Hi All, first time poster but long-time reader. I've had the pleasure of passing through Cologne, and managed to sample beers from about 6 of the 22 Kolsch breweries.
The beers obviously taste quite similar due to the restrictions of the style (a light-coloured, top fermented, and the water in Cologne being very soft). But some were fruitier (but still light on the esters), some were maltier, to the point that I think that 2 that I sampled must use Vienna or Munich malt in the grain bill. The main features were that they were all light-tasting, low-carbonated (almost to the level of a British Ale), delicately hopped, little to no hop aroma.
I think that homebrewers tend to use wheat more than the Kolsch breweries, but Eric Warner states in his book "Kolsch" that some breweries use up to 20% wheat malt. For us homebrewers, the wheat malt helps with the head generation/retention, especially since the OG is quite low. But better brewers (better than me) can mash appropriately to get what they need out of standard pils 2-row malt.
The other good thing I recall about Kolsch was that I was arriving from Amsterdam, where I had drank way too much the night before, and had a massive hangover. But I still went out bar-hopping in Cologne and drank 3 litres of the stuff, and my head actually felt better in the morning. You don't get hangovers from drinking German beer!
)
