Nord Rheinländisch Biertreffen

Uerige

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of tagging along with my newly minted beer friend Don, a fellow American who is also currently living in Bonn. He organized a meet-up of like-minded beer enthusiasts in Düsseldorf and Cologne, the two largest cities in Nordrhine-Westfalen. The plan was to hit up several breweries in these two rival Rhineland cities to sample some of the fine offerings typical of each city's unique, hybrid beer style and then end up at a bar in Cologne for a bottle share.

I say that the two cities are rivals because each is known for their interpretation of an ale made in a lager fashion, that is a top fermented beer that is fermented at colder than usual temperatures for ales and then lagered meaning it is stored at or below freezing temperatures to ensure a smoother, cleaner tasting final product. Despite these two cities' relative geographic closeness (which I recently learned was closer than Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas--to use the (in)famous American way of trying to wrap ones mind around world geography), the two styles are considerably different. I've had German friends tell me that if you are to order an Alt in Cologne (or vice versa, a Kölsch in Düsseldorf) the waiter if he doesn't ignore you completely will bring you a glass of water accompanied by scowl.

Hailing from Düsseldorf, there's the beer style known as Altbier, which is a light amber to deep copper colored beer with a long-lasting, thick, off-white head that boasts a complex aroma of bright maltiness, albeit overall very clean owing to its time spent at low temperatures, mixed with a light, German hop nose that comes out in a range from peppery to more floral notes. The taste is an initial, slight bitterness that is, when done well, balanced with a crisp maltiness that ranges from nutty to very dry with a slight sulfur finish. Like Cologne's Kölsch, Altbier is typically served colder than most other German beers in small, similarly straight-walled glasses and brought around by the waiters, also like in Cologne called Köbes, in wreath-like trays in a subscription fashion (that is they are brought to you in a borderline aggressive way before you finish your last sips). The Köbes keep track of the beers they bring you by pencil hash marks on your beermat, which you place atop your glass when you have decided you've had enough. 

Two Köbes waiting for kegs from a beer elevator 

While there was good response of potential participants on the beeradvocate's forum for German beer discussions, we had a more lean showing that what lacked in numbers was made up for in enthusiasm. There was also a range of travel that was required for this meetup; with one committed enthusiast's trip originating from his new home of Luxembourg (just over 4 hours away) to another who was able to join on foot from his home in Düsseldorf, with Don and I enjoying a nice, relatively short, one hour journey.

Around 11 AM, we found our way to Düsseldorf's Altstadt area to the arguably most well known of Altbreweries, Zum Uerige (www.uerige.de). Because it was still pretty early in the day, we were able to position our group in a corner of the front room just steps away from the beautiful copper bar where the Köbes hammer away at the kegs, filling the small glasses and positioning them in the trays. And within seconds of sitting down, we had cold glasses of Alt in hand. After initial introductions, the group delved into some good beer conversation over a couple of mid-day rounds that hit typical topics ranging from upcoming European beer festivals (Alvinne and Brugge both in Belgium) to recently consumed and traded beer and then venturing to where the logical next stop would be. Upon paying, we confirmed with the waiter that Uerige brewery had a small version of their bar in the basement of an upscale department store a short walk away that served their typical Alt, as well as an unfiltered version that is sometimes available. Although, once we got to the basement bar, we found out that they did not have the unfiltered version so we opted to grab a quick bite for lunch elsewhere. 

Schumacher's 1838er

After lunch, we walked back towards the city's Central Station and landed at the oldest of the famed Alt producers, Brauerei Schumacher (www.schumacher-alt.de). Here the group was interested to sample the beer called 1838er, which is Schumacher's riff on the typical Alt style. Originally brewed in 2013 in commemoration of Schumacher's 175th anniversary, 1838er is made with American Citra and Australian Galaxy hops giving it a much more pronounced hop aroma and flavor, a nice matrix of a subtle grapefruit nose and an almost berry-like flavor mixed with the typical Alt maltiness. While the Düsseldorfer in the group estimated that the beer we had was at about 60-70% of its optimal brightness, it was an intriguing take on the historical Alt style which should be on top of any beer traveler's list when in the area.

Alt being drawn from the keg

The group then jumped on a regional train and headed the 28 miles south the Cologne to continue the day of sampling Rheinländisch beer. In Cologne, we were on the hunt for some Alt's paler cousin, Kölsch. I won't go into the finer aspects of the beer so much here, since I've already written at length about its storied history here: A Beer You Can Subscribe to: Kölsch. We went to Päffgen Brauhaus, which has an amazing space replete with all the fixings that one would hope for in a classic beer hall and serves a solid version of the style.

Next we headed to Malzmühle (www.muehlenkoelsch.de/)
This great example of a Kölsch bar is within a 5 minute walk from the famous Dom. You enter the Malt Mill through one of two revolving doors, the left one leads you to the

restaurant/bar that turns out traditional German fare which pairs well with the beer, and the other opens to a more

Mühlen Kölsch at Malzmühle

straight-ahead drinker's den. They both serve Mühlen Kölsch which is a perfect example of the the style: clear straw color with a slight bone-white head, slightly maltier than some other varieties with a great noble hop aroma and taste with a clean, dry finish.

After our share of German beer of the area, we headed to Braustelle (www.braustelle.com) for the bottle share. I brought two beers that hold special significance for me, one from the brewery that I worked at before moving to Germany, Singlecut Beersmith's Billy Full Stack Imperial IPA; and one from my friends at the brewery from the town where I was born and raised, Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Wood Burner. I won't go into much detail other than to say we had a fun time sampling a wide variety of styles from both Europe and the USA.