Craftbeer Corner Coeln

This is Cologne's first and only proper craft beer bar, which is located right on the edge of the old town district in a rather quiet little street away from the hustle and bustle. They have 15 beers on tap (plus a bunch of bottled beers), three of which are house beers (Wieß, Wheat Beer, IPA) and 12 of which rotate all the time. They will usually be european beers, with a good portion being taken up by german breweries, but they also have some more international beers from time to time. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a US beer there, but they recently had two rather nice NZ beers for example. The house beers aren't that great, to be honest, but the other stuff is *mostly* top notch and they really try to keep up a good variety of different styles. I really have had some fantastic beers there and it's pretty rare that you get a bad one. They are not allowed to call their "Wieß" Kölsch because it's unfiltered and not brewed within Cologne, by the way.

The atmosphere is somewhat rustic, with some light modern touches. It's rather nice and comfy, really (apart from the bar stools which are slightly too low for the counter), but perhaps a little bland. The music is quiet and inoffensive, offering various styles. The crowd tends to be slightly older than what you might expect from a craft beer bar and can be a little snobbish at times. This is probably because the place is rather expensive, especially by Cologne's standards. Students can't afford to drink here. Just to give you an idea, the rotating beers are between 4.50€ and 8.50€ (most commonly 5-7€) for 300ml, which will set you back 2.50€ to 3.00€ for a standard, industrial beer in a normal bar.

What mostly lets the place down is the service, which is REALLY hit and miss depending on who's tending the counter. Some of the guys and gals are pretty nice and helpful, but others can be kinda grumpy at the best of times and downright rude at others. And to be honest, even the nicer seeming staff could probably make more of an effort to make you feel genuinely welcome.