History

In 1912, Jean Sion bought the “Dombräues” brewery, which at the time belonged to Josef Schwartz, the owner of the Malzmühle brewery. After Jean’s death in 1915, the building became the property of the community of heirs until Georg Risch, stepfather of Hans Sion (Jean Sion’s son), took over the brewery in 1928. In 1936, Georg Risch bequeathed the brewery to Hans Sion and renamed it “Altstadt Bräu Sion”. In 1942, the brewery was completely destroyed and was not reopened until 1951 under the name “Brauhaus Sion”, although no beer was brewed there. Sion Kölsch was brewed as a contract brew at friendly breweries until 1993, when it was brewed at the Löwenbrauerei in Mühlheim. The brewery closed in 2021 and production of Sion Kölsch moved to the Früh brewery. The brewery is now owned by the fourth generation of the Sion family.

Hans Sion

Hans Sion, born in 1911, studied law and became a master brewer, taking over the Dombräues brewery in 1936. The Second World War was also a hard time for him, he had to serve in the army and returned wounded. In addition, his brewery was completely destroyed on the night of the 1000 bombs in 1942, and after the Second World War there were only 2 Kölsch breweries left in Cologne. Hans Sion obtained a brewing licence from the British occupying forces and top-fermented brewer’s yeast from Copenhagen. He helped to rebuild Cologne and the breweries and also persuaded new master brewers to brew Kölsch. From 1948 to 1983 he was the first chairman of the Brewers’ Association and co-founder and initiator of the Kölsch Convention. He was mayor of Cologne for one term in 1963 and established the Hans Sion Foundation in 1992. Before his death in 1998, his foundation established the “Brauhaus Wanderweg” (Brewery Hiking Trail) in Cologne in 1997, bringing the history of Cologne and its beer closer to “hikers”.