Cape Ann Fishermans Ale

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

Bottled at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. (brewed by Olde Saratoga Brewing.) Hazy golden, small head. Fruity cereal aroma. Dry, almost crisp. Lightly salty with a bit of grassy hops. Low bitterness. A straightfoeard drinkable beer.

12oz bottle-pours a dissipating off white head and hazy amber color. Aroma is bready/sweet light malt, light fruit, hint of herbal hops. Taste is herbal hops comes out first, then some spice hops with backbone of bready/light malt. Finish is herbal hops. Thanks to Joe-jwc215 for picking this out.

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.

Tap at Barcade. Kolsch? I don’t think so... in fact, it’s not even close. Too much malt and too much hoppiness for that. Anyway, hazy golden amber with a thick white head. Aroma is nice, soft UK type malts, crackery and biscuity with a soft woody/spicy type of hop aroma as well. A touch of marmalade and a bit of sulfur as well. Flavour is lovely, soft and crisp with a fresh minerally bitterness. Crisp pale malt and touch of earthiness. It’s a nice English Pale ale... but it’s definitely not a kolsch. Excellent session ale, FWIW.

Bottle. Pours a honey amber body with a white head. Some mild sticky floral notes, some earth and hints of hop bitterness. Some tea or tannic bitterness.

Draught pint at Sunset Grill on 6/7/07
Well-conditioned, buttercup-colored body, with light brass tints, is clear, lightly bubbly and sports a medium-sized white head that produces light lacing. Head shows moderate retention.
Malt-forward is the nose (which is great), showing straw, wet hay baking in the sun and light toffee hints. Light minerals, and something producing a slight acidity, is notable on the finish, which seems to have a bit of lemon to it as well. With some warming, it unfortunately gains a bit of cake-icing-like thickness/sweetness, but some earthy and dusty hops help keep things somewhat dry and grainy. Definitely a kolsch, probably not the world’s leading example, but pleasant enough in the nose, with no apparent flaws.
Snappier up front than I expect, as lots of grainy, very fresh cereal-like malts cut through some initial pale malt sugariness. It’s got a surprisingly firm body to it, with lots of roundness and almost a wheat-like chewiness to it (I’m not a big fan of wheat in kolschs though, I think it gives the wrong texture). Not saying there is wheat in it, but it definitely could stand to bit a tad bit lighter bodied and somewhat more crisp. Acidity and kolsch-yeast signature mineral notes are lightly apparent on the finish, with EKG or saaz hoppiness that is very minimal as it should be. Take the attenuation up a notch and give it some more pils malt character and this would be spectacular. It still went down very well, however. Carbonation is moderate, not bubbly or overdone. No flaws or alcohol noted.

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark hazy orange- WAY too dark for a kolsch and a thin white head. Aroma is slight citrus with an old orange oil hint- toasted and caramel malts- cuz those are supposed to be in a kolsh... Flavor is more orange and citrus, with crackery malts, slight oxidation, toasted malts, and light munich. Finish is a bit stale and one-dimensional. Really- a Kolsch?

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.