Norwich pub twins with brauhaus in our twin city of Koblenz

Norwich and Koblenz may have been twinned for more than three decades, but it's taken until now - to the best of our knowledge - for one of our pubs to twin with an equivalent in Germany.

Amanda Rose and partner James Francis, who run the historic Red Lion in Bishopgate, were on holiday in Koblenz last week and were also looking for excellent German brews to introduce at their venue.

As part of their trip they popped in to the Altes Brauhaus, the oldest brewhouse in the German city.

Miss Rose said: 'We got chatting to Daniel the manager and told him we were from Norwich.

'We told him about our pub the Red Lion and suggested that as the two cities were twinned it would be good if we could twin as pubs. He liked this idea responding 'Ja, it's okay', which we took as a yes.'

A brauhaus is like a traditional pub but is specifically a venue that brews its own beer on site.

She added: 'We had more in common than just coming from twin cities. Like Norwich there used to be many more brauhauses in Koblenz but many have now closed. They also offer traditional simple home-cooked food much like the Red Lion.

'They are definitely a pub at the heart of the community, they have an event every other week and offer great beer & food.'

Miss Rose said that while it may be early days, they hope to extend their friendship in the future, with, perhaps, a beer swap for next year's Norwich City of Ale festival.

The Evening News has ben supporting local pubs in our Love your Local campaign.

To see more stories from the campaign visit www.eveningnews24.co.uk/loveyourlocal.

For more information about the German pub visit www.altesbrauhaus-koblenz.

Have you got a story about one of Norwich's twin cities? Call reporter David Bale on 01603 772427 or email david.bale2@archant.co.uk.