McNeills Kölsch

Brewed by McNeills Brewery
Style: Kölsch
Brattleboro, Vermont USA

A yellow beer with a small white head. The aroma is sweet malty. The flavor is sweet malt with a good deal of hops and the mouthfeel is quite dry.

Bottled. Cloudy yellow. Grassy apple aroma. Very dry. Light, soft mouthfeel. Hoppy and dry to the point that it almost gets ashy. Bitter finish.

Poured a light yellow with almost no head. Light tastes and smells. Citris and floral. Tastes better and stronger than the smell. Kolsh is another style I’m fairly new to and may be a little light for my tastes (but this one tasted good).

This looks like clear liquid gold wearing a rocky white head that sticks to the glass like I love it and displays rather heavy carbonation. Nose of cereals, grass, firm citrus and barnyard. In mouth, there’s a light yet nice biscuity maltiness reminding me of my lemon&poppy muffins. What strikes me in this beer is its uniformity, the flavor development is very uniform. While this removes from the complexity, I found it very original and don’t remember any other beer providing such linearity. Floral, slightly tart, grassy. The bitterness follows a constant intensity from the beginning until the end. Pleasant surprise, I’d definitely like to have a few Kolsch in Germany to clean my palate before the big doppelbocks!

The throat as an lemon zest hourglass...Dry and dusty, earth-laden grass powder trickles down with care to slowly fall onto the biscuity soil...Tasty relaxation ensues from staring at this relentless, soft hopfall...

Bottled: Golden coloured. Clear. Fluffy off-white head. Malty and light hoppy beer. Is a bit thin bodied, but has some pleasnat herbal notes. Ends on a medium bitter note. Thanks egajdzis for trading this.

A golden ale with a thick creamy white head. A light berry malt with german hops. In mouth, a nice crisp a,tl, sweetish, with strawberry notes. Medium bodied. On tap at brewpub August 2 2009.

July 01. A fine example of the style, though the style isn't my favorite. Slightly fruity/yeasty aroma, very light and clear with no head to speak of. Dry, slightly bitter; if you like the type, go for it while it's available.

July 03. Oh my GOD did I underrate this! I did not know the glory that was Kolsch, and now I understand, at least Ray McNeill's version of it (yeah, I gotta get to Koln). Very complex nose, grapes caramel and lemon all working for your love, adn a wonderfully dry but juicy (sounds contradictory but so what) flavor profile, old and papery, leather and melting butterscotch. Among McNeill's best, and that's saying a lot. My new Summer standard fallback beer.