As I may have mentioned a few (hundred) times before, I don't really love Kölsch beers. However, learning a few interesting facts about them recently, has allowed me not to be so harsh. Asking around I had heard or several brauhuas operations that produce and sell Kölsch on tap in Cologne. Being a beer with a PDO I had to find one. After catching up on my missed episode of Masterchef (USA) (it's totally a guilty pleasure) and seeing all the delicious pork dishes Nasim and I had a hankerin' for some (how can I say anything in this line that isn't an obvious "that's what she said" joke or completely unapologetic sex euphemism?) pork.
We had met up earlier that evening with some of Nasim's friends in Cologne and some of their visitors as well. They were traveling the next morning, and so they left us to our own devices early on.
After wandering around a bit we magically stumbled upon Päffgen. This is supposedly the best Kölsch beer brewed in Cologne. Lucky for us, the kitchen was still open
(Ist der Köche offen? - best I could muster) and the beer was flowing.
Pork, Potatoes, and fresh Kölsch from the tap at the brewery, yes please! It was awesome. I drank 4 (little glasses) which is more than I can say I've ever drunk any beer that I "don't like." After all was said and done I'd had slightly less than two pints, a good warm-up, but alas the night was over. I enjoyed that beer greatly. The brauhaus, however, really made the experience wonderful (of course I had nice company too). The main hall is how the vikings described heaven. A huge old wooden room, with long tables and gentile folk happily eating large plates of delicious heavy food, and sipping endlessly from glasses of beer. And, of course, if you're in Cologne and you don't cover your glass with your coaster, you're surely getting another!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Party at the JunkYard
I haven't partied with 18-21 year-olds that hard since I was about 18 myself. While in Cologne, Nasim had made a few friends. Most of them international, but a few Germans as well. One friend called up on a Wednesday and said there is a party tonight. I said "great, let's go." As the hour came closer and closer, things got murkier and murkier. I didn't know where the party was. The guy who'd invited us, didn't exactly know where it was, who hosted it, the time, or anything that you might expect from someone who'd invited you to a party. This had trouble written all over it.
Our initial plan was to meet at 8. We ended up meeting up around 9 and I still wasn't told where we were going. Unlike India, Germany is not exactly a place where you simply go when someone says, let's go. Germans are far too organized for that. I was eventually told that we needed to take a train from the main train station. What the hell was the point of meeting at the main train station at 8 then? Argh! I was getting irritated. After we took the train, I heard we were going to Pascha. In case this word is unfamiliar to you, Pascha is the name of the big disco in Ibiza. The european party capital. It appears that many European cities in fact have a place called Pascha. Even in Chennai, there is an embarrassing attempt to replicate a Pascha. In Germany, of course it's a three-story strip club and disco and restaurant. Whatever...
So the party wasn't at Pascha. Although, I guess it was nice to walk by and see pictures of topless women on the way. The party, it turns out, was a "public" party. I have no idea what that means still, but that night it meant paying an entrance fee. I'm generally opposed to going places that charge covers, but this seemed a bit different. If nothing else it would be a good story!
The "party" was completely bizarre. I'm not certain, but my guess is that I was the oldest person in attendance, including security, DJs, bartenders, and attendees. We ended up in an enormous junkyard across the road from Pascha with about 1200 teenagers and early 20 somethings. Everywhere we turned was some "trash-sculpture." I don't mean that the art itself was bad, but rather made from trash. The toilets were an interesting situation. They were up on a platform and paid entrance. Additionally, we had to buy tickets to buy beer or shots of the ubiquitous and ever-popular jagermeister... Teenagers and early twenty somethings are a bunch of lightweights. Rather, they know NOTHING about pacing or hydrating. I also think early twenty-somethings expect to act drunk if in fact they are drunk. Whereas, I know that if you really want to get drunk, make sure nobody thinks it's time to cut you off!
In any case, we did some dancing, and heard some euro-techno and some bad hip-hop and some goth-rock. It was unusual to say the least. Come to find out this place is a gallery or something for a sculptor named Odo Rumpf.
Our initial plan was to meet at 8. We ended up meeting up around 9 and I still wasn't told where we were going. Unlike India, Germany is not exactly a place where you simply go when someone says, let's go. Germans are far too organized for that. I was eventually told that we needed to take a train from the main train station. What the hell was the point of meeting at the main train station at 8 then? Argh! I was getting irritated. After we took the train, I heard we were going to Pascha. In case this word is unfamiliar to you, Pascha is the name of the big disco in Ibiza. The european party capital. It appears that many European cities in fact have a place called Pascha. Even in Chennai, there is an embarrassing attempt to replicate a Pascha. In Germany, of course it's a three-story strip club and disco and restaurant. Whatever...
So the party wasn't at Pascha. Although, I guess it was nice to walk by and see pictures of topless women on the way. The party, it turns out, was a "public" party. I have no idea what that means still, but that night it meant paying an entrance fee. I'm generally opposed to going places that charge covers, but this seemed a bit different. If nothing else it would be a good story!
The "party" was completely bizarre. I'm not certain, but my guess is that I was the oldest person in attendance, including security, DJs, bartenders, and attendees. We ended up in an enormous junkyard across the road from Pascha with about 1200 teenagers and early 20 somethings. Everywhere we turned was some "trash-sculpture." I don't mean that the art itself was bad, but rather made from trash. The toilets were an interesting situation. They were up on a platform and paid entrance. Additionally, we had to buy tickets to buy beer or shots of the ubiquitous and ever-popular jagermeister... Teenagers and early twenty somethings are a bunch of lightweights. Rather, they know NOTHING about pacing or hydrating. I also think early twenty-somethings expect to act drunk if in fact they are drunk. Whereas, I know that if you really want to get drunk, make sure nobody thinks it's time to cut you off!
In any case, we did some dancing, and heard some euro-techno and some bad hip-hop and some goth-rock. It was unusual to say the least. Come to find out this place is a gallery or something for a sculptor named Odo Rumpf.
Black Swan v. Old Brown Dog
While staying in Velbert with more family I found a new friend. His name is Milo and he's an enormous brown dog. His owner/keeper told me he "weighs" 58 kilos. Which "translates" to 128 pounds. Sadly, since his family had a baby, he hasn't been able to get as much attention as he wants. He sits with his frowny puppy face at the window looking in on the children playing. From what I'm told, he gets along really well with the children, but he's enormous and the baby is small. The family rightly understands that this dog could eat their child. Anyway, Milo stays outside and doesn't get as much attention as he probably should. I should note, that he is fact a well cared for dog. He's very healthy and the family loves him, but he COULD eat their baby.
Anyway, as I get bored a little hanging out with middle eastern folks for hours and hours on end waiting for nothing to happen and not being able to converse because I don't speak any middle eastern langauges (except enough arabic to get myself into trouble). So I asked if I could take Milo for a walk. Of course, he went nuts, he started jumping on me. Nearly 130 pounds is heavy when a dog is fast and can jump really high. Anyway, I calmed him down for 3 second, enough to get his leash on, so he wouldn't run off, or if so at least he'd simply be dragging me.
As we started down the road, it was drizzling, but Milo was so excited; he was smelling stuff and peeing on things. Good dag activities. Of course, he was nearly dragging me. Forget that I significantly outweigh him; in every other athletic category he's a lot stronger. So I went along for a walk. Had I had roller skates, it would have been a dandy morning jaunt. Just a few hundred meters (or yards is you prefer) down the road there was a little fenced in area where ostensibly birds come to bathe in a man made pond, and have a quiet area where people and dogs won't bother them. Sitting in the pen was a large black swan. At first Milo saw the bird and walked away. He made a little detour to the other side of the road so as to not have a confrontation. This bird I should mention was probably only 20 to 30 pounds. Yes, Huge for a bird, but not very big compared to the dog. I thought it was rather amusing, but Milo seemed to think less of it.
So we went for a little stroll further, beautiful community gardens with a very German feel. In fact, it looked more like a series of cottages with lawns, except that the cottages were small storage spaces and the lawns were flower and vegetable gardens. Velbert, it bears mentioning, is an extraordinarily wealthy little community. Think Winnetka to Chicago is like Velbert to Düsseldorf.
As we turned around to head back toward the house the mood of the walk changed from Milo dragging me to me dragging Milo. I discovered for a third time that day how strong a 130-pound dog can be. Surely enough we passed the swan again. This time as Milo was lagging behind he saw the swan take an interest in me and so Milo thought he'd check out the bird. Luckily, the two were separated by a fence, which I believe was high enough that Milo couldn't jump over it without a dog trampoline. As soon as Milo came close, the swan quickly turned its attention to the dog. A showdown began!
They stared each other down for nearly half a minute. When Milo finally moved, he approached the bird (probably to make sense of the bizarre smell of this bizarre creature) the swan responded by perching up, sending his neck straight and head high, puffed his chest, opened his wings slightly, and angled his head down directly at Milo. I have to say, it was intimidating. Intimidating enough, indeed, to make Milo put his tail between his legs and walk away without a nice goose dinner. Now that's what I call excitement!
Anyway, as I get bored a little hanging out with middle eastern folks for hours and hours on end waiting for nothing to happen and not being able to converse because I don't speak any middle eastern langauges (except enough arabic to get myself into trouble). So I asked if I could take Milo for a walk. Of course, he went nuts, he started jumping on me. Nearly 130 pounds is heavy when a dog is fast and can jump really high. Anyway, I calmed him down for 3 second, enough to get his leash on, so he wouldn't run off, or if so at least he'd simply be dragging me.
As we started down the road, it was drizzling, but Milo was so excited; he was smelling stuff and peeing on things. Good dag activities. Of course, he was nearly dragging me. Forget that I significantly outweigh him; in every other athletic category he's a lot stronger. So I went along for a walk. Had I had roller skates, it would have been a dandy morning jaunt. Just a few hundred meters (or yards is you prefer) down the road there was a little fenced in area where ostensibly birds come to bathe in a man made pond, and have a quiet area where people and dogs won't bother them. Sitting in the pen was a large black swan. At first Milo saw the bird and walked away. He made a little detour to the other side of the road so as to not have a confrontation. This bird I should mention was probably only 20 to 30 pounds. Yes, Huge for a bird, but not very big compared to the dog. I thought it was rather amusing, but Milo seemed to think less of it.
So we went for a little stroll further, beautiful community gardens with a very German feel. In fact, it looked more like a series of cottages with lawns, except that the cottages were small storage spaces and the lawns were flower and vegetable gardens. Velbert, it bears mentioning, is an extraordinarily wealthy little community. Think Winnetka to Chicago is like Velbert to Düsseldorf.
As we turned around to head back toward the house the mood of the walk changed from Milo dragging me to me dragging Milo. I discovered for a third time that day how strong a 130-pound dog can be. Surely enough we passed the swan again. This time as Milo was lagging behind he saw the swan take an interest in me and so Milo thought he'd check out the bird. Luckily, the two were separated by a fence, which I believe was high enough that Milo couldn't jump over it without a dog trampoline. As soon as Milo came close, the swan quickly turned its attention to the dog. A showdown began!
They stared each other down for nearly half a minute. When Milo finally moved, he approached the bird (probably to make sense of the bizarre smell of this bizarre creature) the swan responded by perching up, sending his neck straight and head high, puffed his chest, opened his wings slightly, and angled his head down directly at Milo. I have to say, it was intimidating. Intimidating enough, indeed, to make Milo put his tail between his legs and walk away without a nice goose dinner. Now that's what I call excitement!
Gay City Cologne
I had heard before setting foot in Cologne that it is Germany's "gay capital." I haven't seen it too much, perhaps it's because it doesn't phase me like it used to. Although, it's also possible that I'm not looking for it or that the distinction might be a bit overblown, or that all the gays have gone on a magical vacation for summer to some much nicer warmed place, while Germany is cold like October (and no Oktoberfest beers either).
Over the last few days, however, I have been noticing some "activity." I think what has happened is that I got out of the hipster neighborhoods and went to old city and a few parks, and nicer areas slightly off the tourist path(s). I have also noticed that in comparison with lesbians there are very few gay male couples. Sure I've seen a half dozen or so (3 in the same park on the same day), but not as many as lesbians.
Sadly, my German language skills are not quite up to snuff enough to ask about being a homosexual in Europe. I think it's entirely a good thing when a society is open enough to have "deviants" (more on that later) accepted in its masses. The statistics in the United States show overwhelmingly that gay male couples do far more for their communities at large than their straight counterparts. (Pardon me for not citing exact references, but I can look them up for the interested reader, of which I think there might be one.) Nonetheless, I find the people in Cologne to be overall very friendly and I think this is related to two things:
1) Dom is awesome
2) It gained the reputation of gay capital for being a tolerant city.
I find Kölners don't begrudge me for not speaking German, and are usually happy to volunteer info about their city. They are also happy to volunteer their opinion that Düsseldorf sucks. I respectfully disagree, but it seems to be more like a Portland-Seattle rivalry. I'm not picking sides just yet.
The people of Cologne love their city, and I think they have a lot to love. I'm at least that happy with Chicago, but I know I'd be even happier if gay couples were just an accepted part of normal society. I will save the Republicans for gay marriage and adoption rant for later as well as most of my political musings which essentially interest only a handful of unfortunate souls.
Over the last few days, however, I have been noticing some "activity." I think what has happened is that I got out of the hipster neighborhoods and went to old city and a few parks, and nicer areas slightly off the tourist path(s). I have also noticed that in comparison with lesbians there are very few gay male couples. Sure I've seen a half dozen or so (3 in the same park on the same day), but not as many as lesbians.
Sadly, my German language skills are not quite up to snuff enough to ask about being a homosexual in Europe. I think it's entirely a good thing when a society is open enough to have "deviants" (more on that later) accepted in its masses. The statistics in the United States show overwhelmingly that gay male couples do far more for their communities at large than their straight counterparts. (Pardon me for not citing exact references, but I can look them up for the interested reader, of which I think there might be one.) Nonetheless, I find the people in Cologne to be overall very friendly and I think this is related to two things:
1) Dom is awesome
2) It gained the reputation of gay capital for being a tolerant city.
I find Kölners don't begrudge me for not speaking German, and are usually happy to volunteer info about their city. They are also happy to volunteer their opinion that Düsseldorf sucks. I respectfully disagree, but it seems to be more like a Portland-Seattle rivalry. I'm not picking sides just yet.
The people of Cologne love their city, and I think they have a lot to love. I'm at least that happy with Chicago, but I know I'd be even happier if gay couples were just an accepted part of normal society. I will save the Republicans for gay marriage and adoption rant for later as well as most of my political musings which essentially interest only a handful of unfortunate souls.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Kölner Dom
Cologne's Cathedral is impressive. It's super-duper impressive. I was just in New York a few weeks ago and had the chance to visit the Cathedral of St. John the Divine up near Harlem, which is supposedly the largest (physical) church in the United States.*
That is, a church that was built as a church and not the monstrosity that is Joel Osteen's Houston Rockets former arena.
St. John the Divine is big, enormous, huge. It's far larger than the better known St. Patrick's cathedral, which of course belongs to the Catholic church. None of that matters. Dom is much larger. It reaches nearly 230ft in height, but what's far more impressive is that its construction was begun in the year A.D. 1248. Note, that is not a typo. As frequent as typos are in this blog, that year is not.
A.D. 1248
In the year of Our Lord Twelve Hundred and Forty Eight.
It wasn't fully completed until the 1800s. Wow!
I stepped inside just to have a gander. It is really something phenomenal. Honestly the most beautiful Gothic Cathedral I've ever seen. Just have a look at it's Wikipedia page Kölner Dom.
While this reveals some interesting history and facts and figures, the real thing is impressive. I want to climb up (inside) one of the spires soon. We were supposed to the other day, but got sidetracked by needing to return to meet the landlady mid afternoon.
Dom is such an important landmark and such a piece of the identity in Cologne that it is truly ubiquitous in this city. The zoo has worked it into its logo. There is a brand of beer called Dom Kölsch (a little sweet, but very pleasant, especially sitting in the grandeur of its namesake). The big musical theater/amphitheater is called the Cologne Dome. It's the site of the HauptBahnHof (main train station). Dom is everywhere in this city. It is used for all kinds of advertisements and having spoken to several Kölners now, it is apparent that they strongly identify with this landmark as part of their city. What's more, I've met a handful of people who have moved from other countries to Cologne in part because the cathedral this city such an identity.
Definitely worth seeing at least once!
That is, a church that was built as a church and not the monstrosity that is Joel Osteen's Houston Rockets former arena.
St. John the Divine is big, enormous, huge. It's far larger than the better known St. Patrick's cathedral, which of course belongs to the Catholic church. None of that matters. Dom is much larger. It reaches nearly 230ft in height, but what's far more impressive is that its construction was begun in the year A.D. 1248. Note, that is not a typo. As frequent as typos are in this blog, that year is not.
A.D. 1248
In the year of Our Lord Twelve Hundred and Forty Eight.
It wasn't fully completed until the 1800s. Wow!
I stepped inside just to have a gander. It is really something phenomenal. Honestly the most beautiful Gothic Cathedral I've ever seen. Just have a look at it's Wikipedia page Kölner Dom.
While this reveals some interesting history and facts and figures, the real thing is impressive. I want to climb up (inside) one of the spires soon. We were supposed to the other day, but got sidetracked by needing to return to meet the landlady mid afternoon.
Dom is such an important landmark and such a piece of the identity in Cologne that it is truly ubiquitous in this city. The zoo has worked it into its logo. There is a brand of beer called Dom Kölsch (a little sweet, but very pleasant, especially sitting in the grandeur of its namesake). The big musical theater/amphitheater is called the Cologne Dome. It's the site of the HauptBahnHof (main train station). Dom is everywhere in this city. It is used for all kinds of advertisements and having spoken to several Kölners now, it is apparent that they strongly identify with this landmark as part of their city. What's more, I've met a handful of people who have moved from other countries to Cologne in part because the cathedral this city such an identity.
Definitely worth seeing at least once!
Getting Setup in Germany
I need a phone and regular internet access. The phone is less crucial, but helpful since I have a handful of people here I'd like to contact; most of them from my time in India, and of course, my hostess.
I am, I admit it, far too fond of the interwebs. I love my email, writing this absurd blog, and playing kakuro. The phone thing is easy. Nasim had already bought me a SIM card. I just have to recharge it. As it it, I've only received one phone call, and no texts. The internet thing is slightly trickier. I suppose the US has these surf sticks, but I think more homes simply have internet access. It is apparently very common in Germany to have a surf-stick with a SIM card that gives internet access through the cell phone towers. It's kind of brilliant actually, especially for a traveler spending any significant time in one country. I only paid €19 for the stick, and I got 5 days free access. After that, it's just buying data. I think there is a monthly plan for something like €25. That's great, because I can surf on the trains now, go to coffee shop, wherever. If I need to look up something while traveling, I don't need to find someone with a smart phone, I've got my actual computer.
The rub comes in getting the Surf Stick. As you may be well aware, Germany is extremely organized and most people are either no nonsense or low nonsense when it comes to money or property or any sort of economic or security matter. In order to get a surf stick, this poor sale's guy had to fill out an inordinate amount of red tape which included filling out at least two pages worth of info on my passport, visa (luckily I don't need one in Germany), who sold me the device, the contract, etc... It took quite a while, in fact nearly half an hour just to hand me a surf stick and send me to the cashier. Yeesh. That's ok, I got it, and I'm online now.
I don't have a railpass or even a eurail pass, but I think it might be a good idea to get one for the month of august. It seems several big trips are coming up.
I am, I admit it, far too fond of the interwebs. I love my email, writing this absurd blog, and playing kakuro. The phone thing is easy. Nasim had already bought me a SIM card. I just have to recharge it. As it it, I've only received one phone call, and no texts. The internet thing is slightly trickier. I suppose the US has these surf sticks, but I think more homes simply have internet access. It is apparently very common in Germany to have a surf-stick with a SIM card that gives internet access through the cell phone towers. It's kind of brilliant actually, especially for a traveler spending any significant time in one country. I only paid €19 for the stick, and I got 5 days free access. After that, it's just buying data. I think there is a monthly plan for something like €25. That's great, because I can surf on the trains now, go to coffee shop, wherever. If I need to look up something while traveling, I don't need to find someone with a smart phone, I've got my actual computer.
The rub comes in getting the Surf Stick. As you may be well aware, Germany is extremely organized and most people are either no nonsense or low nonsense when it comes to money or property or any sort of economic or security matter. In order to get a surf stick, this poor sale's guy had to fill out an inordinate amount of red tape which included filling out at least two pages worth of info on my passport, visa (luckily I don't need one in Germany), who sold me the device, the contract, etc... It took quite a while, in fact nearly half an hour just to hand me a surf stick and send me to the cashier. Yeesh. That's ok, I got it, and I'm online now.
I don't have a railpass or even a eurail pass, but I think it might be a good idea to get one for the month of august. It seems several big trips are coming up.
First Kölsch Beers
First, a note about what Kölsch beers are exactly.
In order to properly be called a Kölsch beer in Europe, a beer must be made in the metropolitan area of Cologne. That is to say, this is a protected denomination beer, at least as far as Europe is concerned. It's quite light, a bit effervescent, pale in color, and top fermented.
I thought I knew a lot about beer, but the PDO bit and the top fermented bit surprised me. Basically, every beer made in Cologne is 4.8% alcohol. That's the way they do things here. Another fun thing here is that most Kölsch beers are served in little 0.2L glasses. If you want another, do nothing. If you want to stop, simply put you coaster on top of your glass. If you get another, the waitstaff will simply make a mark on your coaster. At the end of the night, they pick up your coaster, count the marks and multiply by €1.50.
As far as the beers go... I have to admit, Kölsch is probably my least favorite style of beer, whereas I really like Alt beer. Alt beer, it should be noted is from Düsseldorf, and the two cities really hate each other, despite being only 40 km apart.
Quick aside, Düsseldorf plays in the second league of Bundesliga, and Köln in the premier division. For a few years Köln was relegated and Düsseldorf was on their schedule. For the first match, the stadium completely sold out (a paltry 55,000 fans) and Köln had to hire 10,000 police on for the match specifically. Yoinks!
Anyway, back to the beer. I've only had a few true Kölsch beers in the states and they are all kind of bland. So I found that in Cologne there are over 50 different Kölsch beers brewed. I've been making my way through them kind of slowly. After less than a week, I'm kind of tired of them again, but I have found a few surprises.
Sion, is a bit sweet, but goes down nice and easy. I suppose on a hot day it would be even better. Mühlen is really shocking. It has light hints of tobacco and earthy flavors despite being as purely golden as the rest. Päffgen, is only served at the brewery, to my knowledge, and it the most highly rated Kölsch beer. I liked it, but it tastes a touch sour. Früh is too sweet, Reissdorf is too boring, Gilden is rather plain as well. There are several more and I will try them slowly but surely. At least they are light and served in small portions. If I don't really like it, I don't have much suffering and I also don't spend much money.
I will admit, however, that Kölsch beer is far better on tap, and I really want a hot day, so I can knock a couple back and experience them properly.
Other interesting Kölsch beer facts:
As I mentioned before Kölsch is top-fermented, technically making it an ale. It is then lagered for a short time to clean it up. So it's a bit of a hybrid style. Knowing that, it's exciting since it clearly predates the lager style brewing that has completely dominated germany for a couple hundred years. Also, a few Kölschs are brewed with wheat. This has only been allowed in Germany since 1913 when the Reinheitsgebot was revised (unmalted barley no longer allowed, yeast officially added to list of ingredients, cane sugar, and wheat are also allowed additives).
If a good hot day comes, I'll come on down to the brewing area and enjoy a few cold ones I hope.
In order to properly be called a Kölsch beer in Europe, a beer must be made in the metropolitan area of Cologne. That is to say, this is a protected denomination beer, at least as far as Europe is concerned. It's quite light, a bit effervescent, pale in color, and top fermented.
I thought I knew a lot about beer, but the PDO bit and the top fermented bit surprised me. Basically, every beer made in Cologne is 4.8% alcohol. That's the way they do things here. Another fun thing here is that most Kölsch beers are served in little 0.2L glasses. If you want another, do nothing. If you want to stop, simply put you coaster on top of your glass. If you get another, the waitstaff will simply make a mark on your coaster. At the end of the night, they pick up your coaster, count the marks and multiply by €1.50.
As far as the beers go... I have to admit, Kölsch is probably my least favorite style of beer, whereas I really like Alt beer. Alt beer, it should be noted is from Düsseldorf, and the two cities really hate each other, despite being only 40 km apart.
Quick aside, Düsseldorf plays in the second league of Bundesliga, and Köln in the premier division. For a few years Köln was relegated and Düsseldorf was on their schedule. For the first match, the stadium completely sold out (a paltry 55,000 fans) and Köln had to hire 10,000 police on for the match specifically. Yoinks!
Anyway, back to the beer. I've only had a few true Kölsch beers in the states and they are all kind of bland. So I found that in Cologne there are over 50 different Kölsch beers brewed. I've been making my way through them kind of slowly. After less than a week, I'm kind of tired of them again, but I have found a few surprises.
Sion, is a bit sweet, but goes down nice and easy. I suppose on a hot day it would be even better. Mühlen is really shocking. It has light hints of tobacco and earthy flavors despite being as purely golden as the rest. Päffgen, is only served at the brewery, to my knowledge, and it the most highly rated Kölsch beer. I liked it, but it tastes a touch sour. Früh is too sweet, Reissdorf is too boring, Gilden is rather plain as well. There are several more and I will try them slowly but surely. At least they are light and served in small portions. If I don't really like it, I don't have much suffering and I also don't spend much money.
I will admit, however, that Kölsch beer is far better on tap, and I really want a hot day, so I can knock a couple back and experience them properly.
Other interesting Kölsch beer facts:
As I mentioned before Kölsch is top-fermented, technically making it an ale. It is then lagered for a short time to clean it up. So it's a bit of a hybrid style. Knowing that, it's exciting since it clearly predates the lager style brewing that has completely dominated germany for a couple hundred years. Also, a few Kölschs are brewed with wheat. This has only been allowed in Germany since 1913 when the Reinheitsgebot was revised (unmalted barley no longer allowed, yeast officially added to list of ingredients, cane sugar, and wheat are also allowed additives).
If a good hot day comes, I'll come on down to the brewing area and enjoy a few cold ones I hope.
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