Our Friendly Waiter
One of my favorite things about Cologne is Kölsch, golden ale served in long, tall 0.2 liter glasses. Kölsch is Cologne’s proprietary beer, strictly defined by the Kölsch Konvention, an agreement between the members of the Cologne Brewery Association. Similar to Champagne, use of the term Kölsch is prohibited outside Cologne.
The original Kölsch brewer was Sünner, whose production began in the early 1900’s. Today, 13 breweries produce Kölsch, including the biggies: Früh, Gaffel, Reissdorf and Kölner Verbund.
A very dangerous yet enjoyable thing about Kölsch is that it’s served bottomless-glass style: the waiters, or Köbes, come to your table with a circular tray (Kölschkranz) of Kölsch glasses and automatically exchange your empties with fresh glasses until you cry uncle (specifically, you must leave your glass half-full or cover it with your coaster). Around this time, when you get the bill and are rooting through your pockets for euros, thinking there’s no way you drank that much, perform a simple audit by peering at your hashmark-covered beermat where the Köbe has tracked each refill.
Some of the brewery-owned beer halls still brew Kölsch in-house, but most have moved their production off-site to larger locations in the city.
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