Kolsch
Buoy Beer Company

12oz can. Poured out a clear, golden yellow color with a small, white head of foam. It left sudsy trails of lace. It smelled of crackers, bread crust and floral notes. Sweet caramel taste with a subtle bitterness.

Look: Yellow-orange with a frothy white head that builds and holds as a pillow, slowly receding and leaving great lacing behind
Aroma: Straw, cut grass, floral hops, biscuits, honey, pilsner malt, and soda crackers
Taste: Starts off with a fruity and floral hop explosion with notes of daylily, gardenia, and butterfly bush alongside nice fruity esters. Malt and hops go back and forth throughout in great balance and closes with more flowers and honey
Mouthfeel: Light but full, clean, medium-high carbonation, and a crisp, clean, and slightly soft finish
Overall: This is a delicious Kolsch. I love the style and remembered this one from trying it in the past so it was fun to revisit it. Checks all the style boxes, is well-made, and tasty and refreshing. Prost!

 

16oz can

Pours over a finger of fluffy white head into my Kolsch glass. The head is pretty sturdy, half remains after a few minutes. Initial lacing looks wonderful. Body is golden yellow, crystal clear, with minimal bubbles coming up. Looks very nice so far.

Nose has a tasteful, but assertive sweetness that still comes across clean and refreshing. Significant notes of floral honey and bread dough - you definitely smell that wheat malt. Noble hops show up ever so slightly in the background. This smells wonderful.

This tastes freaking wonderful. That honey hits you almost immediately. Just a touch of savory bread, but it’s generally lighter and more cracker/sourdough in nature. Finishes with a much bigger hop presence than I was expecting - grass, lemon. Not quite as phenomenal as the nose, but still very nice.

The mouthfeel is probably the biggest reason for the slight overall downgrade. While I was expecting something on the drier side, this loses almost all of the sweetness the nose had, and that really brings down the malt profile compared to how the noses sweet nature amplified the bready qualities. Bitterness is perhaps a touch high for my liking, I won’t complain too much, but it’s another reason a little more sweetness would go a long way here. Carbonation is very high. Body is on the lighter side. All that said, this is still insanely clean, crisp, and refreshing. When all is said and done, this is still pretty nice.

Drinkability is crazy good. While it is a little bitter, the good parts far outweigh any speed bumps.

Appearance turned out very nice. The head settled into a thick film that took some time to eventually dissipate. Lacing wasn’t super thick, but very cohesive all the way down.

Overall a super good Kolsch.

Canned July 7th, enjoyed on Sept 2nd. A 16 oz can. Clean pour, a finger of thick head. Aroma is light bread with floral notes. Pleasant taste, prevalent hop profile, but not overbearing. Sturdy malt base. Exactly what we'd expect of a German ale. A very refreshing beer, would be even better at the brewery with an order of fish & chips and enjoying that great view.