sünner im Walfisch (Salzgasse 13, 50667 Köln)
I've saved the one 'til last from which the name kölsch appears to have originated. The top fermenting pale beer they'd been brewing since 1906 was first referred to as kölsch in 1918.
I've saved the one 'til last from which the name kölsch appears to have originated. The top fermenting pale beer they'd been brewing since 1906 was first referred to as kölsch in 1918.
It's possible to drink it at source in the brewery in Kalk in the west of the city (where they also brew Mühlen) although I never quite timed it right to make the trip out there.
That said, this building on Salzgasse is a striking one and their 1996 makeover has created pleasant and cosy rooms within - not a sliding door or neon sign in sight.
To the right of the front door is a drinking area with a one large communal table with bench seating surrounding it and a graveyard of tall 5-litre drinking vessels on the windowsill behind. (I once watched those being filled in a bar in Mainz - a tricky operation that makes the collection of cracked and broken tops no surprise).
I think that the Sünner kölsch was the priciest I encountered at €2.50 a glass, although it seemed worth it to be drinking in the characterful old building.
And with that I'm declaring: Quite enought Kölsch, thank you very much.
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