Last weekend took me to Cologne the home of Kölsch, which is defined by an agreement between members of the Cologne Brewery Association. The term Kölsch was first officially used in 1918 to describe the beer that had been brewed by the Sunner Brewery since 1906, now thirteen breweries produce Kölsch in and around Cologne. About ten other breweries in Germany produce beer in Kölsch-style, but are not allowed to call it Kölsch because they are not members of the convention.

It’s all about the Kolsch…..

If you don’t like Kölsch, you’re in real trouble in these brewery pubs as that is all they serve. But elsewhere, I did find a very tasty German craft beer called Mystique IPA from Kuehn Kunz Rosen with a very cool label. It’s a  “Weizen” IPA with full on fruity hoppiness. There is definitely Cascade and Crystal hops in there, worth checking out and nicely balanced, 7% on the ABV. Nice to see the Germans are getting in on the global craft beer revolution.

Mystique IPA, a German craft beer