Kolsch! Underrated lighter beer?

No problem. I'd just returned from a lunchtime session , too much Stilton Porter
http://brewsters.co.uk/stilton-porter-4-9-abv/

Surprised I could manage to type correctly.

 

I've never sampled one that made me want another. It's not a bad style, and I'm pretty sure they're much better coming from the source in Cologne. German beers are models of subtlety, a Kolsch might be too subtle for my tastes.

 

This is beer advocate, not Tony's Pub, so no I figured all of us were over twenty-one and gave up on the whole glass in the freezer thing in high school...

 

a time & a place for sure. last i had @ the end of Feb.

 

Just had MadTree's Lift on tap last night, and that was very satisfying. Medium bodied, decent lacing, pear/grape esters, and a nice clean finish. I will most definitely be picking some of that up this summer.

 

Kolsch is a personal fav. Almost as much of a personal fav as Alt beer.

 

Not really. Kolsch in Cologne tastes meh. It's a German version of Bud Light, IMHO. In the summer when you're walking around the city all day I can understand. Other than that, no thanks.

 

That makes it a first. In all the years I've been on BA, all the threads, all the comments, I do believe that is the first time I've seen one of us criticize anothers glass for not being beer clean. I was going to pick on him for having a kickball logo on it, but you've got me beat.

 

OK.

 

Yeah, but what about a bourbon barrel aged, quadruple dry-hopped Kolsch with Brett?

 

Just tell me what meh means and I'll stop!

 

I guess we just have to agree to disagree.

Even if people rate by preference and their style bias results in lower absolute ratings for certain styles and a high absolute ratings for others, a rating number based on the percentile ( rather then absolute numbers ) allows better beers within a style to be easily identified.

For example: A top rated barrel aged imperial stout might need a 4.7 absolute rating to be in the 95 percentile, while a Kolsch may have a 3.87 absolute rating but still be in the 95 percentile for the style.

I would find the information useful. I suspect others would as well.

BTW: I'm not suggesting this in place of what BA currently has, but rather in addition to. The current system has its merit too.

One final note for those interested in style ratings, you can click on Beer / Beer styles, then select a style (i.e. Kolsch ), then sort by rAvg, and you get roughly what I'm talking about, at least in terms of the ordering. The one drawback is you can't filter out beers than have not received enough ratings to make them statistically significant.

 

I like Kolsch and Kolsch-style beers just fine, but I do disagree with the "underrated" comment. I believe the apparent low numbers for most Kolsch beers is the same thing that happens to AALs. There is a vast lack of data. Do you know what the number one beer would be if every beer drinker bothered to rate beer here on BA?
Thats right, Bud Light.

 

The sort is not needed. If you click on the link on that page for Top Rated beers you get basically the same result without those which don't have enough ratings. (So the filtering is done for you. :-) )

 

One of my personal favs... love love good Kolsch.. and definitely seem to prefer German made ones.

 

Thems' fightin' words 'round here.

 

Never had any in Köln, but I've had most of the common bottled ones and a few clones that were made painstakingly authentic.
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan. They're okay, but I'd rather have a pils or helles instead. While I find it unbelievably lame when breweries call their random blonde ale a Kölsch, I actually prefer those to a real one in most instances. A trip to the source might change my mind, but I'd be hard pressed to go to Köln instead of Bavaria. Maybe if I have a layover at some point...

 

You are missing what I am saying.

People rate what they like or don't like, not what is true to style or not.

For example, suppose a hoppier-the-better IPA / DIPA drinker rates 2 English milds according to his preference for hoppy beer. One is brewed by an American brewer for American tastes, and so they make it hoppier. The other is brewed by an English brewer true to style. Which do you suppose will get the higher rating from this person?

Since BA's membership is dominated by those who prefer hoppy, big beers, the ratings, even within an individual style, will be biased by that preference.

 

Kolsch is a great beer style. Unlike others, I think there are plenty of fine domestic versions of the style. As far as the underrated part, Kolsch is just one of many underrated and underappreciated beer styles.