Quiet Deeds Kolsch
Red Island Brewery

330ml bottle poured into a wheat beer glass.

L - straw, slightly cloudy, pours a respectable 3cm thick frothy head.

S - cereal malt, fresh white bread with floral notes. Weak.

T - sweet, grainy malts upfront, sourish middle, and a brief resinous bitterness towards the end with a hint of fruit (peach). The finish is bland.

M - low carbonation, medium bodied, slightly chewy texture and metallic aftertaste.

O - not bad, but dissapointing carbonation for a Kolsch.

Format: a standard 330mL brown bottle with a reasonable semi-macro label.

Appearance: pours a light amber yellow with limited visible carbonation. A half-finger of off-white head slowly drops to a thin and creamy cap with decent lacing. Looks good.

Aroma: there is some heavy malts and cut grass here, but I am getting something sweet over the top - can't tell if it is banana or some Belgian-yeast style funk. Very, very nice.

Taste: pretty much follows the nose here, but a bit more demure. The flavours are all there but it is a much softer profile. Would love a bit more of those flavours to come through.

Aftertaste: fortunately the flavours linger through with some of that sweetness coming through with some toffee and that banana or Belgian yeast flavour again.

Mouth feel: moderate in body with a light to medium carbonation. I would have preferred a touch more carbonation to bring those flavours forward a bit more.

Overall: another pretty decent beer from Red Island Brewing - nicely rounded but with not quite enough buzz or carbonation for my liking. Is it worth AU$76 a case? I wouldn't say so - it is a cut above the average, but that's a bit dear.

 

This is a new craft brew that seems to have sprung up from nowhere, or Port Melbourne if you read the label, and Kolsch is one difficult style to master as the bad ones tend towards the “Am I actually drinking beer?” spectrum, in any case let’s hope that Quiet deeds does not translate to mild flavour.

Poured from a 330ml bottle into a stein.

A: The body has an almost radioactive glow, with its hazy bioluminescent yellow, and a white 2 inch head that will not quit, damn fast pour!

S: Aroma is a fairly even split between fresh cut grass (with a slight Spirulina quality to it) and grapefruit. There are also some malts busying themselves in the background but it is setting up to be a summery hop Kolsch. A not-so-nice sharp metallic note is also present.

T: The hops take a backseat in flavour as now it becomes a sweet malt grain mess. Tastes like a corny adjunct Lager, which is shocking for a beer that isn’t a cheap macro product. There is some slight citric hop acidity and that metal note detected in the aroma takes on a more active role in the flavour – to the detriment of the beer. In fact it’s so metallic I can taste the filings in my teeth now... I hate when a beer makes that happen.

M: Mid to light bodied with a tack flat carbonation.

D: Won’t be getting this again, not by a long shot. If a beer is cheap and bad it becomes a shrug your shoulders “Oh well at least I got what I was expecting” type deal, but when it is priced in the craft beer segment and it tastes like a shitty Macro Lager? Well shame on you Quiet Deeds. Also learn how to brew a real Kolsch guys. Avoid with prejudice people.

Food match: It is a packet of crisps beer on a caviar budget – I would stick with the crisps for this one, save the baked lobster tail for a nice bottle of Duvel.