Laimas Kölsch Style Ale
FATE Brewing Company

 

I tried this at the brewery. It poured a clear golden with white head that did not leave much lace. The scent had subtle grain notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with faint grain and lemon presence. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it was a decent beer.

As I was drinking this one, I kept coming back to the fact that it seemed too heavy to be a kolsch. This is supposed to be a very light style, and even the color seemed a bit dark for a traditionally light beer. The flavor had me guessing a slightly higher ABV than it actually is, so maybe they were purposely trying to pump this one up a little, I don't know. I'm just used to my kolsches being a lot mellower than this one. Good for a March evening, but not quite ideal for a hot summer night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The beer is yellow and strikingly pale with a strong, transient head. The smell is fairly grassy and a bit grape-like. Its flavor comes forth initially with a malty somewhat apple-like flavor with grassy and metallic notes. Carbonation is quite high giving it an initially dry, but lively mouth feel that quickly gives way to a wet, bready, slightly sweet aftertaste. This beer goes down fairly easily and delivers fast and fairly tasty results, but is not the most satisfying.

Probably a good thirst quencher, not objectionable but not outstanding either. Poured from a can, a green-gold color with an enormous head that eventually disappeared but left no lacing behind. Grassy smell, grass and floral taste, dry, a bit watery. High carbonation. Overall, fine.

 

 

 

 

A more interesting kolsch. Great smell and flavor. Solid beer

 

A: Pours a standard ~4-5cm head of white colour. Average characteristics, with a frothy consistency and a decent complexion. Leaves no lacing as it recedes, which takes about 3 minutes. Body is a clear pale copper of average vibrance. Clean and crisp looking, but not in the upper echelon of the style.

Sm: Slightly buttery. Copper malts, 2 row, clean barley, above average sweetness for a Kolsch. Faint grassy hopping.

Aromatic intensity is average. Suggests an overly sweet Kolsch which isn't really remarkable in any way.

T: Follows the aroma, with a mediocre balance leaning towards malty sweetness. A hint of buttery character marks the beginnings of an unwelcome diacetyl presence. Build isn't quite right for the style, lacking the crisp malt backbone it needs.

Mf: Not as clean, light, or refreshing as the style demands. Light to medium-bodied, a biteen syrupy, and overly hefty and thick on the palate. Fails to elevate the beer as a whole or to accentuate specific style-appropriate notes. The buttery feel does highlight the beer's biggest flaw, to its obvious detriment. Overcarbonated, to boot.

O: A forgettable attempt at a Kolsch, but drinkable for what it is. I wouldn't trifle with it again or recommend it to others, and it leaves me in no hurry to try other FATE beers. Needs tinkering, and the grain bill probably needs reworking. On the low side of average at best, and that pesky sweetness grows more irksome with each sip.

Low C (2.77) / AVERAGE

Pretty drinkable

Light, straw yellow body; one-finger thick, white head. Fruity yet musty aroma; herbal; grassy. Mild cereal grain flavor; somewhat metallic and bitter. Medium body; thin and watery; mostly dry finish.

Bland and watery overall, there is little to be found that really makes this beer stand out in any exceptional manner. The hop bitterness comes across rather boldly and it does have the dryness factor going for it, it just seems to lack any satisfying malt character other than a very low-key warm toastiness.