Alaaf, Jecke!
As I’ve mentioned before, in Munich and environs the “fifth season” involves strong, dark beer and lots of it. In Cologne and areas around it, the “fifth season” is called Karneval, and culminates in a big parade through the streets of the city on Rose Monday. In case you didn’t know, that’s today.
Now, officially the Rose Monday parade is about sweets and flowers. Unofficially, though, beer is more prevalent than either, and most of it is the light, crisp lager known as Kölsch. Now, Kölsch can only be brewed in Cologne, and is often served in tiny 0.2 or 0.3 liter glasses which resemble flat-bottomed test tubes more than they do beer glasses. I’ve been told the size of the glass is to ensure that the beer is fresh, but it’s also a sure way to sell more beer if you ask me. It’s really hard to keep track of how many you’ve had when each one is only 0.2 liters, and at that size you can almost always swing just one more.
For more on Kölsch beer, check out this article. I’ve seen both Reissdorf and Gaffel here in the US, and I imagine there are more available as well. I’ve also seen a few Kölsch-style microbrews in the US, although I can’t say as any one of them was particularly memorable. If you know of a good one let us know.
image from koeln.de
Tags: Carnival, Cologne, fifth season, Gaffel, Karneval, Köln, Kölsch, Reissdorf, Rose Monday, Rosenmontag
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