Kölsch by the Kranz in Cologne's Old Town

Heumarkt, from the Malzmühle to zum Pfaffen

The Malzmühle occupies the corner house on Heumarkt square. Behind the frontage the rooms are dark and wood-panelled, with long scrubbed tables and brass taps along the counter, and the Kranz goes round the room at the Köbes's own pace. This is Cologne's second-oldest brewery, and the family that runs it now also runs the big brewery-tour site in Kalk.

Hearty mains are €13 to €20. Doors open daily from noon, with closing at 23:00 Monday to Thursday and 00:00 on Friday and Saturday. On a weekday, come early in the evening.

Brauhaus zum Pfaffen (quiet end of Heumarkt) is the tap of Max Päffgen, a slim gabled house with a dark panelled tap room and a small inner courtyard behind it. Pfaffen is poured from the wood and served nowhere else in the city; the beer came out of a 2002 family split in the Päffgen dynasty. It sits five minutes from the big halls.

A glass is €2,50 to €3,00. Mains are €12 to €19. The house opens daily from 11:00 to 00:00, the broadest single stretch of the five.

Unter Taschenmacher and the Alte Brauerei hall

Brauhaus Sion (Unter Taschenmacher) has a narrow frontage on the alley that opens into the hall known as the Alte Brauerei. The woodwork is bare, a white-tiled dado runs the length of the walls, and the Kranz trays are pewter. The Köbes pencils your tally straight onto the beer mat.

Brewing is documented on this plot back to 1318, and the Köbes still work the hall by habit rather than by system. A glass is €2,50 to €3,00 and mains run €13 to €20. Hours are 10:30 to 00:00, and to 01:30 on Friday and Saturday.

The station forecourt and the cathedral towers

Gaffel am Dom (station forecourt) spreads over three floors, with a large open-air terrace in front of it. From the upstairs windows the cathedral's blackened west towers fill the glass. Downstairs the Fassbierkeller is vaulted.

It has the biggest footprint in the old town. A glass is €2,70 to €3,20 and mains are €14 to €22. The house opens at 10:00 daily and runs to 01:30 on Friday and Saturday, with singalongs on Friday nights.

Alter Markt and the Klimperkasten

Papa Joe's Biersalon Klimperkasten (Alter Markt) is a 1920s beer salon furnished with its machines. Self-playing pianos and mechanical orchestrions stand along the walls, with antique penny-arcade machines among them. Kölsch glasses crowd the length of the bar.

Live music plays most nights and admission is always free. A glass is €2,70 to €3,20, with snacks at €8 to €16. The doors are open daily from 11:00 to 01:00, and to 03:00 from Friday to Sunday. It fills from early evening and nobody holds tables, so arrive before the room does if you want a seat.

Tables, groups and the door

The Malzmühle has several separate rooms plus event spaces. Reserve by phone or email for eight or more.

Sion's main hall seats around 200, and the Schänke, Ratsstube and Altstadtstube take smaller parties. Gaffel am Dom keeps an upstairs Domstube and a barrel cellar that are bookable for parties, and it is the easiest place in the old town to land a table for a large party at short notice.

Zum Pfaffen takes small groups on a walk-in basis and is too small for a coach party. Papa Joe's has no door policy, and groups simply turn up.

At the door or with a guide

Guided brewery tours of the Altstadt take two hours and run seven days a week. A weekday slot can be booked at short notice.

Is it worth it

It suits a drinker who wants four house beers inside one quarter and an evening to walk between them. You need a tolerance for shared tables and, at Papa Joe's, a willingness to stand once the seats go.

Best time to go

Before 11:00 only Gaffel am Dom and Brauhaus Sion have their doors open, which leaves the forecourt terrace and the Alte Brauerei hall as the morning options. Arrive at Papa Joe's ahead of the early-evening fill if your party intends to sit down. Plan the late finish for Friday, Saturday or Sunday. In rain, take the Fassbierkeller rather than a seat outside at Gaffel.

Practical notes

All five houses open daily, and the weekday closing times are earlier than the Friday and Saturday ones at the Malzmühle, Sion and Gaffel am Dom. Reserve the Malzmühle for a party of eight or more, and ask for one of Sion's smaller rooms or the Domstube at Gaffel if your group wants a table of its own.

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