March 2026. Mulheim. Cologne.
Our last night of three in Cologne, time for a gig out in the slightly edgier suburb of Mülheim, the only place we’d see much “diversity” (most of it in Turkish kebab shops).
Seven minutes on the train, 25 15 minutes walk to our show at the Palladium. Doors don’t open till 8; plenty of time for a Kolsch.
Well, could you walk past the Kupfer hut ?
A genuine corner bar, in complete contrast to those huge polished dining rooms in central Cologne.
If the Gaffel am Dom is Cologne’s equivalent of Manchester’s Abel Heywood (it’s not, but), then Kupfer Hut is its Grey Horse.
A mixed crowd, cosy seating, a welcoming host
and that astonishing centrepiece I never quite understood.
Quirky, a bit chaotic (really struggled to get a second round and pay here),
but the Kolsch was soft and tasty (and 50 cents cheaper than in the centre),
and the toilets rather more interesting.
It’s a **** on the RM Cologne scale. Only Lommies could beat it.
retiredmartin 
So what’s the Cologne equivalent to the Circus Tavern then?
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Doesn’t exist, Scott. That’s why Germans love our pubs (and vice versa). I always remember a youngish German visiting the Jolly Angler between flights.
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Do you get Gaffel Kölsch in the U.K., Martin? It is a beer which gets to Chicago. It had a tap handle at Laschet’s Inn on W. Irving Park Rd. [good thing I checked – it’s now a 500-mL can]. It is a good beer, but we have fresher kölsches brewed in the metropolitan (oops) area.
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I don’t drink at home so I don’t go in beer shops, Steve, but I certainly recognise Gaffel as a name. There’s a few off-licences that sell German beers, though I suspect that the stronger Belgian beers are bigger sellers.
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