Cape Ann Fishermans Ale

Brewed by Cape Ann Brewing Company
Style: Kölsch
Gloucester, Massachusetts USA

The appearance is beautiful cloudy copper. Minimal head, butg the translucent color is gorgeous. With more head, this would be a 5.0. The aroma is bitter, flowery German hops on top. Roasted barley underneath. Grainy but with lemon and earthy tones. Very strong, very inviting. The taste is earthy, grainy malts foremost. Pilsnerish/German hops floating above. Hint of perfumes, but more bitter and with a bite on the swallow. Complex; lots of flavors to admire here. Medium bodied feel and creamy but also refreshing. Spring-y! Lots of bitter hops, earthy malts and a citrusy respite. A heck of a nice spring-friendly beer.

Bottle. Hazy golden blonde body. Spotty foam on the surface. Aroma is grainy and semi-sweet with light lemon. Taste is more grains, lemony tartness, Euro hops, grass and sweet malt. Body is light and almost uncarbonated. Slick feel on the palate. Ends with stronger lemon and yeast notes, more grass and Euro hops, light grains and soft biscuit notes.

Nose is a little sweet with a bit of grain and skunk. Pours pale yellow gold with a thin non lasting head. The flavor is also skunky with a little sweet grain as well. Boring. Thin, watery, and skunky.

My Bottom Line:
This pseudo-Kölsch’s beany nose and lax carbonation mar the leafy hops and dim biscuity cereals for a relatively unsatisfying quencher.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the hazy dark orange golden.
-Oxidation and staleness are not synonyms of freshness. And good Kölsches are supposed to exude freshness, right?
-The leafy hop bitterness is slightly more intense than the flavor profile itself.
-This is still drinkable, don’t get me wrong, but this bottle had lots of loose ends.

Bottle.

It’s almost as if some of the best parts of a traditional Octoberfest beer were used to make a crisp, slightly hoppy, multi-layered summer brew.....oh wait! THEY WERE! Great hay, pasture, honey, and spice on the nose. The color is a medium gold that leads one to long for an October afternoon with its slightly slanted sunbeams. The flavors hit your mouth in rapid fire succession. As mentioned before, Munich and Vienna malts are very up front, but it is almost as if there is a bit of rye in there as well. I wouldn’t know for sure, but that is what I associate that slight dry tang with. The hops were added early in the boil, and used greatly for bittering and not so much the nose, but they are just right, in my opinion. You don’t want something to be to sweet and syrupy on a hot day. They help keep the finish crisp and clean. The fruity notes of the German ale yeasts help temper the hearty bitterness, but don’t get in the way.

12 oz. Clear, deep golden with a lasting half-inch of meringue topping. Light bouquet of crisp apple, caramel, toast and hay. Flavor is similar with more grain and caramel, then a crisp spiced-grass and citrus finish. Medium body is smoothly carbonated, hop-tingly and dry.

Bottle. Poured a vibrant, almost sunburst, amber with a thin off-white head. Aroma is somewhere between Vienna and Munich malt to start out but transition into a little more complexity, some pear, toasty biscuit, subtle hints of coffee and even slighter vanilla, a crisp and floral but light hop finish. The flavor was predominantly malty, again Munich or Vienna, but toasty as well, almost a chocolate or coffee emphasis though modest. Unfortunately the bitterness of the hops is uncomplimentary and finishes the beer of with a slight cloying bitterness. The palate is light, quite preferential to the heat today, and bubbly without being overwhelmingly effervescent. Quite enjoyable for a light beer.

I really enjoyed this one. One of the best looking beers I’ve ever had. It’s not the best, but for a Kolsch it was delicious.