Köln, Kölsch City!

A few years ago I came to Köln, everybody told me yeah go see that big ass church it's worth it. At the time I was aware of Kölsch but this time around, with the church out of the way, I really got to dig in to the beer.

I had heard of this little brewery/restaurant called Braustelle, it's off the beaten path but a great find. Their flagship Helios is obviously a kölsch but they also have a variable the Helios Weizen (at first I thought it would be served in a 0.2L glass like the other beers but I didn't complain about the full sized weiss glass they brought me that beer was good! From the tap I also tried the Simsons (no P) Weizen which was also very tasty and a little stronger.

The ladies ordered the Pink Panther which I got to sample, a pink juicy fruity concoction which reminded me of a mix of gueuze and kriek but I didn't like it so much I turned my attention to other bottled beers they had and tried their Phoebe Caulfield a beer made with rye (Roggen Bier) thick as molasses and dark as the night almost stout like very good but it could have a longer sustained taste in my opinion. I also had the ribs, first time I saw ribs on a menu and to my knowledge pork is really inexpensive compared to beef, yet ribs don't seem to be as popular in Germany.

Tap vs Bottle

Clearly if I have the choice between tap or bottle I will not think twice but I read that for kölsch the moment when it comes out of the tap you should hurry up and drink it because the longer it's out the worst it gets and I'm guessing this is why they serve it in 0.2L glasses. Although it is better enjoyed fresh out of the tap I tried Peters, Reissdorf, Gilden and Mühlen in bottle and out of all of them Mühlen was the closest to it's tap version. I felt like the other ones sort of tasted like generic eurobeers and were lacking that fresh crisp taste of kölsch.

Shop

It's always nice to know a place where you'll find most beers and in Köln the Biermuseum is the place to go shop.

Books

I also looked at some books on the subject and found these two by Frank Mathar, if anyone read these I would appreciate any feedback. 

The German Beer Consumer

I always get that look when I show up at the counter of a new Getränke Shop with 12 different individual beers. Like I'm some sort of weirdo who can't make up his mind about what he likes to drink. Maybe it's because they have to scan 12 bottles instead of 1. Some specialized beer shops are more than happy to see customers leave with a variety of beers and I think these will be more and more popular as the craft beer scene expands.

That's the way I do it, not how our local Bavarian friends do it.

From what I gather they find a favorite and stick to it. After speaking with family and friends who are German natives it seems there's a two step process to finding "your" favorite beer.

Step one: find the type of beer you like, most choice will be covered by Hell, Weiss or Pils. If you're from Köln you'll swear by Kölsch and I've heard that Düsseldorf's choice would be their homebrew "Altbier". Dopplebocks are rarely the "go to" beer and mostly viewed as seasonal.

Step two: find the brand you like the most and the next two alternate brands you will opt for if the first one is not offered.

Tasting anything other than their type of beer will make them cringe, I've seen it. A different brand will be "not as good as the one brand I like". The brand they choose will greatly depend on the availability in the specific region and the price.

There's "construction worker's beer" which is very cheap and also very horse piss-like. You have the beers which are exported all over the world such as Löwenbräu, Becks, Warsteiner, etc. which you'll get for a very decent price and they have a steady quality but are all very generic. Then you get into the interesting beers which are mostly local, here in Munich you have Augustiner, Hofbräu, Andechs, Chiemseer and Tegernsee.

The younger generations seem very open to try other beers but I still hear some individuals who will refuse to drink Weissbier even if I give them 10 different brands to try. I hear things like "I know this one is good, why would I try anything else." No one here is ready for a double IPA, especially if it comes in a 0,5L bottle!

Read Part 1: A first glance at the Munich craft beer scene