Kolsch
Doan's Craft Brewing Company

 

 

16oz pint at Beer Revolution YEG Oliver Square, the only place that I have seen this Lotusland brewery's offerings in my fair burg, as yet.

This beer appears a slightly hazy, medium golden yellow colour, with one anemic finger of flat, wispy, and faintly bubbly off-white head, which leaves very little in the way of lace in the vicinity of the glass as things evenly subside.

It smells of apple wine, bready and doughy pale malt, white grape juice, and a mild earthy yeastiness. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, a lesser caramel sweetness, mixed grapes, stewed apples, subtle rainbow peppercorn notes, and some understated leafy, weedy, and grassy noble verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly benign in its bored-seeming frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and generally smooth, with a thin airy creaminess evolving as we warm up a tad around here. It finishes well off-dry, the malt and lingering pome and grape fruitiness making it just so.

Overall, this is a rather simple, and well-made version of the style, easy-drinking and enjoyable on another hot summer afternoon (like we really get all that many of them!). Worth checking out, as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of selection, as such, for Kölsch around these parts (sorry, Alley Kat!).

 

 

 

I had this beer on-tap at the brewery in a big 20oz glass.

Appearance: medium golden hue with a clear body and a thin layer of ivory foam. Not too bad.

Smell: sweet, yeasty and a little beery. Not bad for the style.

Taste: sweet and malty with a light graininess and a dash of noble hops. Quite reasonable.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a bit carbonation. I like it.

Overall: a very drinkable beer, and a successful Kölsch. I dig it!

From a bottle

Look: Spattering of polka dot foam floating over a light bronze sea.

Smell: Rather generic malt aroma veering into scent neutrality.

Taste: An incredibly delicate sweetness derived from sunny cereals and grains fresh from a wheelbarrow. However, there are some metallic flecks mixed within which are not unpleasant.

Feel: Some chewiness in the near absent carbonation. There is also a subtle numbing of the cheeks followed by a dry finish.

Overall: This is a gentle beer passing phantasmal-like through the nose and mouth. An invitation extended to a honeybee would have enhanced the aromatics and taste.