March 2026. Cologne. Germany.
Back from Bonn on our last night with the lads in Germany, with a BIG indie gig (not Nicole) to come in Cologne. Indie gigs don’t start till late, so no rush; I walked Mrs RM back to our ring-road hotel and popped in Paffgen for a quick couple of the best Kolsch in town.
You remember Paffgen, a 5* World Classic per Ron,
well, I got unlucky this time, sitting waiting for a glass of Kolsch that never came (only 7 minutes, but it felt an eternity). Perhaps they were only interested in serving food, but it was disappointing.
Never mind, the boys were in Heumarkt at Pfaffen (Paffgen family, different beer), where in fairness I’d also had a fair wait for Kolsch in 2022.
and so again, an irritating wait (“Have some of mine, Dad”).
I suppose you can go to the bar, but it’s not the point, is it ?
Ah, there you go.
This corner pub is, for me, the most gorgeous of all Cologne’s Braurei, inside and out.
But only time for a couple, then back to the Dom where Matt assured me they’d finally worked out the fastest route round the cathedral to the station.
They really hadn’t.
retiredmartin 
I took the U-Bahn from the Hauptbahnhof when I went to the Päffgen brewery and managed to get slightly lost coming out of the station, but the pub was well worth wandering the back streets for the beer and atmosphere when I finally found it. I walked back with the Dom in sight which proved much easier than I expected.
I get why the Päffgen who fell out with the rest of the family had to find another name for his beer, but he’s not even allowed to call it Kölsch either as it’s brewed just outside the Cologne city boundaries. I sat outside on the square and had no trouble getting served. Pfaffen means priests in German. I caught the train back to Düsseldorf, popped in the Schumacher brewery and got chatting to some guys who laughed when I told them where I’d just been and crossed themselves.
LikeLike