Session Ale #26: Kölsch
East End Brewing Company

 

Poured into a pint glass, clear golden color with a soapy white head.
Smells grassy accompanied by some biscuity malts.
Tastes pretty good. Semi sweet wheat tones. Bready malt and a toned down hop character.
Very refreshing and quenching beer here.
Mouthfeel is light bodied and drinks easy. Another solid option of "session beer".

Pours a hazed yellow gold. Nose is citrus slightly and grassy mostly. Flavor is bringing a good bit of the same. A high amount of grass and pepper on there. Too much of all IMO. Kolsch to me is a bit smoother and lighter on the palate. This strikes me as more like some form of lager. An unfiltered one at that. Anyways. Back to the task at hand. Thicker liquid feel. Nice enough to drink, but more of a sipper than a session ale you could go on many of in a night. Maybe if this were slightly filtered it would be easier to quaff. Either way, still a nice beer.

Decided to pick up a growler of this stuff at East End before heading to a wedding. Poured into an East End pint glass.

A- Pours a hay colored yellow. Very cloudy with little visibility. Produced two fingers width of white head. Great retention and even more tremendous lacing action.

S- Very neutral. The aromas that were there were difficult to pull out. Got a lot of yeast aromas along with a slight, grassy bitterness from the hops.

T- Much like the aroma, but a lot more complex and flavorful...especially for a kolsch. Getting a lot of yeasty flavors along with black pepper and other various spices. Also detecting a bit of fruitiness in there...as one of my friends described "the white membrane of an orange peel." The beer finishes with a distinct grassy bitterness.

M- Light bodied and smooth. Left a nice wet palate.

D- Insanely drinkable. Can't say much more about this beer.

Overall, I was very impressed with this beer. Yes, compared to other styles this may not be the most flavorful or complex beer. However, what makes this beer remarkable is that for this style it is quite complex in terms of flavor and perfectly crafted. Between three of us, this growler was gone in about 10 minutes.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy straw color with a big, rocky head that sheets the pint glass with lace

Smell: Grainy, but peppery, with a tart fruit aspect

Taste: After a quick bready flavor, the grassy and peppery element kicks in along with the tart fruit; surprisingly hoppy by mid-palate, too; after the swallow, the grassy flavor returns along with a subtle wheat aspect that adds complexity underneath

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with prickly carbonation

Drinkability: Wow, does this pack a lot of flavor complexity into a low abv beer; I wouldn't have readily identified it as a kolsch, but I really enjoyed this beer

The body is a cloudy yellow that has a bit of sediment floating around in it. The white head is made out of small, uniformly shaped, tightly packed carbonation bubbles. The head has some pretty good retention, as it hangs on for awhile and then leaves some thin and traces of lacing.

The aroma expresses spicy hops and bitterness pretty sharply, an aroma that is rounded out by slight fruity notes and pale malts.

The first noticeable flavor is the bite of hops that is mostly spicy and grassy, but also has some bitterness and citric qualities. The intensity of hop flavors go in that order, spicy, grassy, bitter, and citric, with a bit of lemongrass in there also. Next comes some light fruit flavors which remind me more of juicy fruit than any particular fruit that I could name. This beer also seems to have a peppery flavor that comes from the yeast and not just the hops. I base this assertion on my own analysis, and I could be wrong, but that's my guess. All of these is underlied by a solid backbone of pale malts that have a crisp, crackery taste. Over the course of an entire growler of this beer, the hops became more noticeable and the other flavors faded a bit, especially the big coriander-like pepper flavor that was dominating in my first glass and subdued in my last. It is possible that there is something inciteful in this observation, but it is also possible that it is simply a useless statement of a personal experience. You decide.

The body is of course light and crisp. Moderate amount of carbonation.

This is a beer I could drink all day, definitely a great session beer.

Picked up a growler of this latest session ale from the low alcohol by volume masters in the Burgh. I got to sample the wares up there at East End and I must say tasty as the beers have been since I went to their first open house. Scott wasn't around during the end of tonight's growler hours but I can understand that he probably spends alot of time at this little warehouse in Homewood. Appearance is a pale slightly hazed bright golden hue with a nicely formed tight bubbled two finger thick layer of lacing. This one seems a bit more unfiltered than the typical Kolsch I've had from Germany which are limited to Gaffel and the one that starts with an R. Nice scattered speckled lacing surrounds the tall conical shaped Victory piils glass that I've been rocking out with lately. Aromatics come right with a delicate sweet grain character with mild fruity edges and herbal hop backings. The nose as a cracker/biscuit like warmth to it with light fruit edges with mineral water edging in as well. Flavor is excellent crisp yet spicy with hops, the hops are a mix of herbal grassy and slight pepper accents really quality stuff going on here. Sweetness is a blend of light malts providing that biscuit/cracker character with a touch of light citrus or tart apple taking effect it's excellent when blended all together. Mouthfeel is lighter bodied of course with a soft even carbonation that doesn't hit to hard on the palate or the back of the throat, really easy drinking brew from the East End. Drinkability is quality all around, a perfect beer for the growler format much like most of their other offerings, I will be back for more of this and other varieties. I wish I lived closer, go support your local and visit the growler hours.

A growler filled at the brewery on 16-Jul-09.

A: The kolsch is hazy, loaded down with sediment and a general cloudiness. I'm not accustomed to hazy kolschbiers but I'm sure I'll adjust. A finger of head on the first pour gradually lessened with each succeeding one.

S: The nose is quite hoppy, punctuated with a grassy citrus aroma that is pungent (in a good way). Pale malts fill the body out.

T: The lost carbonation (my review is based off of the last of the growler) allows the grassy hops to hit the tongue and just sit there. The bitterness is sharp but not numbing, offering grassy herbs and citrus hops in a compact, fast delivery. Malts are grainy, a fine pairing with the hops. The lasting flavor is a sweet hop bitterness that is strong on the fruit.

M: The low carbonation and ample hops allow the flavor to linger, leaving a sweet lemongrassy finish that doesn't have much bitterness. A very impressive kolsch.

D: I almost prefer the end of the growler. The flavors are more pronounced and identifiable. A really good summer beer from East End.