When I moved back into my hotel room after Popcomm was over, there was a fax waiting for me from a fellow on the German Hausbrauforum who had seen my message that I’d be in Koeln. He said he would look forward to having a beer with a guest from Canada. Well, after talking to him on the phone it was obvious to me that the legendary hospitality of the people of Cologne extends well out into the surrounding countryside, as well. Ernst told me to take a train to Euskirchen, about 40 km away, and he would pick me up there and drive me around the countryside to visit a couple of smaller breweries. Hey, I was certainly game to visit a few places I otherwise would not have the chance to see!

I was to discover that all throughout the countryside around Bonn, Koeln and Duesseldorf the same “old” brewing techniques are still practiced at a number of smaller places. It seems that these smaller breweries, who brew mostly for their own use, generally brew two types of beer : a Helles and a Dunkles, neither of which should be mistaken for the Munich Lagers of the same name. The Helles is brewed in a similar fashion to a Koelsch, but of course because of the Herkunfstbezeichnung they can’t call it that. In fact neither of the Helles beers I tasted was filtered, so they were more correctly examples of a Cologne Wiess, which as we know is served young and unfiltered.

More recently I have come to use the term Rheinland Helles to describe the light beers of the area, and I argue that Kölsch is a sub-style of this style, just as Alt is a substyle of what I call Rheinland Dunkles.

Steinbach

The first place we went to was on the way to Ersnt’s house, and was in the middle of an absolutely wonderful Naturschutzgebiet or nature preserve. The brewery was nestled on the side of a small lake in the midst of a fairly large wooded area. A small part of the lake near the brewery and accompanying Gasthaus was designated as a recreation area for visitors, complete with swimming and waterslides, while the rest of the lake was protected along with the whole rest of the area. Having lived in Cologne I was of course quite familiar with the famous Eifel area, known throughout Germany for it’s protected woods, rolling landscape, fresh air, and the all-round abundance of natural surroundings. Ernst told me that right in this area was where the Eifel begins.

Inside, the building seemed fairly new, and was of wooden construction with high ceilings and large wooden beams which created a welcome feeling of openness. The beers themselves were certainly refreshing, but outside of their absolutely marvelous surroundings I don’t think they were really worth mention. Good beer, but not exceptional. That is to say that I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here just for the beers, but I most certainly would choose this area over many similar ones in the Eifel if I were looking for a nice day in the German countryside for myself and possibly the family. There is plenty of swimming and hiking for young and old, an abundance of fresh air and nature, and of course some reasonably good hand-crafted beers to wash it all down with adds the icing to the cake.

After enjoying both a Helles and a Dunkles, we went back to the car and headed off to Ernst’s house in a small Dorf just outside the town of Rheinbach. The plan was apparently that his wife would drop us off at the next Brewpub and then pick us later in the evening, so that Ersnt could enjoy a few beers himself without worrying about driving. Much to Ersnt’s surprise, when we got there his wife had prepared a wonderful spread of quiche, small pizzas and melon served with a piece of thinly-sliced smoke ham – something I had never seen before. They opened a lovely bottle of German dry Champagne-style sparkling wine, and called the kids out to toast their guest from Canada. I was almost overwhelmed by the hospitality they were showing, and the many times I thanked them Ernst’s only comment was that he was certain I would do the same if we were in Canada. The legendary Cologne hospitality really does extend well beyond the city boarders.

Rheinbach

After we ate our fill and drank some of the sparkling wine, we jumped back into the car and off we went to the Brewpub in Rheinbach. On the way we made a few detours and Ernst and his wife showed me a few of the sights their small town of 15,000 has to offer. It was a very cute town with a mixture of middle age watchtowers and Fachwerk houses, combined with newer buildings that were built to have an older appearance. There were plenty of modern shops lining the streets and the town was quite bustling for its size.

The Brauhaus Rheinbach brewpub was located in the middle of downtown, and was itself located in a very new building that was built with a newer look as well. Open only for a couple of years now, Ernst told me that it has become an extremely popular Kneipe in Rheinbach, and has taken a fair bit of business from other establishments in town. It was a Monday evening when we were there, but it could have just as well been a Friday or Saturday for the number of people who had come to enjoy the atmosphere and of course the beer. With high ceilings and a loft area which housed both the brewery as well as a good number of tables for customers, the Brauhaus Rheinbach really was a gem in the middle of the Eifel. It presented extremely comfortable surroundings in which to enjoy the company of friends.

We sat down at the bar and Ernst immediately started enquiring as to whether or not the brewmaster were available to talk to. I wasn’t expecting him to be there this late in the evening, but Ernst seemed fairly disappointed and apologized to me that we didn’t get a chance to talk to the brewmaster at either establishment. It was about then that the two Helles we had ordered were delivered to us, and upon taking the firsts drink I ensured Ernst that the trip had already been more than worthwhile! Unfiltered and still fairly cloudy as a result, what we were tasting was the most lively and exciting example of a Wiess that I would have the pleasure to enjoy on my short two week visit to the Koeln area. And given that Wiess is unfortunately now a real rarity within Cologne, this was an especially great find! As is common with non-Kölsch beers in the area, Rheinbach serves their beers in a stylized version of the Kölsch "Stange" which was designed by Italian designer Colani.

As we were tasting our beers, Ernst commented that he could taste fruit flavours in the beer, and when I told him that this is exactly what one should taste in a Koelsch he laughed and said how ironic he found it that he needed a guy from Canada to tell him what the beer in this area is supposed to taste like. He didn’t know that this was expected of the style, though it would certainly not be so pronounced in a finished Koelsch. So of course we enjoyed another of the same before moving on to the Dunkles. When Ernst postulated that the Dunkles at both establishments were probably related to an Alt beer, I told him that I was unfortunately not yet familiar enough with that style to properly judge, but that he was probably correct. I wasn’t nearly as impressed with it as I was with the Helles, though that probably had more to do with my absolute elatedness to find such a wonderful example of a Wiess, than it really had to do with the quality of the Dunkles.

Since the last train from Euskirchen to Koeln leaves at 10pm, the original plan was for Ernst’s wife to pick us up around 9:30 to give us plenty of time to make it to the train station. However, while we were at their place she suggested that we could stay longer if she instead drove us to Bonn instead of Euskirchen, since the trains from there to Koeln go much later into the evening. Once again the local hospitality shone through – their primary concern seemed to be that I had enough time in my short visit to properly enjoy their local Brewpub, even if it did mean a bit more trouble for them; Bonn was afterall a fair bit further away than Euskirchen. So shortly before midnight I boarded the train to Cologne, and said goodbye to my most friendly hosts.

There are more photos of this part of my trip right here