Walk into any tavern on any day of the year in the German city of Cologne and request “Ein bier bitte” and you will be handed a small, narrow cylindrical glass full of yellow fizzy beer. No, the nice German waiter did not just serve you a Bud light in an attempt to accommodate his American patron. He proudly served you the ale that he and all of his “kölsch” brethren drink everyday. Kölschbier is the beer of Cologne, and although light in color, body and alcohol, kölsch delivers plenty of flavor. It’s really the ultimate refreshing light beer.

The beer pictured is a kölsch beer that was brewed by Jeff Rabatin, a local home brewer and a friend of mine. The traditional narrow glass is called a Stange and holds 20cl (approx. 6oz) of beer. It tastes even better than it looks… The word kölsch means anything or anyone originating from the city of Cologne (Köln). Their beer in particular is a protected appellation, meaning that any beer labeled as kölsch must be brewed within the city. The beer has a long history of having survived many attempts by ancient brewers guilds to forbid its production due to it being an ale and not a lager (it eventually evolved into a cold fermented ale that is then lagered). I got a big kick out of Bill Clinton’s attempt to schmooze his German audience while visiting Cologne by declaring “Ich bin ein kölsch”, sounding to me as if he just called himself a beer; he was actually correct in his use of the word.

I have been seeing more American craft brewers releasing their own kölsch style beers, mainly as a summer seasonal release. Houston based St. Arnold’s Brewing dubs their very decent kölsch “Lawnmower,” referring to it’s application as the beer you should pound down after you have finished mowing the lawn on a hot and humid Houston day. (The beer is available year round… It’s Houston!).

I have tasted several Ameri-kölsch’s with widely varying flavors and character. It becomes apparent after tasting certain examples, that the brewer has never actually tasted the real thing and is just following some misguided interpretation. Brewing kölsch is not so easy. The brewer must use a very specific strain of ale yeast which then must be fermented and lagered at the right temperatures. If you don’t do these things, you will not have brewed kölsch. The best Ameri-kölsch I have ever tasted is brewed in Oregon by Cascade Lakes Brewing (and, of course, it’s not available in West Virginia). There are a few local home craft brewers including myself, that brew pretty authentic versions if we do say so ourselves…

The style guidelines for kölsch, as with most German beer styles, leave little latitude, meaning that most authentic examples of the style are similar and consistent. The flavor variation between them is varied, but with only a few degrees of freedom, some being hoppier, more grainy or even more winey. There is enough difference, though, that I trudged from one end of the town to the other, trying all of the different kölschbier I could get my hands on. Sometimes the flavor variations were so subtle that I wound up having to drink 2 or 3 to zero in! Oh darn, I hate it when that happens! The best kölschbier is served by gravity right from the barrel, which sits right on the bar!

Some American brewers seem to have simply re-labeled their usual American style wheat ale as kölsch to take advantage of the trend, doing an injustice to both the wheat and kölsch styles as well as to their customers. The overly strong wheat flavor is a dead giveaway that the brewer is on shaky ground, since almost all real kölschbiers optionally contain a scant 5 or 10% wheat malt with the rest being pilsener barley malt. I find that wheat flavor in lighter and cleaner beers come through as a sort of crayon flavor, although I have never actually eaten a crayon ( that I know of anyway…).

When tasting your next kölsch-style beer, see if you can pick up any cereal or grassy aromas along with a mild hop aroma. The head on the beer should be very white and firm, with a lacy pattern. The head should be long lasting. The color is golden yellow and very bright. Try to pick out flavors like raw seeds or cereal grain. Sometimes you will taste a very subtle fruity flavor reminiscent of cherry. Cooked corn aroma or flavor is not a good thing in this style (or just about any style). The bitterness should be refreshing and not cloying. A signature of many authentic kölschbiers is an almost Rhine wine flavor similar to Riesling. This brings up a point of coincidence and even some irony because the Rhine river runs right through this beer’s hometown and not one grape was harmed in the production of the beer.

Try matching this style of summer beer with your lighter summer fare. Anywhere summery white wine can go, this beer would work. A very traditional Köln lunch would be a dish called Halve Hahn (which translates to a half of hen) is actually a piece of hearty German bread, a thick slice of farmers cheese, herb butter and of course a kölschbier.

Here are a few locally available kölsch Style beers: (Though many more exist outside of the WV forbidden zone)

Shiner Kölsch: A thirst quenching but bland interpretation. Hop flavor and flavor in general is very subdued. I think this one is brewed to satisfy the typical macro lager drinker. Slightly disappointing.

Harpoon Summer: A very drinkable beer, with plenty of flavor to satisfy a lawn-mowing beer geek. It comes across with a little too much wheat flavor.

Mountain State Brewing Co. Cold Trail Ale: Although not labeled as a kölsch, the beer exhibits characteristics of an overly wheaty version. Mineral hardness takes away from a clean finish. Actually labeled an American Wheat Ale. (Only available on tap.)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 9:19 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.