Brauerei Päffgen

A bit of a walk from the river but still technically in the Altstadt on the western edge of the ring road. And absolutely worth the visit. Very quiet on a rainy Monday afternoon but I had to come back to experience it after walking all the way here on Karneval Saturday and they were closed. I would also close up shop during that madness, can't blame them. A narrow, rustic tavern with lots of old wood and very old chandelier/candelabra type lighting. In a city with seemingly endless versions of Kölsch, this was near the top and maybe my favorite. And I drank a LOT of Kölsch over three days. This was straight from the barrel and so damn fresh and luscious. Bright and almost fruity, not as sweet as other examples in town. I could honestly drink this every single day. In hindsight, I wish I had more than a few stange but I had other pubs to visit.

 

The brewery is just outside the city center of Cologne but worth the trek. It's kolsch is drawn from the tap and never bottled. The food selection is amazingly delicious and fast with traditional appetizers and mains. Great service and the beer is well made too; taste is similar to a Fruh but not as sweet and not to bitter but has an assertive hop bite that isn't long lasting. Prost!

The historical original Paffgen Brewery, a must go place when you're in Cologne. Everything is iconic. Very good food and an amazing and unique beer making a memorable night in a fantastic city.

 

 

 

 

 

One of two all-time favorites in Koeln. A must-visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is hands down my most favorite Kolsch joint in Koln (Peter's is pretty darn good too). Great atmosphere, the original "rude" server and Koln's best Kolsch. Sit down and order a Haben Hen and a stage of Kolsch and taste a little piece of Kolsch heaven. I can't wait to go back to Koln. .

This place is a little off the beaten track as far as most tourists are concerned. We walked there up Friesenwall from Rudolphsplatz. Through the front door it's like entering a different world. The beer tap is located just inside on the left. This is where you can watch the kobessen at work filling the kolsch glasses straight from the large wooden casks. The turnover is usually fairly quick, so you can see the next cask being wheeled out on a trolley and then hoisted up using a chain hoist before being tapped. Great stuff!

We also had food; four different cheese plates and all were good. A friendly local man at an adjacent table spoke with us and it was obvious that he was very proud of his "local". Now, I know why.

Good selection. I tried the Kölsch. An interesting take on the style; in addition to the standard flavor profile, there was also some brown sugar, vanilla, and pepper.

The beer hall is a standard take on the style - dark wood and communal tables. We dropped in during the afternoon when it was nearly empty and there were actually more employees than customers, which, counter-intuitively, made it harder for us to get service. I believe the servers couldn't see us because other servers blocked their line of sight.

Two Kölsch tubes each and we were on our way.

We found this brewpub during a barhop through Cologne's Kolsch district, starting at the Cathedral. The entrance was from a narrow alleyway that we happened to walk down.

Outside there were a couple of tables and chairs (all that would fit in that narrow space), but inside was gorgeous. Dark wood everywhere, it feels like you're in the old world. Quick service too, friendly enough even though we didn't speak any German.

My only complaint is that the Kolsch doesn't compete with others in town, at least to my tastes. The beer is the most bitter Kolsch I've tried (not compared with other styles but it doesn't fit my concept of a good Kolsch) and just wasn't satisfying.

If you have several nights in Cologne you might give this place a try for dinner, it looked like a nice place for that at least. But if you have only one night, let it be Fruh.

This was the main brewpub that I was trying to go to in Koln and it was worth it. Even though I went late at night, and surprisingly it was full of people, but I still managed to find a seat. There is a main room with a beer garden in the back, and a few side rooms that or nicely decorated.
The Paffgen Kolsch they serve was delicious and refreshing as usual, and the waiters weren't trying to force it down our throats continually.
They have a list of specials that vary and several types of meats and potatoes were available.
Since the place is located in the newer part of town, there was more of a nightlife and the prices were not as expensive as some of the other establishments.

Found this place in Cologne, located on a little side street.

Nice atmosphere with plenty of wood and a classy but not stuffy feel.

The service was quick and friendly, selection (beerwise) was average for this type of place.

Pricing on the beer was fair, the food (which I didn't try)was priced a little on the high side but looked like itmight have been good. We had just eaten elsewhere ro would have tried the food here. It's located on a small side street between the Rhine and the main shopping area. If you're in Cologne this place is worth a stop.

This brewery is a cracker.

Its a little out of the way, but worth the walk. We experienced lots of friendly locals who shared the table with us, and excellent spicy Kolsch. It was nice seeing them lowering the barrels into place using a chain block - highly professional beer venue. There were people all over the place dressed up for the carnival that was taking place that weekend (still need to find out what it was about).

There was a little booth, with what I think was the manager taking care of paperwork, and observing the happenings around the brauhaus.

We had some great grub (pork loin with mash, etc), and a good session on what was the second best Kolsch for me in Koln.

Highly recommended - I would say this and Braurei zur Malzmuhle are the best in town.

Ah, now this place was the bees knees in Köln! We walked all over the city, across the bridge to Deutz to check out the Dom from the other side and walked back to our hotel which was just off Friesenstrasse, so we had developped a solid appetite and decided to end the evening here.

Like all the other Kolsch pubs we visited, the barrel awaits you right next to the front door. This place was smaller, consisted of two sections, one smaller on the left, a larger on the right, with a biergarten in the back. The place was packed, but we did manage to squeeze in the big area at the end of one of the communal tables in the center. Nice glasswork on the windows, big coat hangers everywhere and just an general feeling of history and community.

Our Köbes was very friendly and helped us out with ordering, although I took my cue from a neighbour's plate, a big ass piece of pork leg served in a thick red sauce - fabulous - with a pair of knoddels, that I didn't really like much, a bit too dry for me. Mélanie thought she ordered the chicken, but ended up with a mish-mash platter of fried eggs, potatoes and veggies with brown sauce, that we reffered to as "German Poutine". It was pretty good though, I helped her finish off her gargantuan plate.

What I really was here for was obviously the Kolsch, and boy did it not dissapoint. It was definately richer, fuller, maltier and overall more balanced and "complete" that the others. I ended up my evening with many notches on my coaster. I even think the waiter tried to cut us off, because we had to ask at least twice for our last round, and he certainly didn't seem as eager to get it as he did for the ones before. It's not like we were causing a scene, sitting on our end table chatting quietly while the rest of the room was in full festive mode. I did get to check out the staff changing a keg, they use a crane fixed to the ceiling to get the keg up, I guess they were tired of seing the Köbes throwing their backs out. One of them asked about my Trois-Pistoles T-shirt and what it meant, and ended up talking Beer with the guy for a while.

Definately a must visit place in Köln, and not just for the Beer. I already had a pretty favorable view of Kolsch, but this experience really pushed it over the top.

This is a MUST visit brewery bar for Kolsch! It is rather off the beaten track and away from the main tourist area, and could be difficult to find without a map. It would take 20-25 mins to walk from the Cathedral Square.

You can get a U-Bahn underground train to Friesenplatz, come out of the station, then look for direction sign to DOM and HBF, and then walk down that road for 100 yards, you will see a 'Y' junction, then take the left hand fork which is Friesenstrasse, and you will soon see the bar.

The exterior is a bit dull, but once inside its the usual Cologne brewery bar atmosphere, with the dark wooden panelling, sanded tables, chairs and benches. Two rooms each side of the door, but walk straight ahead into an enclosed beer garden, which has sliding glass shutters to keep out the rain, but let natural light in.

The Kolsch is VERY good, probably the most 'bitter' of them all, very refreshing and crisp bitter after-taste. Waiter service was very good from the guy we had who joked with us about our German, and was very friendly and helpful. The food menu is in German only, but you can get help if you cannot understand it. Good value food, and what we had to eat was very good.

Although out of the way, a good atmosphere, excellent beer and food....what more could you ask for ? Yes, I know you can only have Kolsch...but that's why you came to Cologne isn't it ??!!

Worth the effort to find.


Visited August 2005
John W
Birmingham UK





Because it is off the main tourist area, it seem to have more local people than tourists, and better for it.

5 to 10 minutes away from the Cathedral. It looks a bit mysterious from the outside. The inside features a warm atmosphere created by small rooms with woods everywhere and some large tables that give a friendly feeling to the place. The service was professionnal but basic and not really warm. Waiters were making bets on soccer games. The menu featured a large variety of Koslch products at usual prices. My bratwurst was good, but I never got my beer to go til the 0,2L sign. No big deal though.
A nice stop with a beer that has character and that differentiates itself from its competitors.

Päffgen should be a must see for anyone who comes to Köln. Though it may be tempting to go to one of the brewpubs near the Dom (also a good idea), if there is one place you should drink at in the city it is here.

Päffgen, in Friesenplatz, does not encounter many tourists. Its mainly a local hang out and popular place to go for a traditional evening of food, beer, and fun. In other words, while English menus will be offered and spoken to some degree by the waiters, don't expect to be babied or catered to. The servers are professionals and are extremely proud of their work, but don't try small conversation. Most Germans are not fans of it to begin with, especially at work. Usually a meer 'noch mehr' or 'ein mehr Lage' is all that is needed to order more beer. In short, if you can speak German at all, do it here.

Päffgen's beer has no equal. Its one of the two places in Köln where one can get cask conditioned Kölsch served the old fashion way from wooden barrels right by the enterance. Don't come expecting anything other than Kölsch, its all the serve and will probably give you a strange look if you ask for anything else.

The food is traditional and served in large quantities from a seemingly endless menu. For the smaller appetite I highly reccommend the Goulash. Not exactly an ethnic Rhineland meal, but good all the same. Prices for food are very reasonable.