Passgen - Koln

Just time for another few 25 cl of Kolsch. This is very different to Alt and is similar to a pilsner. This pub was incredibly busy, serving huge portions of the normal Germanic fare. We only came for the beer and it was worth coming.

Another beauty of a pub in Koln. This is in a huge square and even though it rained throughout our visit, it didn't stop us standing outside with the locals supping a fantastic Kolsch or ten. They even laughed when Tededned nudged the umbrella stand and drenched one of their party.

This fine little boozer can be found in the Altstadt in Koln about two minutes walk from the banks of the Rhine. We chacned on this pub after trying unsuccessfully to get into a pub that boasted that it sold 100 different beers. (It was closed and it was Saturday afternoon).

I thought the beer in here was excellent, again priced at 1.70 euros for a 25cl glass but we were served by the most miserable horsefaced cow we've ever had the misfortune to meet. She made us feel most unwelcome although this was quite probably her normal German demeanour. (See below)

Beer Mats

Bierhaus en d'r Salzgass - Koln

Brauerei im Goldenen Ring - Dusseldorf

Originally three separate pubs were on this site, until 1704, when they were combined into one. The current building is a large establishment, in the beerhall style. Despite the name, it's no longer a brewery. It last brewed in the early 1970's. There are the standard pine-topped tables and tiled floor. The bar itself is enormous and runs almost the whole length of the pub. As is usual in this town, the blue-clad köbes are there to deliver a beer to your table whenever your glass is empty. We were served by an annoying Jap who insisted on replenishing our Alt before we'd even taken the top off the last one. The bratwurst comes highly recommended though.

Brauerei Zum Schussel -Dusseldorf

Another bar that serves Alt straight from wooden barrels, this time served by buxom waitressess instead of the blue clad waiters. Again it cost around 1.70 euros and can be found on the main street in the Altstadt. The whole street is full of bars and restaurants like this and should not be missed. We again sat outside taking in the fantastic Saturday night atmosphere. The only drawback is that you do get to meet some 'interesting' characters.

The Rhineland around Dusseldorf and Cologne

This was a first for four of the five who travelled to Dusseldorf to sample the Alt. Norm and Derek had raved about in the past and although Derek seems to have disappeared of the face of the earth we could always rely on Norm to show us the way. Hot from his travels around Mid America we might have forgiven him if he was slightly the worse for wear when we met at Manchester Airport, but he's made of stronger stuff and was swiftly into his first pint at 4:30 on a dark Friday morning.

Düsseldorf is the centre of one of the most interesting beer regions of Germany, because here, more than anywhere else, the pre-19th Century top-fermenting tradition has been kept alive. In contrast to Cologne, where Kölsch has, to some extent, mimicked the paleness and softness of pils, altbier has retained much of its individuality in terms of colour and flavour. Pretty well every pub in the city sells alt and even the most commercial versions could never be mistaken for a conventional lager. The altbiers of Düsseldorf are the classic examples of the style: copper in colour, dry and with a long hoppy finish. Complex, yet drinkable beers, Düsseldorf alts (I mean here those from the brewpubs) are as superior to caramel-coloured industrial alts as cask-conditioned beer is to keg. All four brewpubs sell bottles to take away (some litres some half litres), but the only way to taste alt is on draught, straight from a wooden barrel. How is Alt brewed?Superficially, in colour and flavour, alt has much in common with the pale ales of Britain or Belgium. However, the method of brewing alt, which includes an initial fast, warm top-fermentation followed by a long of period lagering at a low temperature, is in fact a hybrid. (You can see on some of the labels the confusing term 'top-fermented lager beer' - a statement which appears to be a contradiction in terms.) The result is a beer which combines some of the roundness of a bottom-fermenting beer with the more complex fruity flavours of an ale. There can be no doubt that the style has developed over the years, undergoing the type of industrialisation which occurred in London, Burton, Munich and Pilsen. The pre-industrial beers were probably darker, cloudy and with perhaps a touch of smokiness (I'm not 100% sure about this one - it depends on exactly how they kilned the malt), imparted by older methods of malt production.

Altbier is served in stubby 0.25l glasses (or eggcups as JH called them) delivered by a blue-clad Köbes, as the waiters are known here, looking appropriately more like brewery workers. Constantly reloading their aluminium trays with beers, they circulate dropping fresh glasses of alt down in front of anyone who looks in need of a new one. They keep score by putting a pencil mark on your beermat. When it's time to pay, they simply count the marks and multiply it by the beer price - fairly simple to do when you only sell a single beer. Currently, the price is around €1.70 for 0.25l (exchange rate is around 1 euro to the pound).

Zum Uerige

This was easily our favourite pub of the tour. This rambling and justly famous brewpub is located on the corner of a busy shopping street in the Altstadt. To the right of the entrance is an L-shaped taproom with beautiful stained glass windows depicting old Düsseldorf scenes and carved wooden panels with similar motifs. The walls are stained in various interesting shades of brown, presumably by a combination of beer and nicotine. Here you can watch the barrels come up by lift from the cellar, be tapped, very quickly emptied and then removed again. A heart-warming sight. The ceiling above the area for the barrels has an intriguing set of stains which must have been occurred when overactive casks were tapped. There is another small room to the left of the main entrance and a more cavernous drinking area to the rear. By the entrance is the usual take away section, where bottles and barrels are on sale. The outside seating seems to be gradually taking up the whole of the street running down the side of the pub. Immediately outside are the usual standup tables - handy for a quick bit of refreshment while shopping. Across the street are beer garden style tables and benches, offering the sheer luxury of sitting under the trees with a glass of alt. They also serve a wheat beer which is very palatable and makes a refreshing change after a gallon or so of Alt.