Kölsch
Union Barrel Works

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: Slight haze with a lemonade coloring that had a sparse and separated sense of effervesce. The head is chalky white, a bit sudsy and low on the coverage having a thin bubbly film that quickly perished. A near full pour into a pint left little room and little lace.

S: The aroma was light as it should be, doughy and fresh with a slight twitch of lemony scent. Not as crisp as a german counterpart and lacked that gentle dry fruity nature.

T: The flavor was fairly crisp, but not as sharp as it should be. Decent grainy presence as well a lemony touch. Fairly clean with soft flowery hops on the close. Again maybe not as crisp or sharp as it should be and lacked a bit of dry fruity nature.

M: Pretty good consistency, a bit playful from that tingle of effervesce.

O: Overall worthy over light conversation on a hot summer day or for mowing the lawn. Needs that sharp crispness and dry fuity nature of its german counterparts, which is a hard thing to duplicate.

a: This was a mostly clear golden color with some coppery highlights. It was served to me with a thin, whispy white head.

s: I got aromas of honey with a little toffee.

t: I was surprised by the strong honey notes from this one. They were muted somewhat by the smoky toffee notes.

m: Crisp, surprisingly big-bodied, and well carbonated.

d: Small enough to drink several, complex enough to hold your interest.

The beer pours a pale gold color with a 1/2" white head that fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a dry pale and pilsner malt scent with little hops and some fruity yeast esters. The taste is decent. It has a clean refreshing taste that boasts of pilsner malts and not much else. It goes down without a struggle and finishes clean with a slight yeasty feel. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a low bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a good drinking beer. I like the taste, but I'm not in love with it. All in all, a pretty good Kolsch.

This beer had a thin, bone-white head that quickly reduced to wispiness. The color was a slightly hazy lemon-yellow. The nose had a light bitterness. The mouthfeel was medium with a light bitterness on the tongue. The finish was extremely dry, clean, crisp, and refreshing. This was not the best Kolsch that I had ever consumed (that was produced by Bryan Selders back when he was at Neversink BC), but it came pretty darn close.

Hmmm. I was also going to file a BeerSpy Report for this, but it seems as though that option has gone away. C'est la guerre! It is one of a few off-premises accounts that Tom Rupp has managed to establish and all as the result of a publican contacting him, not vice versa. I routinely have it on-tap at my local, Brendee's Cafe in Lancaster City at the corner of West Lemon and North Mary Streets, where I often play trivia on Wednesday nights. Saves me a trip to Reamstown, anyway.

On tap at UBW on 1/10/08. Served in a shaker pint glass.

A - Clear, golden body with short, rocky white head and decent amount of slow-rising carbonation bubbles. Minimal head retention and spotty lacing around the glass.

S - Clean, grainy and grassy aroma with some bready malt. Mild bitterness reminiscent of lemon zest. A bit of honey sweetness as well.

T - Mild, grassy bitterness followed by a grainy, bready malt aspect. Finish is exceptionally crisp and clean. This is a very fresh tasting brew!

M - Light to medium body with part fizzy/part creamy texture. Mildly prickly on the tongue. Short bitter finish.

D - Extremely quaffable. Certainly one of my favorites, if not my favorite, from UBW.

Thank you bierman2000 for sharing the growler w/ me.
Poured cold into a lager mug.
A - A slightly hazy golden amber w/ a 3 finger white frothy head that settles to paper thin leaving a ring of lace.

S - Sweet, herbal scents w/ a combination of light biscuity aromas and a tinge of yeast spice w/ a honey like malt fragrance.

M - A tasty, malty feel w/ decent carbonation and biscuity dryness. Light sweetness w/ a gentle creamy finish.

T - The subtle honey-like malt flavor kicks off the taste and the malt is crisp w/ German character and a light dry spicy flavor. A gentle creamy taste mingles w/ subtle herbal hop tinges. A nutty protein type taste rounds out the flavor with malty nuance. Very light on the palate, yet a good deal of flavor in each swallow.

D - Very drinkable- A light bodied ale w/ lage smoothness. Very well made and good for sessioning. I recommend a growler fresh from the brewery. It is refreshing, crisp and traditionally made.

Served as a pale golden colored beer with moderate white puffy head.
Smell is very light with ony a mild sweetness detected.
Taske is also very light, yet refreshing, with a nice summer fruitiness.
Very easy to drink, and crisp in the mouth.
A nice enjoyable beer. Very thirst quenching.