I am drinking Harpoon Summer Beer, a klosch. Not what I usually drink; but a nice easy-going beer for a dog hot evening.
Do You Like a Kolsch style Beer?
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Can be super crisp and clean too.
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Love it. Most craft beers IMO are way over hopped these days. I like the malt to come through with the hops providing balance.
It is always a nice crisp, refreshing pint on the patio as the heat starts to hit in the spring
I like them in the spring and summer, when I want something light and crisp but am not feeling like a wit or hefe.
I have tried, but I just have not found a Kolsh that I've enjoyed.
Just for clarification; what do you Americans mean with "Kölsch style"?
Is it any beer that is not too hoppy? Or does it have other specific attributes?
Around here, "Kölsch" is beer that was brewed in the Köln region, which makes sense to me.
I think the "Kölsch" classification is also protected, at least within the European Union.
Is it any beer that is not too hoppy? Or does it have other specific attributes?
Around here, "Kölsch" is beer that was brewed in the Köln region, which makes sense to me.
I think the "Kölsch" classification is also protected, at least within the European Union.
Kolsch is an appelation and the name is protected by the Kolsch Konvention, which restricts brewing to about 20 breweries in the Cologne region. Each brewery produces beer with a slightly different character, but the basics of the style being a light/pale beer (light as in no dark malts, not the American Macro definition of "lite"), highly attenuated, fairly highly hopped, and clear.
According to the BJCP, the basics of the style are:
-German Pils or pale malt
-German noble hops (hallertauer, Tett, Spalt etc)
-a clean attenuative ale yeast
-water ranges, but brewers can target the water from their favorite brewery
-traditionally uses a step mash
-fermented at on the cool end of the ale temperature range, then lagered for a short period (some Cologne breweries do ferment at 70F and lager for 2 weeks
American breweries get around this by calling their beer Kolsch Style or just alluding to the name or Cologne in the beer description. They are adhering to every aspect of Kolsch brewing, except for brewing in Cologne itself. I'm not 100% sure if the applation extends into the US, or how enforcable it actually is. Just like Champagne or other appleations, you can brew something EXACTLY like the protected name, even if its not made in the specific region.
According to the BJCP, the basics of the style are:
-German Pils or pale malt
-German noble hops (hallertauer, Tett, Spalt etc)
-a clean attenuative ale yeast
-water ranges, but brewers can target the water from their favorite brewery
-traditionally uses a step mash
-fermented at on the cool end of the ale temperature range, then lagered for a short period (some Cologne breweries do ferment at 70F and lager for 2 weeks
American breweries get around this by calling their beer Kolsch Style or just alluding to the name or Cologne in the beer description. They are adhering to every aspect of Kolsch brewing, except for brewing in Cologne itself. I'm not 100% sure if the applation extends into the US, or how enforcable it actually is. Just like Champagne or other appleations, you can brew something EXACTLY like the protected name, even if its not made in the specific region.
Me too.
I guess they get away with it then because they are located outside of the European Union, and there are no legal means to stop them (just like the Chinese get away with copying American designs)
I am sure that I would not get away with selling "Parma style ham"
Isn't there a Köln or Cologne somewhere in the USA?
(there probably even is ... many European names have an equivalent somewhere in the USA)
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Kolsch is the only beer style with a protected appellation. Even Lambics, Gueuze, Flanders Red and Flanders Brown, which pretty much need to be brewed in the brewery where the bugs have been festering for centuries (IE Rodenbach) is not protected by an appellation. I think there are requirements for use of a certain % of unmalted wheat in Lambic, but thats it. Maybe Dortmunder? I dunno!
Dortmunder is also protected, I think, just like Bavarian beer? I guess the Germans are more active in protecting their assets than the Belgians.
However, I think it is very difficult to enforce that protection outside of the EU. So in practice, a USA brewery could probably easily produce "Dortmunder" beer, as long as it does not export to Europe.
However, I think it is very difficult to enforce that protection outside of the EU. So in practice, a USA brewery could probably easily produce "Dortmunder" beer, as long as it does not export to Europe.
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