Work trip in Cologne

Needless to say but the beer of choice in Cologne is Kolsch.

Maybe this video will give you some ideas:

 

Hit as many of these places as you can and you'll be fine:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/place/city/75/

 

Päffgen & Malzmühle are probably the best, being at a convention I bet 90% of your colleagues will be heading to the Altstadt afterwards anyways.

Don't forget to eat a Döner Kebap though - you'll thank me later.

 

Don't forget to report back in the Germany forum - we all love to drink vicariously in Germany through others.

 

Früh Am Dom is right by the big cathedral and worth stopping in, IMHO (although @digita7693 disagrees). If you're up for a little bit of a walk, Brauerei zur Malzmühle has good Kölsch and a good Halve Hahn (cheese sandwich). Most traditional places in Cologne will only offer one brand of Kölsch plus a wheat beer, so don't be too shocked when you can't find a place with 15 taps featuring beer from all over Germany, that's not really how they do things. I guess there are one or two places that are doing some new things, but I'm not really familiar with those.

 

I didn't get to explore Cologne but I did enjoy Braustelle when I visited - went with a friend for a bottle share. The beers I had weren't traditional, but I quite enjoyed them.

 

OP - if I had 2 pick my top 2 choices for your trip, see Einhorn's post above. And the food at Päffgen & Malzmühle is good too and really goes well with kölsch. Failing this, go with Einhorn again for the Döner Kebap. Have fun.

 

It's close to the train station, its a nice place, and it is big and light, so it has that... but when you can walk 5 minutes further and get vastly superior Kölsch why wouldn't you?

Heumarkt to hit Mühlen, my personal favorite, and then Päffgen is right there too, which is a cool traditional beer hall, or on the river you can enjoy Päffgen. Pfaffen is also at Heumarkt and great for people watching, but is currently under going renovations.

cheers

 

When at the Hauptbahnhof, don't forget about Schreckenskammer........ It's in the other direction from the centre, but very cool regarding authentic atmosphere.

 

I don't think that Cologne is about finding the 'best' Kolsch pub, its more about visiting each one and appreciating the different vibe each place has. Having said that, standing outside Fruh on a sunny day with the massive Dom nearby is a must!

 

IMO you sir win the prize!

Thank you for your post!!

Cheers!

 

I agree with what others have said. Try as many different Kölsch beers as you can. But be sure to stop at Schreckenskammer which is a little bit n/w from the main station. Drink at the walk up bar if you don't feel like grabbing a table. Watch them pour the beer, or, if lucky, hoist a barrel up from the basement. Then go to Päffgen, which is a bit of a walk almost directly west of the incredible Dom (the Dom is basically next door to the train station). Päffgen is my personal favorite. Früh is near the Dom, but does not have a direct view of it. The interior of Früh is great.....huge with a ton of different drinking/dining areas. You could stop at Pfaffen for a quick couple on your way to Mühlen (Maltzmühle), which is a good walk south of the Dom. Mühlen is another of my favorites. Gaffel Haus Köln is another cool stop. I love all of the subtle differences between the Kölsch beers! Of course, there is Sünner, Reisdorf, etc... Time for you to explore! Have fun.....

http://www.schreckenskammer.com/index.html
http://www.paeffgen-koelsch.de/
http://www.frueh.de/
http://www.max-paeffgen.de/englisch/cologne-pub.html
http://www.muehlenkoelsch.de/index.php/brauhaus.html
http://www.gaffel-haus.de/koeln/index.htm

(I'm sure it goes without saying, but you can pull up Cologne on google maps and then search "brauerei", which will pinpoint most of these places)

Prost!

 

Well it might be too late for a meeting but you should check Früh am Dom. I don't recommend this normally as this is a tourist trap but they do have a jubilee beer at the moment, Rude Pitter.

Otherwise: Braustelle, Braustelle and again: Braustelle.

 

Reviving this a little bit. I travel frequently to Cologne and Braustelle is the only brauhaus or bar that I've found that does anything different (i.e. serve anything besides kolsch (and a wheat at some). I love it there and their beers, while not comparable to what's going on in the US, are always enjoyable and usually at 6-8 varieties on tap. Food is good, too. Are there places I am missing which serve good German (craft) beer or other variety?

Not mentioned above is a very small place serving Paffgen called Max Stark (about 10 minute walk north of the Hauptbanhof) that I really like the vive of. (warning - very small)

For the larger places, I agree with most that Paffgen and Malzmuhle are the best. When the weather is right, anywhere outdoors in Alstadt is great time, as well.

 

Well, next to the traditional Mühlen Ausschank at Heumarkt, a craft beer bar called Mühlen Bar opened. They serve german and international craft beer besides Mühlen Kölsch. http://www.muehlenkoelsch.de/muehlenbar/ Btw, Mühlen iself makes from time to time a "gourmet bier" called "Von Mühlen"... and I think almost all Kölsch brewers now, besides Reissdorf and the Oetker brands, make something different now- Gaffels Sonnenhopfen, Frühs Rude Pitter...
And there are a few shops which sell "craft" now.
If this is a good or bad development is a whole other story.

 

Hey -- with the revive of this post I realized we never got that report -- You have so much fun that you stayed in Köln JZoss?

 

Slacker.