In most places in the world, you have to order a beer if you want to drink a beer. But in the Kolsch bars in the German city of Cologne, things work the other way around. No need to place an order here, because the bartenders assume that everyone wants a beer — and another and another — and they’ll continue to serve them to you until you tell them to stop.
It helps that Kolsch is a very light, relatively low-alcohol beer that is meant to be drunk fresh, cold and carbonated. So, Kolsch bartenders, known as köbes, serve it in slim little 7-ounce glasses called stangen. They can carry up to 18 of them around in a circular tray, a kranz, in order to get the beer to you faster. And with each glass, the köbe will mark your coaster to keep count. Once you’re finished, you place your coaster on top of your glass (the signal for “check please”). Otherwise, the next beer will be there before you can say prost!
Kelly and Cory Buenning have never been to Cologne. But they fell in love with an American version of this Kolsch service at a bar in Louisville, Ky., called the Holy Grale. The couple co-owned a brewery there and would drop in on the Holy Grail after work to enjoy it.
Last year, the Bruenings moved back to Colorado, where Cory had been a professional brewer in the past, and opened Fritz Family Brewers, at 6778 N. 79th St. in Niwot, which specializes in German-style lagers and ales (in addition to other styles). So when Cory said he was planning to brew a Kolsch, Kelly had the idea to do “a Kolsch-service night.”
They started it up in May — every Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. — and it comes complete with a dedicated kobe who carries a kranz filled with stangen for anyone who wants to participate. “No one else here was really doing one,” Kelly said.
That changed in early August, though, when 4 Noses Brewing in Broomfield added its own Wednesday night Kolsch service.
Tommy Bibliowicz, owner of 4 Noses at 8855 W. 116th Circle, fell in love with the tradition after watching an episode of “Parts Unknown” with Anthony Bourdain that was filmed in Cologne. Then earlier this year, while he and his crew were in Minneapolis for the Craft Brewers Conference, they attended a Kolsch night and decided to bring it back home to Broomfield.
To participate, customers let the bartender know they are interested, and then sit down and wait for the beer to start flowing. “It’s really fun, and since the glassware is only 7 ounces, by the time you are done drinking, in about 4 or 5 sips, you have another fresh one next to you,” Bibliowicz said.
The head brewers at both Fritz and 4 Noses each came up with their own recipes for Kolsch, but they are based on the Cologne version, which has been a dominant style there for around 150 years. In fact, the name “Kolsch” is protected within the boundaries of the European Union, meaning that breweries can’t use the term unless they brew within 30 miles of the city.
Kolsch season for this year, at least in Colorado, is probably coming to an end soon. Fritz plans to continue through September, while 4 Noses will keep serving “until the beer runs out.”
