Kölsch is the only language that one can also drink.
(Translated from the German)
—Anonymous
If you ask any knowledgeable beer drinker what country is best known for its lager beers, chances are “Germany” will be the answer. Likewise, if you ask that same person what the beer capital of Germany is, “Munich” will probably be the response. Twelve years ago, I would have boldly responded to those questions in the same manner. At that time, I was in Munich for a second visit to complete a degree at a brewing school, and I thought that German brewing was all about Bavaria’s lagers and wheat beers. Sure, I had tried some of Germany’s more obscure styles, such as Berliner weiss and alt, but why would anyone need to look any further than Bavaria to discover a wide array of beer styles and brands with which it would take the better part of a lifetime to become intimately familiar?
I remember being in one of my favorite student pubs when I found out about Kölsch. The pub manager was a Canadian-German with whom I had become friends, and he told me to try this new beer he had on tap. Since the vast majority of pubs and restaurants in Bavaria are controlled by large and small local breweries, it was always a pleasure to try something new at the independent pubs. When Fred poured me the glass of Kölsch, I said, “I’ll order a full-sized one,” and he replied that that was the full pour. The glass this beer was served in looked like a thimble next to the half-liter glasses that the Bavarians were using to drink helles and weissbier. Fred told me that these were the glasses he had received from the distributor for this particular beer. Being more knowledgeable than I was, Fred also told me that this was how it was done in Cologne.
Very well then, time to try the beer. The first thing that struck me was the thick, rocky head crowning the light-golden beer. Immediately I thought of helles and Pilsner, but when I tried the beer it seemed to be less malty than a helles and less bitter than a Pilsner. It also seemed to have a slightly more fruity character than either. It was soft and well balanced, with a relatively light body compared to the “big” beers of Bavaria. It was a wonderful surprise, and Fred had unknowingly made me a more frequent visitor to his pub.
The real experience with Kölsch was yet to come, however. At Fred’s student pub all I knew about Kölsch was that it was a great, pale beer that was extremely enjoyable and easy to drink. On later visits to Cologne I would realize that Kölsch was actually an ale. What I also came to realize was that Kölsch was unique to Cologne and its neighboring townships and that it was protected by an appellation.
I was also about to find out more about the Kölsch culture. Kölsch is much more than just a beer style. It is a word for the German dialect spoken in Cologne and is used as an adjective to describe anything that has to do with Cologne, in much the same way that “German” is used to describe anything having to do with Germany. I also found out that the brewery did not send Fred some reject or close-out glassware with the kegs he ordered. The cylindrical, thin-walled, seven-ounce glasses were standard in every pub in Cologne. The two-centiliter glass was the only size in which my Kölsch was served. It seemed odd at first, but after a while I came to enjoy it. Besides, you would sound like quite the hero back in Bavaria if you said you had drunk 15 beers in an evening, all the while knowing that the equivalent volume of beer would have amounted to three mugs in the Munich beer garden!
The pubs themselves were also vastly different from the ones in Munich. Whereas in Munich the stereotype is the buxom waitress carrying several large mugs of beer in her arms, in Cologne waiters wearing blue aprons efficiently dispense the tiny glasses of beer from custom-formed serving trays. Kölsch pubs can be large, but if you are looking for the beer-hall type of setting, you’re probably better off in Bavaria.
Only when I became more knowledgeable about brewing beer did I truly appreciate the skill needed to brew this crisp, refreshing golden ale that is somehow an anomaly among German beers. I discovered that Kölsch was an ale, but that it has traditionally been lagered for periods as long as eight to ten weeks to give it its smooth, mature character that makes it reminiscent of a lager. Pale, less aggressively hopped beers are among the most difficult styles to brew well, and Kölsch is certainly no exception. These noble beers don’t have the assistance of specialty malts or generous additions of bittering and aroma hops to hide their imperfections. This became clear to me as a commercial brewer when I opted to sewer the first few batches of Kölsch I brewed.
Like many things in life, the deeper you go, the more interesting it gets. This certainly was the case as I began to research the history of Kölsch in preparation for writing this book. I found out that Kölsch as a beer style is actually very young, but that its roots are as old as brewing in Germany. Indeed, Cologne has always seemed to embrace a particular style of beer at different points in time, but the clear, golden ale that Cologne is now known for has only been in existence for the last century. As I dug deeper, I learned how important the unity of the brewers of Cologne has been in making Kölsch the style that it is today and in securing its position as the only beer in the world that enjoys a protective appellation.
The citizens of Cologne must also share the same passion for Kölsch that I have. Two of every three beers drunk in Cologne is a Kölsch, and of these, one-half are consumed from the keg. In a country that is known for its beer but where overall beer production is stagnant, sales of Kölsch have actually been increasing in recent years.
Perhaps the increasing sales of Kölsch in Germany explains why it is difficult to find a bottle of German-brewed Kölsch in North America. It might be just as well, because most beers always taste better closer to the source. Whether you use this book to brew a world-class Kölsch, as a tool for planning a trip to Cologne, or as a historical point of reference, I hope you can appreciate the many levels of Kölsch as I have come to during the last 12 years. If nothing else, remember: The next time a buddy of yours tells you to try a new beer, do it! You might be pleasantly surprised to find out what you’ll learn.