During their holiday in Cologne in May 2008, Valerie and Neil, as well as visiting Dusseldorf, went on a day trip to Bonn. Here is the report on what they found;
Cologne & Bonn are considered to be the same metropolitan area as they are only 17 miles apart. Therefore we could use local public transport. A single ticket cost us €6.30. We made the mistake of catching the U18 there. It stopped 32 times & took 1 hour 10 minutes. We caught an "R" train back which only took 35 minutes.
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999. We found it much friendlier than either Cologne & Dusseldorf. I hadn't done any research before we went, but referring to my Steve Thomas German Beer Guide I found that there were 2 breweries located in Bonn. We were sure that there would be some other good places to drink too.
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Our first stop was Brauhaus Bönnsch located at Sterntorbruke 4. Cologne has Kolsch & Bonn has Bönnsch. The beer here was unfiltered & cloudy. They also brew a wheat beer, but there was none available that day for us to try. The unusual thing about this place is the service lift which rises straight out of the floor in the entrance. The brewery can be seen behind glass at the back of the pub.
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Next we found Haus Daufenbach at Bundergasse 6. They serve Fruh Kolsch & Krombacher Pils on draught & bottled Andechser Dunkel 4.9% & Andechser Doppelbock 7.1%. The menu also mentioned pale & dark wheat beer but we don't know which ones. The building was formerly a weinstube & bakery. It was bombed in 1944 & reopened in 1954. It also had a decent wine list.
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Around the corner in the town hall square, right in the corner to the left of the town hall we found Em Höttche (Markt 4). The building dates back to 1389. Beethoven is said to have once stayed there. It too was bombed in 1944. We sat outside and watched a policeman stop folk from riding their bikes accross the square, what a job! Take time to have a look at the interior with it's wooden beams painted ceiling,& carved wooden pillar. The beers on offer were Gaffel Kolsch & Kolsch light, Jever Pils, plus light & dark wheat beer in bottles.
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The other brew pub is Ennert-brau which is about 5km from town at An den Hecken 1, Beuel. It was such a lovely day we walked it there. We could have caught the bus but we'd still have an 800m walk once we got off. Ennert Brau was a Swiss Chalet on the edge of the forest close to the A59. The haus beer is an unfiltered Helles. It was quite complex in taste, dry & bitter & yeasty with a malty aftertaste. The seasonal beer was Weizen. It was similar to the helles with a slight tangy-lemon taste. We asked about the Maibock. It was brewed on 1st of May & because the weather has been so warm it sold out in 10 days. They also brew a winter beer & Christmas beer. The brewery can be seen downstairs when you visit the toilets. We caught the bus back into town. Not really worth the outing unless you're an ardent beer ticker, the location was worth visiting though.
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Back in Bonn our first stop was Gasthaus Im Stiefel, just a couple of doors down from Beethoven's birthplace at 30 Bonngasse strasse. We had three draught beers to choose from:- Bitburger Pils, Kurfursten Kolsch & Kostritzer Schwartz. They also sold Paulaner Hell, Dunkel & Kristall in bottles. Inside the bar was long & thin is three distinct areas. The front section was for drinking with stand up tables. Further back was a dining area & at the back a red leather chair area. The ceiling had stained glass sections.
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We started back to the Hauptbahnhof & got as far as the corner of Sternstrasse & Kasernenstrasse where we stopped at Brauhaus Zum Gequetschten. It was packed outside so ventured in. Tiled floors & pale wooden tables, lots of snub screnns in dark wood & blue & white tiles. The beer choice was Kurfurften Kolsch or Jever Pils.
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Further on we found on In Der Surst a bar call Salvator(Saviour). A chalk board advertised Maibock, which we had to try. This was a Paulaner pub. It also served Helles, Salvator, Pils, Hefeweizen plus Altmunchener Dunkel. The maibock definitely had a kick to it. You could certainly taste the 6.5% abv. It was another classic interior, typically Bavarian, where Paulaner is brewed, with ornate black & gold ironwok sectioning off eating booths. If you're tired of those little 0.2l Kolsch glasses then you can order a 1 litre beer mug in here.
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It was getting late now so the walked a couple of hundred yards back to the station & caught the train back to Cologne.
I recommend a trip to Bonn. As well as the ones we visited, there looked like loads of interesting pubs in Bonn, Proust Valerie Hollows.
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