Crooked River Kolsch Ale
Crooked River Brewing Co.

 

 

Can't get too excited about this one. Very clear gold, with steady carbonation. The headed got a good start, but faded to a thin, incomplete film. Appears to be some floatys in this one.

Smells yeasty, slightly hoppy.

It is good, but not too good. Certainly very light, starts a bit spicy, ends a bit hoppy- but just a bit. Not too much to it, a bit watery, but not bad. You could probably drink it all day. It has some taste, but not enough. Light bodied, smooth, but over all not much of anything.

The beer pours hazy pale golden yellow. The head was fleeting and barely hung at all.

The aroma was malty and had a caramel component to it. No hop aroma. Slight fruity aroma.

The flavor is fruity and sweet. The sweetness is caramel. There is just slight hop bitterness and no hop flavor.

The finish is caramel then the aftertaste is dry. The body is medium to medium light.

Not a bad beer, but not a Kölsch.

12 ounce bottle. No date on the label although there is a space for it.

Appearance: Light golden slightly hazed tiny bubbled creamy white head, good head retention with clearly visible rings of lacing forming. Aroma: Slight lemon scented zing with layers of bready and musty yeast hints come through in the aroma, not clean kind of weird. Flavor: Raw biscuit dough with scattered spurts of sweetiness overall forming a musty refreshing version of what should be a summer sipper. Mouthfeel: Lighter to medium in body with a creamy body that I should note here is pretty nice. Drinkability: I would much rather have any of the other Crooked River products out there including the ESB, Robust Porter, Select Lager, and the Irish Red all very good beers in my opinion.

This beer poured a cloudy pale yellow color with a thin head that left small lacing on the glass. Some sour yeasty tones in the aroma. Has some characteristics of a true Kolsch, but doesn’t really show anything distinctive. A bit bland and boring. Crisp and sharp give way to a buttery and yeasty character. Although the beer finishes clean, on the whole it’s unimpressive. Go for something else.

This brew pours a dark gold with a thick white head. The head left as fast as it came and left little to no lace. The aroma was malt, nothing more , nothing less. Somewhat boring. The taste also matched the aroma. There wasn’t much to it but your basic sweet malt flavor with a small bitter finish from the hops. With little to no flavor this beer is easy to drink but why? I was not very impressed with this beer. There are better Kolsch brews out there.

A better looking beer than its taste. Pours a very rich dark gold color that is ever so slightly cloudy. There is not more than a quarter inch of off-white head even with an effort to bring up a head. The head dissipates to a broken ring after just a few moments. No real lacing takes place. The taste is much like a weakly brewed, unsweetened iced tea. The nose is caramel malt and a touch of cotton candy. Decently full-bodied the carbonation creates some astringency. An odd taste of pepper hotness is in the end of the palate. Not an impressive beer.

I liked this beer a lot more than I thought I would. Excellent for a style I am not in love with. Great malt/hop balance with a slight citric fruitiness that kept it interesting. Much better than most macro-made pilseners - so not a bad alternative to session swill. Very light and refreshing.

I got pretty angry when I took a whif of this brew after opening the bottle. It initially smelt skunked and nearly rancid. I took a sip for closer inspection and discovered, quite to my surprise, that this was not the case. Color is a bright transparent gold that is reminscent of Molson golden. A tiny white head is initially poured but immediately dissolves to barely a few specks floating on the surface. Flavor is sweet and hints of an apple-like taste come immediately to mind. A hardly discernable pepper taste can be found in the background. Body is medium to light and carbonation, while initially very high disminishes down to a light tickle on the tongue. Though I wasnt impressed by this beer at all, I became confident this offering has its own place and time--its just not meadville in January. Maybe Florida would be a better location.

Im going to Koln next semester and I was looking particularly forward to the sheer quanities for good beer over there. This one here has made me hope that there is more than just Kolschs around. Crooked River is usually really good so this review just might be me not liking the style (which would be a first). I have three more to 'test' and make sure.

Unfiltered light gold with an ivory head and decent lace. Light malty aroma and taste with no noticeable hop character. Light-medium body. Not bad; just not outstanding when compared to other Kolschs.

Same as Christian Moerlein Kolsch Ale ? I tasted these side by side and they were almost indistinguishable... I'm also pretty sure both brands are owned/brewed by Snyder group.

Thanks to Chilidog, I got hold of several Crooked River brews, and as the Kolsch is the lightest, I'm reveiwing it after an evening of slaving over a hot stove and working up a thirst...

The body is a pale, pale yellow--only slightly more golden than Duvel. The head is bright white and fairly small bubbled, though not small bubbled enough, nor evident enough to be considered foamy--it lingers around the edges of the glass only; no lace. The aroma is so subtle, it's almost non-existent. A big swirl and a deep sniff reveal very faint pale malt aromas, the slightest hint of fruitiness (perhaps lemon?), but no hops.

The flavor is almost as subtle as the aroma-- a base of very distant maltiness, followed quickly by a touch of lemon, or possibly lemon grass (a bit like a mellow sauvignon blanc), then the foamy, light-bodied carbonation cleans any residual flavors away almost completely. That being said, this beer doesn't quite give the impression of dryness, just of cleanness.

I drank the first bottle of the Kolsch a few nights ago and found it to be a bit more flavorful. Perhaps this beer ages quite quickly.

One of the cleanest beers I've had--puts Bud's claim on that adjective to shame... This particular beer seems like it'd be best on one of two polar opposite occasions: either when one's in the mood to really concentrate on subtle flavors, or when one prefers not to concentrate at all, but drink a lot...

This is my first Kolsch. I didn't think I was going to like it but I really do. The nose gave me a bad vibe but it turned out to be misleading. I'm not big into German-style beers but this one proved to be tasty. There is a mellow combination of malt and hops that is pleasant. There are some faint metallic tastes that I could do without but overall a decent beer.

Served from a bottle with a cool, simple, distinct label. Pours a crystal clear golden with little to no head, moderate carbonation with tiny bubbles. This has the smell that I describe as European. It is not skunky though. I believe that there is a hint of wheat that contributes to smell and taste. Mouthfeel and taste is light, with very slight bitterness but no real maltiness. Again, I do believe there is a mild wheat taste. This is certainly out of my preferred category but I believe this is a high quality beer.

Not much character to this one. Medium thick head (I have noticed all of the Crooked River beers have a noticeably thick head) over a clear golden ale. Lightly bubbly. Very minimal aroma on this one. Unfortunately the flavor was nominal as well. I had trouble detecting much hops or malt in my sampling. C'est la vie, on to the next...

A kolsch surprise this is. If its a true kolsch or not I found a new favorite.It presents more malt and sweetness instead of the hop fruit-laddened bitter bite of most of this style. This one is a not real clear but not cloudy either. Its head is not large and lace is low but a nice film is left. Its an easy to drink ale that may be average in appearance but worthy of purchase over & over.

Clear, very deep golden, with a bright white head that holds OK for the style and leaves a whispy surface covering and a good collar. The aroma is of a bold grainy maltiness with just a touch of hops in the background. No fruitiness is noted in the aroma. The body is medium and the carbonation is very fine and moderate, giving a solid creaminess in the mouth. Very nice. The flavor expresses the same full grainy malt character that's found in the nose. It's nicely bready, even slightly cake-like in its sweetness (gently out of balance toward the sweet), without any real hop flavor. The finish is smooth, with a slightly sticky malt sweetness. A very good beer in itself but not an authentic German-style Kolch by any stretch. In fact, the malt character is so full and rich I'd term it as a Munich Helles long before a Kolsch. Also, the fruitiness of a Kolsch seems to be lacking. Still, this is a very nice - and well done - beer that I'd welcome enjoying again.