Niche brewers who defied the lager flood ©Henning Kaiser King of Kölsch: Alexander Rolff of Früh breweries With Munich's Oktoberfest in full swing, Germany again seems awash in lager. It was not always the case; for centuries ale was Germany's beer of choice as was easier to make - it could be brewed at room temperature - than Pilsner-style lagers, whose yeast demands cold. However, industrial refrigeration ended that, allowing lager to conquer the globe in the past 140 years. But away from the two-week, 8m-litre inundation in Munich, the country's ale culture has been quietly thriving in the north-western cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf. Here, niche ale brewers have survived the flood of lager and, mirroring a long-held practice of Germany's famous Mittelstand companies, they are now discovering export as a key part of their strategy. "I think we're going to see a return to beers with character," says Michael Schnitzler, managing director of Uerige, a traditional Düsseldorf Brauhaus that brews a dark, bitter ale called Alt. His own global ambition began when Uerige was asked to send its prized brew to a tasting in California eight years ago. A US importer soon came knocking, and Mr Schnitzler is now also in business with importers in Brazil, Japan and France "who can guarantee they ship our products as they are meant to be." Today the US accounts for 3 per cent of sales. Part of the allure is the premium he can charge there. "You can now get a bottle of Uerige in New York City for $22 a bottle," he says - enough for an eight-bottle crate at home. Alexander Rolff, one of ten brewers of Kölsch, a light-coloured ale, says his Cologne-based brewery Früh started looking at overseas markets three years ago - and one manager now does nothing but scour the globe. The company expects to export 300,000 litres this year, which would mean a doubling of shipments each year since 2010. Next to the UK, Ireland, Italy and Scandinavia, Früh is also sold in Brazil, Israel and the US. "The world is open to quality beers," he says. That these brewers survived the lager flood has much to do with their home cities" distinctive Brauhaus cultures. But some were also lucky. In 1986 Kölsch brewers clubbed together to have the beer protected as a regional speciality. By EU law only breweries in the city can brew Kölsch, keeping would-be rivals at arm's length. "Alt never got protected in the way Kölsch was," Mr Rolff recalls. Indeed, Diebels, the biggest of the traditional Alt breweries, 50km north-west of Düsseldorf, is now part of Belgian-Brazilian beer group AB InBev. Cologne's traditional Kölsch breweries were free to expand in a protected niche. Früh still has its Brauhaus in the city centre but its Kölsch is brewed in a modern plant on the fringe of the city with an annual output of 38m litres. Uerige, by contrast, is an €8m craft brewery that brews 2m litres in its august central Düsseldorf premises. Kölsch's greater commercial success has compounded a deep-seated civic rivalry - Cologne is bigger but Düsseldorf is the state capital. In 2010 Germans drank 91.3m litres of Kölsch but only 65.6m of Alt - and it is easier to get a Kölsch in Düsseldorf than an Alt in Cologne, as both cities" brewers readily admit. "I've tried Alt but I'm not genetically able to enjoy it," says Mr Rolff. Mr Schnitzler is more strident in his attitude to the rival brew. If I get someone from Cologne [at Uerige] who wants a Kölsch, that's fine, I give them apple juice. It's about the same - and they never complain.