Grandfather's Beer - the purity of the Cologne Pale Ale - a night for Kölsch

Four brewhouses, four Kölsch, four family stories. We start on the Heumarkt at the Malzmühle, brewing since 1858 and run by the Schwartz family since 1912, and at Pfaffen, in a house from 1176 that stands on Roman foundations. Just around the corner, in the narrow Salzgasse, the Becker family's Bierhaus en d'r Salzgass pours the famous Päffgen Kölsch fresh from the barrel. We finish at the Schreckenskammer near St. Ursula, first recorded in a tax list of 1487, with sand rubbed into its oak floor and dark legends about executioners' last meals. These are not show houses for tourists. The furniture is plain, the food is hearty, and most guests are locals who come for the beer, not the decor. Nothing here bends to fashion. You taste side by side how different four Kölsch can be, and you hear the stories behind each house: who brews, who serves, and why Cologners stay loyal to "their" brewhouse for a lifetime. The tour can be of course customized to individual inquiries.

1. Meet in front of the Brauerei zur Malzmühle, Heumarkt 6 2. Malzmühle: first Kölsch and the story of the Schwartz family, brewing here since 1912 (approx. 35 min) 3. Short walk across the Heumarkt to Pfaffen, Heumarkt 62 (approx. 7 min) 4. Pfaffen: second Kölsch in a house from 1176 on Roman foundations (approx. 30 min) 5. Walk to the Salzgasse, one of the narrow lanes of the Old Town (approx. 3 min) 6. Bierhaus en d'r Salzgass: Päffgen Kölsch from the barrel at the Becker family's brewhouse (approx. 30 min) 7. Walk through the Old Town, past Cologne Cathedral, to St. Ursula (approx. 20 min) 8. Schreckenskammer: last Kölsch and hearty brewhouse food, in a brewery first recorded in 1487 (approx. 45 min) 9. Tour ends at the Schreckenskammer, Ursulagartenstraße 11-15, about 750 m from Cologne Central Station