Kolsch or Kolsch-Style?

[DownstairsBrewing]

So I did a little research on these laws, seem they are rather common in Europe. Interesting read.....We have a couple in the US but they are more focused on a name which includes both the region of origin and the product description (i.e. Tennessee Whisky). Interestingly enough calling a beer a "Kolsch-Style" is still not allowed under the law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geogr...raditional_specialities_in_the_European_Union

Tennessee Whiskey is a fairly good example.

It is actually a difficult question at the emotional/cultural level, that gets complicated by commercial branding. For example, there is a distillery owned by ethnic Scots who have a living tradition of speaking Gaelic as well as creating an alcoholic beverage using malted barley and distinctively peated due to local conditions. They cannot call their whisky 'Scotch' because the distillery is in Cape Breton and the multinationals headquartered in London, Amsterdam, and Paris that own the Scottish distilleries say they cannot. Similarly, Italians who have moved to America taking their food and drink culture with them (to our eternal benefit) are precluded from calling what they make what they have always called it.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

On the other hand at least geography is clear-cut - do you set a limit on how many hours per week people speak Gaelic? Most people in the Scottish industry don't. And in those unique cases like Cape Breton you can usually create your own brand out of your uniqueness, a bit like the Trappist breweries from outside the Low Countries. As with whisky, the constraint also creates opportunities to create your own thing that is ultimately beneficial - I guess Chicago pizzas would be an example on the food side, and what happened to IPA is one on the beer side.

Two protected indications that may be of interest in the beer world are East Kent Goldings, which specifies location (east of the M20 motorway), varieties (the Goldings family has several recognised clones, mostly varying by ripening time) and passing certain chemical analyses. I'm not sure how well the wider trade understands that it is a protected indication, but the way prices have gone up recently I'm not sure the farmers care!

The other one is the protection set up for Newcastle Brown Ale, which was uncreated once Heineken decided to move production to Yorkshire (and then to the Netherlands). That caused huge ill-will, but goes to show that ultimately the multinationals get to dictate to governments what happens....

 

[GPP33]

Tennessee Whiskey is a fairly good example.

It is actually a difficult question at the emotional/cultural level, that gets complicated by commercial branding. For example, there is a distillery owned by ethnic Scots who have a living tradition of speaking Gaelic as well as creating an alcoholic beverage using malted barley and distinctively peated due to local conditions. They cannot call their whisky 'Scotch' because the distillery is in Cape Breton and the multinationals headquartered in London, Amsterdam, and Paris that own the Scottish distilleries say they cannot. Similarly, Italians who have moved to America taking their food and drink culture with them (to our eternal benefit) are precluded from calling what they make what they have always called it.

Along those same lines a quick google reveled that

"The term Kölsch was first officially used in 1918 to describe the beer that had been brewed by the Sünner brewery since 1906."

So if Sunner was still around (not sure if they are) and they wanted to relocate they couldn't continue calling it a Kolsch even though they are the ones that originally named it and defined the style. Interesting indeed.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Sunner are still going in Cologne - albeit on the "wrong" side of the river to Old Cologne - and were one of the original signatories of the Kölsch Convention.

I meant to say, in the absence of a historian of German beers, you could refer to them generically as "lagered ales". Given that DNA analysis is discovering more lagers than we thought are brewed with ale yeasts, including WLP800 Pilsner, I suspect this is a category that will only grow....

 

[Northern_Brewer]

This happened to come through my feed, which is relevant :
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesal...p-how-your-identity-impacts-the-food-you-like

Food is so tied up with identity that not only do eg Southern USians like eg fried catfish and black-eyed peas more than other people, that preference increases when they are reminded of their Southerness, similarly with Canadians and maple syrup.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

This happened to come through my feed, which is relevant :
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesal...p-how-your-identity-impacts-the-food-you-like

Food is so tied up with identity that not only do eg Southern USians like eg fried catfish and black-eyed peas more than other people, that preference increases when they are reminded of their Southerness, similarly with Canadians and maple syrup.

I like how a New York University chose two populations (Canadians and Southerners) to study as deviations from the normal.

 

[MPBeer]

Interesting topic. I think this goes same with Bourbon, or Champagne. And I think calling it "-style" is the right way to do it. We are homebrewers so nobody will judge us and force us to change our beers name, but if a commercial brewery brew a beer outside of Koln or Belgium and call their beer Kolsch or Lambic, that's not ideal IMO.

 

[bleme]

When I make a Kolsch, I leave off those dots above the 'o' so it is clear to everyone that I'm not German.

 

[soccerdad]

I like how a New York University chose two populations (Canadians and Southerners) to study as deviations from the normal.

Overabundance of deviants in those 2 places

 

[triletter]

I like the Kolsch that I brew. Got hooked on it when I lived in Germany, just a short ways from Koln. Here's to Koln and the Kolsch they brew! Prost.

 

[GPP33]

Well tonight I put my

“light, highly attenuated, hop-accentuated, clear top-fermenting Vollbier.”

Which shall not be named in a keg. Gravity sample was yum yum but since it's a style that should be drunk young (i.e. not imported) and I haven't been to Cologne to try the real thing I guess I'll never know how close it really is.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

Seems a bit dark and red-toned compared to Kölsch from Köln.

If you are really interested, I didn't notice much difference between Gaffel from a can in North America and Gaffel served in Köln. Gaffel is mass-market though, I don't know if any Köln brewers have pushed the style into craft beer status. It may well be that the 'imitators' have made taken the style further than the original German producers.

 

[GPP33]

Seems a bit dark and red-toned compared to Kölsch from Köln.

If you are really interested, I didn't notice much difference between Gaffel from a can in North America and Gaffel served in Köln. Gaffel is mass-market though, I don't know if any Köln brewers have pushed the style into craft beer status. It may well be that the 'imitators' have made taken the style further than the original German producers.

You’re looking through a carboy, final product is about 4.5 SRM, right in the middle for the BJCP guidelines so I assume that’s at least close to the real deal. Could be lighter I guess but not much. Grain bill is about 88% 2 SRM and 10% 10 SRM.

 

[day_trippr]

Is that a glass carboy sporting a ball lock post?

 

[GPP33]

Is that a glass carboy sporting a ball lock post?

Fermonster. Ball lock on the bottom and one in the lid.

 

[day_trippr]

Ah, ok. That's sane...

Cheers!

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

You’re looking through a carboy, final product is about 4.5 SRM, right in the middle for the BJCP guidelines so I assume that’s at least close to the real deal. Could be lighter I guess but not much. Grain bill is about 88% 2 SRM and 10% 10 SRM.

Yeah, I am always a little surprised to see how much lighter my batches are in the glass, even backlighting can make quite a difference.

I think it is quite possible the genuine article is not bang in the middle of the guidelines though. All of them that I can recall were quite light/straw coloured (I used to go to Köln once a year for a four day conference, during Spargel Woch no less). The North American clones I have seen have all been a little darker and often redder. Worth bearing in mind that Gaffel, for example, is a mass-market beer. It may not hold up well in comparison to a really well done craft brew, but if the comparator is Bud it is a very nice beer. I never had the chance to do much of the tourist sort of stuff, like seeking out the best of the smaller brewers.

 

[GPP33]

Yeah, I am always a little surprised to see how much lighter my batches are in the glass, even backlighting can make quite a difference.

I think it is quite possible the genuine article is not bang in the middle of the guidelines though. All of them that I can recall were quite light/straw coloured (I used to go to Köln once a year for a four day conference, during Spargel Woch no less). The North American clones I have seen have all been a little darker and often redder. Worth bearing in mind that Gaffel, for example, is a mass-market beer. It may not hold up well in comparison to a really well done craft brew, but if the comparator is Bud it is a very nice beer. I never had the chance to do much of the tourist sort of stuff, like seeking out the best of the smaller brewers.

I’ll try to search out some Gaffel. The second pic is not a Kolsch, it’s a much darker IPA. It is amazing how much it darkens though, also the color you get when shining a phone flash light at it. About brew #3 or #4 I shown my flashlight at an IPA and almost dumped it when I saw it was swamp water green, I thought for sure it was contaminated. Glad I didn’t, it was a good beer that wasn’t green in the glass but I think the memory of that color did affect my perception of it.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

I’ll try to search out some Gaffel. The second pic is not a Kolsch, it’s a much darker IPA. It is amazing how much it darkens though, also the color you get when shining a phone flash light at it. About brew #3 or #4 I shown my flashlight at an IPA and almost dumped it when I saw it was swamp water green, I thought for sure it was contaminated. Glad I didn’t, it was a good beer that wasn’t green in the glass but I think the memory of that color did affect my perception of it.

It may offend the purists, but there is a good chance your Kölsch-nicht is a better beer. Kölsch is not exactly carefully savoured most of the time in Köln, it is very much a 'good time' beer. The serving tradition is downright bewildering at first. You don't order a beer, drink it, then order another. Serving temperature is a very big deal there. Servers wander through the establishment with tiered trays of those thin beer flutes filled with Kölsch chilled to the right temperature, and replace your empty or near-empty or sorta-near-empty-but warming glass with a full one. You can be talking turn to finish your beer, and a completely full one is there. Doesn't take long to completely lose track of how many you have had.

 

[day_trippr]

"And that's that"...

Cheers!

 

[Punx Clever]

I just put a Kolsch into a competition.

I might brew an English Porter for the next one.

I've got a California Double IPA on tap.

I've also got an Irish Stout pouring.

But, apparently none of that is true because I'm in Tidewater VA...

Side note: It's a Kolsch. In VA.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Most IPA's dont even resemble the India Pale Ale style anymore. Does anyone worry about that? 150 juicy IBU's with 10 pounds of hop powder floating in it, is not an IPA, its chilled gastric bile with some fecal reflux mixed in. "IPA" doesn't even mean IPA anymore. People brew "warm lagers". Sometimes they call it a lager when it never saw temps below 65 until it was kegged, and it is served 2 weeks after the yeast was pitched. I've judged a "pilsner" made with only domestic two row and judged lambic's that looked and tasted identical to coors light with maybe a couple drops of berry extract added to a 10 gallon fermenter. I see things like "Strawberry Stout" (omg, yuck) "Mango Hefeweizen" (this one was pretty good!). Illegal? Of course not. How about a ginger, loquat and sage Saison. That recipe may cause a 4th generation Belgian brewmaster to eternally hate you, but its not illegal. I recently won best of show of 108 entries with a "Kolsch". I thought it was pretty good but it wasn't as good as Goffel. Definitely not an authentic German Kolsch from Koln, but i tried hard to make it as close as i could through lots of research and trial and error.

For home brewers, call it whatever you want, it just doesn't matter. If you and your friends like it, brew it and drink it!

However, if you are a commercial brewer thinking you will export a "Coconut Kolsch" made with WLP300 and fermented at 78F into Germany, it's not going to happen

 

[SoCal-Doug]

It should be pointed out that (at least from what i've been told by actual German people) is that Kolsch is thought of much like Americans think of beers like Coors Banquet, PBR, or other fuller flavored basic beers. They aren't the prize possessions of the beer connoisseur crowd. They are simple, clean, refreshing beers that cheat a little by using ale yeast and are slightly quicker and less costly to make compared to the hardcore German Pilsner Lagers.

 

[DownstairsBrewing]

I just put a Kolsch into a competition.

I might brew an English Porter for the next one.

I've got a California Double IPA on tap.

I've also got an Irish Stout pouring.

But, apparently none of that is true because I'm in Tidewater VA...

Side note: It's a Kolsch. In VA.

Tidewater or otherwise, that colour and head could pass for a Früh. I think you have the style nailed down.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I lived in Germany for 9 years...I've always called all of my Hefe Weizen's "German-style Hefe Weizen".

 

[soccerdad]

I used to call hefe's 'unfiltered wheat beer' because nobody spoke German, and even if they did ....

 

[GPP33]

So I stopped into the local beer store to check out the imports for a Kolsch. I thought I hit the jack pot when I saw a Sunner bottle, the original Kolsch! Imagine my disappointment when I saw an enjoy by date of April 2015 on a beer that is meant to be enjoyed fresh.

How does it even make sense to have that still on the shelf? Replace it with something that’ll actually sell.

 

[day_trippr]

Well that's a problem pretty much everywhere - I've found this to be endemic to the bidness of selling imports - one has to keep their head up and check date codes.
And as good as my local tries to be in that regard they occasionally have left-overs well past any reasonable shelf life expectation...

Cheers!

 

[seilenos]

When I make a Kolsch, I leave off those dots above the 'o' so it is clear to everyone that I'm not German.

This first time I brewed a kolsch I named it "Umläut" specifically because those dots tell you it's fancy.

 

[GPP33]

This first time I brewed a kolsch I named it "Umläut" specifically because those dots tell you it's fancy.

Good idea. Can’t wait to brew my next Ipä, it’ll the fanciest one yet!