Cave Rock Kolsch
Brasserie Saint James

Scored a four pack of these, gots Lake Tahoe's Cave Rock on the label, no need to pay IP/NIL or artist money that way (photographer, maybe).

Pours yellow. Head quickly dissipates, never had much going in terms of retention or height. The aroma quickly rebounds and pushes a nice lager like yeast presence. Kolsch, its like, both yeasts sometimes. Anyhoo, aroma, best attribute here, it smells entirely of light hay and yeast.

The taste pushes a lemon and grapefruit rind like almost saison and ipa like presence alongside the usual bright kolsch golden waves of grain aspect. Good dry finish to the back end mouthfeel wise. A higher than average bitterness, Saaz like. Standard for kolsch, I dug these more during warmer river times than I did drinking them indoors. Its a bit of a polarizing beer, but I thought it was decent. I kept the last can to have it again once the weather gets above 80.

This beer is not anything close to what I would expect from a Kölsch style beer, except for the feel in the mouth. The carbonation felt softly crisp like a Kölsch.

The look/color is a little light in my view vs. actual German Kölsch and Kölsch-style beers I’ve enjoyed and was a tip-off that something might not be right. This beer has more yellow in the color it vs a hint of light brown.

The beer itself is overwhelmingly tangy (puckering) in the mouth with a hint of citrus - what?? It also has a tangy citrus flavor on the finish. This dominant citrus tang ruined any hope of a dry, crisp, slightly bitter and refreshing Kölsch. If you are expecting a true Kölsch style beer, then you may find this beer difficult to enjoy.