Front Experimental Kölsch
Platform Beer Co.

 

Aroma has some strong tropical fruit hop notes, pours a slightly hazy straw with a white head. This tastes nothing like a kolsch, if you go in looking for the clean flavor with just a touch of fruit, you won't find it here. This is a hop forward, light beer, with a lingering tropical fruit note, and moderate bitterness. Overall it's not a bad beer, it's very drinkable, just mislabeled as a Kolsch.

12 ounce can into pint glass, canned on 7/8/2018. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy mediujm golden/amber color with a 2 finger fairly dense and rocky white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big grapefruit, lemon, orange, cherry, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, blackberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, mint, pine, cracker, lightly toasted biscuit, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big grapefruit, lemon, orange, cherry, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, blackberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, mint, pine, cracker, lightly toasted biscuit, light honey, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of grapefruit, lemon, orange, cherry, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, blackberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, mint, pine, cracker, lightly toasted biscuit, light honey, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance; mild lingering hop astringency after the finish, but not overwhelming. Moderate increasing dryness from bitterness/carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp, bready/grainy, and sticky/resinous/rindy balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Minimal warming alcohol for 5%. Overall this is an excellent hoppy kolsch style. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops and moderate bready malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and pretty refreshing to drink, despite the increasingly bitter/resinous/drying finish. Not too aggressive. Should have just called it an IPA, but I enjoyed the experimental aspect. The hop profile from Ariana/Calypso is one of the most unique things I have ever tasted. Great balance of juicy, dank, earthy hop complexity; nice bready pils/munich malt backbone, minimal residual sweetness from lingering dryness. A very enjoyable and unique offering.

12oz can poured into a tulip. Pours golden with some haze to it along with some bubbles racing upwards; fluffy white head that slowly falls leaving great thick retention and sticky lacing. The aromas are citrus forward. Lots of sweet orange along with some vanilla cream. Malts are there. The flavors follow the nose perfectly. Lots of orange leading the way. Nice hop flavors. Moderate to low bitterness. Some grains. Malts do their thing. Finishes juicy. Alcohol goes completely unnoticed. Mouthfeel is on the fuller side of light-bodied with moderate carbonation. It's very fluffy, smooth and easy to drink.

This is a very nice brew. It really doesn't resemble a kölsch at all, which is obviously why they're calling it an "experimental kölsch". The hops shine and it comes off as an IPA without being bitter. The hop profile is really nice. It's very refreshing and fun to drink. I really like it, but just don't expect a classic and traditional example of the style.