Another Kölsch experience

Well, I am definitely not a picky guest and always open for new stuff. Being invited for a friend's birthday party, there was an option of having wine or beer from Cologne. As the reader might imagine, Michael and Kölsch doesn't fit together.
But I gave it a try, because it was an organic one from a micro brewery in Cologne I did not know.



Heller is a small brasserie in the south of Cologne. Without any serious prejudices, I had two bottles and was positively surprised: unlike the thin taste of regular Kölsch, this one has a decent character, spicy and a little hoppy. Due to the fact, I had to be the family chauffeur, I switched over to water later the evening. Otherwise I would have stayed with the beer much longer.
But what always happened with Michael and Kölsch, also happened with Hellers the next morning: waking up, I felt like having drunken 10 bottles of the stuff, not just two. This curiosity happens anytime I give Kölsch a try. I won't complain, pointing out the "bad" quality of brewing tradition in Cologne. My explanation: being from Düsseldorf, my body just developed special defence shields for a beer from Kölle ;-)

A surprise

Innocently, I drove to my favourite beer store today for getting some bottles for tonites board game evening with friends.
I was happy to find some new brews of my most liked German brasseries (Meister and Unertl; tasting notes later), but the most astonoshing thing happened, when I went towards the cashier. It was a beer bottle, designed like the Belgian ones. And the label said that it is an IPA, brewed in Germany, Bonn. What happened? My favorite beer, brewed by a brasserie in my small home town???? I gabbed of course on bottle and asked the boss, whether he might give me some background notes.

That's what he told me: Fritz is a Bonn-based expert on Belgian beer and he is close with a well-known Belgian beer sommelier. After tasting so many beers, both decided to brew some favorite beers themselves. The first one was an IPA, followed by a Stout. He rents some space in a brewery in Cologne and in the monastery in Siegburg for brewing and storing in barrels. This sounds more than interesting!! I did not taste the IPA so far, but will do it very soon. My tasting notes will follow soon.

This is, for the beginning, the website of the Belgian-Bonn brewery: www.fritzale.de