Privatbrauerei Heinrich Reissdorf

Why it matters

Kölsch is defined by an agreement between Cologne brewers rather than by a recipe, which makes the question of what it should taste like a matter of which house you ask. This is the house most often answered with, and the largest, so it is the useful baseline against which the others read as variations.

Details

Reference beers

• Reissdorf Kölsch4.8% ABV

  The best-selling Kölsch, and the house most often used as the reference point for what the style should taste like.

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Styles it is associated with

• Kölsch — Cologne’s pale hybrid beer: ale-fermented then lagered, giving lager clarity and crispness with a whisper of fruit.

Traditions

• German regional speciality brewing — The city-level German traditions — Kölsch, Altbier, Rauchbier, Berliner Weisse — that survived the national spread of pale lager.