Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Kölsch in North Carolina!

Gaffel Koelsch in North CarolinaI have posted before about Kölsch in my blog, but I will give a quick synopsis for the new readers. Kölsch is a type of beer brewed exclusively in Cologne, Germany. There are several popular breweries in Cologne (Köln), including Reissdorf, Früh, Gaffel, Dom, Sion, and more. There are other places in the world that market a beer called Kölsch, however to be officially named a Kölsch it must be brewed in Cologne in accordance with the Kölsch Convention of 1986. In addition Kölsch beers outside of Germany may not be in standards with the Provisional German Beer Law, which sets a high standard for quality and purity.

Needless to say, Germans are serious about their beer. In accordance with the German Beer Law, all beers in Germany must show all ingredients on the bottle. When have you seen ingredients listed on your American beers? The purity law, originally established in Bavaria in 1516 only allows for the ingredients of water, barley, hops, and cane sugar in beer production.
Outside of Cologne, one is probably very unlikely to come across a Kölsch. Germans are very proud of their local brews. For example . . . ordering a Kölsch in a pub in Bonn which is only a short 20 minute train ride from Cologne, would result in a very angry bartender, and possible expulsion from the establishment . . . or so I have been told. Luckily, in the United States, we are very welcoming to testing out the world's finest brews. In two seperate places, I have found real-life Kölsch, and I do not mean some sort of American version of it, but the real thing imported from Cologne.

At the Flying Saucer in Raleigh, North Carolina you can find on the menu of over 200 beers, Reissdorf Kölsch. They also have two others listed there, including Flying Dog Tire Bite, which I would ignore if you are looking for a true Kölsch. Reissdorf Kölsch is arguably the favorite beer out of Cologne, and is a definite favorite of my own. In a close second is Gaffel Kölsch which I have also found in the area.

At Tyler's Taproom found in Beaver Creek Commons in Apex, North Carolina. Tyler's is host to over 80 beers, and although the prices are a bit steep, there is a lot to say about the selection and the food. The food is delicious, and I recommend an order of the pretzels as a appetizer. Each menu item even has a beer recommendation for pairing. All of the beers are also served in their own specialty beer glass. So when I order my Gaffel Kölsch at Tyler's, it is served up in an official Gaffel Kölsch glass. All Kölsch is served in a distinct tall cylinder shaped glass, that is not common for the rest of Germany. Typical Kölsch glasses are 0.2 liters, which is not a lot of beer, but at Tyler's customers are served their Kölsch in a more commercial 0.4 Liter glass as pictured.

A special thanks to my brother who had his iPhone handy to snap a picture of my Kölsch and Pretzel at Tyler's. Check these places out if you are looking to try a Kölsch in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. However, be ready to pay for them, ranging from 5-6 bucks for a pint. Also, don't settle for imitators . . . make sure it comes from Cologne if you ever find yourself ordering a Kölsch.
Prost!

17 comments:

Anita said...

hahahaha do you miss Köln? :P I'm in Spain now, but I'm going back to Germany on Thursday!! I miss Kölsch!!

Anonymous said...

@Anita: Thanks for visiting! ¡Tengo gusto de su blog! I have to reach way back for my Spanish though! I really do miss Köln though . . . is it that obvious?! Hahaha. Trink bitte ein Kölsch in Köln für mich! Have a good trip back!

Anonymous said...

You know what would be even better with that Kölsch, a nice German Bratwurst Sausage :)

Anonymous said...

@Bratwurst: Well, usually I wouldn't moderate in such an obvious plug for self-promotion . . . however bratwursts are incredibly relevant, and the recipes look delicious. Hahaha! Thanks for the visit and the input!
Prost!

Anonymous said...

After reading your post I thought to myself, 'Hang on a sec, is Aussies are pretty serious about our beer, especially the consumption of it", and I thought for sure we would have the ingredients on our labels. Man, was I ever wrong, all we show is the alcohol content. Looks like those Germans are more serious about their beer than we are.

So, what's the beer like, and how much alcohol content does it have?

Anonymous said...

I like the snap in the post :d

Anonymous said...

@Sire: Hey thanks for coming back, SIre, you are always quick with a response! As far as the German beer goes, part of the fun of Germany is that every region seems to have their own type of beer, and in the case of Cologne even cities have their own type of beer, so the amount of variety is incredible. The alcohol content similarly varies as I saw everything from 2.5% to 8.0%. I wish I had a better answer!

@Jingle: I am not sure what you mean by "snap", but hey thanks for dropping in!

Anonymous said...

I haven't tried that beer but I tried some Germany beers when I was in Germany and I know that the Germany beers are better than any other beer in the world so I'm sure this one is good, I will try it if I go to Germany again.

Anonymous said...

German Beer Law? They are serious about beer! There is so much fantastic food & drink in Germany, you have to love it!

Anonymous said...

Hi,
interesting that you find such a local german beer in the US.
In Germany, the alcohol content can actually go up to 15% which is like wine!!! Those are actually very hard to drink.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

It's a nice chance every now and then to have an altbier rather than a traditional lager. Altbier is top-fermenting beer as opposed to the bottom-fermenting lager. Düsseldorf's Altbier and Cologne's Kölsch are the most famous altbier.

Anonymous said...

This beer is also available at the Flying Saucer in Addison Texas.
I highly recommend it..

Anonymous said...

Ummm, sounds like you should be a Three Sheets watcher if you're not already - its a great place to catch up on what people are drinking around the world. I used it as my travel guide to Prague this New year

Anonymous said...

Germans are serious about beer. It's tradition. And here about 4 hours from Cologne nobody likes Kölsch. We drink beer out of this region.

And something else: Don't show a Bavarian, that you eat Pretzel and drink Kölsch. Only Bavarian Weissbier!

London Relocation said...

I travel to Cologne 3-4 times a year and I love it every time. The Altstadt is my favourite. The Früh am Dom is a good pub for drinking beer.

Diane Site de Rencontre said...

Kölsch beer is a really good one. I am from Germany and I travelled once in USA and I test it. I was so surprised that one beer could have been so tasty.

Unfortunatly there is no in France

Heathrow Hotel said...

Kölsch is fabulous tasting beer. The only time I tasted it was when at the Brussels beer festival. tasted many that weekend but I remember getting told the history of having to brewed in Cologne. that how I ember it from the rest.