Sticke Blonde
Round Guys Brewing Company

 

On-tap at Round Guys.

This was an odd beer for me and one that definitely defied expectations. I can't say that was totally for the better though. Described as "inspired by the German Kolsch style," but with American hop levels. The hops employed are Saaz, Perle, and Tettnanger.

The beer pours nearly clear; orange golden color; a finger of sudsy white head settles slowly, leaving patchy lacing on the glass. Grassy and citrusy hop notes mingle with a surprisingly sweet smelling biscuit malt in the nose.

The flavor follows suit; the is a prominent hoppiness, again mainly citrus and grass; with faint herbal notes following, but there's also a lot of sweetness from the malt imparting a biscuit, caramel flavor that seems out of place in a kolsch or quasi-kolsch. Just too much sweetness, really, and though it dries out fairly well in the end, it's more than expected. I kind of raised my eyes at this one because it seemed so off-the-mark. Not un-tasty, just wildly off-style, and perhaps a bit under-attenuated.

Medium-full bodied, with moderate carbonation, smooth feel, but definitely lacking the crispness one might reasonably expect in a kolsch inspired beer. While the finish is dry enough, it falls short of the "clean lager like finish" described by the brewers.

I would like to try this one again as I feel like these guys are in the formative stages and might tweak some of the inconsistencies in their products. A bottle of their foreign/export stout was aggressively over-carbonated so perhaps they are still working out the kinks in that area. I hope so, they seem like really nice folks all around, with a very promising future.