Honey Kölsch
Fallentimber Meadery

A- This has a very light grassy coloration and is not fully clear....reminds me of a cheap chill hazed lager (just for comparison). The head is super white, about a half finger thick to begin with and settles down to a patchy thin layer over the braggot itself. There is a heavy sparkling carbonation that reminds me of a Sprite or Ginger Ale and while there is lacing, it is thin....however, it is actually quite sticky and some clumps cling to the side of the glass.

S- Not much happening really.....cream soda sweetness, albeit mild. Grassy and grainy aromas ensue, with some mild spice and natural smelling honey. The finish is of faint hop bitterness and dry. Nothing much else to say about it!

T- Wow, this is clean! Subdued honey sweetness mixed with floral character, with dry malted and malted grains along with some biscuit in the body....it is very light and the finish is of dry honey and some muted hop bitterness. Crisp overall!

M/O- This is almost like carbonated water to be honest when it comes to mouthfeel....super thin on the palate and heavily carbonated.....hmmmm. While I can pick up the character and what this is meant to be, I don't think I'd be looking for it in the future. It would be super quenching on a hot summer day but otherwise, if one didn't know, it is equivalent to a cheap macro lager, without the adjunct quality.

 

500ml bottle - Fallentimber is primarily a meadery, but they've now delved into the world of 'beer' by producing a Kölsch, blended with honey in its fermentation process.

This braggot pours a clear, very pale golden straw colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and somewhat bubbly off-white head, which leaves some prominent archipelago lace around the glass as things quickly subside.

It smells of semi-sweet, grainy pale malt, obvious, but thankfully sedate earthy honey notes, a bit of indistinct yeastiness, and some plain leafy, grassy, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, some understated breakfast cereal character, a thin sort of honeyed cracker thing, more tame earthy yeasty notes, and some very undeveloped leafy, weedy, and grassy hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly evenhanded in its quotidian frothiness, the body a so-so medium weight, and mostly smooth, with a wee indeterminate astringency tugging at the various palates currently trying to judge what's going on here. It finishes trending dry, as both the malt and honey essences seem a bit piqued, as such.

Overall, this is a respectable enough stab at the given Teutonic style - the bready, grainy malt remains, after the addition of the honeyed side notes, and the general equation seems unaltered, as in if I was a beer drinker otherwise unawares, the provenance of this offering would not be questioned in the least - not that I'm doing that.