Tasting Notes: Kuppers: Kolsch

Kuppers: Kolsch (Germany: Kolsch: 4.8% ABV)

Visual: Pale yellowed gold with a small white bubbled head and quite light carbonation.

Nose: Quite dry and crisp. Lightly syrup sweet. Popcorn and light lemon curd.

Body: Fizzy. Malty core. Wholemeal crackers. Bread. Slight hop tingle. Light custard and lime. Slight mint.

Finish: Solid malt. Slick but gripping texture. Quite bitter. Light toffee and slight mint.

Conclusion:  Hard to call it on this one, easy drinking, definitely more bitter than I would normally attribute. Oft not so much flavours as textures and bitter sweet ranges which you grip onto.

Drunk as an easy going beer to wind down to, and as that it did the job, with the bitter contrast to the slick body doing well at giving the impression of greater complexity than I have described.

It’s not shiny, but that’s not to criticise too much, as its sweet touches, well measured hops and crisp taste are carefully balanced. It’s not an “interesting” beer unless you count how the Kolsch style itself often acts contrary to your expectations. It is however easily drinkable, balanced and refreshing.

Background: Kolsch is surprisingly a top fermented style, though lagered afterwards.  The difference between the expected lager look and the hops and bitterness it often brings means it’s a style that oft confuses my expectations.   In this way it reminds me of a lot of the Germany styles which bring a lot of range into their lighter beers.   In recent years I have drunk less of the German Beers, but the German styles were an important part of my early experimentation with beer and it’s always good to revisit them.