Reissdorf Kölsch

Brewed by Privat-Brauerei Heinrich Reissdorf
Style: Kölsch
Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

From a 500ml. euro brown bottle with no freshness date. Made a good appearance, poured a clear orange hued golden with a rocky white head that slowly reduced to a thin, bubbly lacing. Tasty aroma, honey and grapes, a grainy maltiness and a peppery hops. Good carbonation and a slick, crisp light bodied mouth feel, excellent drinkability. Had a sweet grape taste, a little vanilla, a soft grape fruity hoppiness in the middle, a soft bitterness, an underlining sweet pale maltiness and a dry, crisp grainy finish.

Kolsch sucks. Over carbonated and tasteless. Very thin looking. Not much of a head. Maybe my buds just are’nt mature enough to pick up any of the proclaimed nuances but I swear Strohs has more taste.

Reissdorf Kolsch pours to a beautiful, bright, pale golden color, with a short, bright white head, and a lively carbonation. There is a wonderful balance in the nose, subtle aromas of pale malt and hops marry with light, fruity/jammy aromas. The palate is soft and malty, with a backdrop of subtle estery fruit flavors, such as pear, and honey dew melon. The body is quite lean, making this a very drinkable, and social brew. Reissdorf Kolsch finishes with great balance, more malt and fruit flavors and then a slight hop bitterness. This is a delicate beer with subtle yet sublime flavors. Some beer geeks are not impressed with Kolsch, they do not appreciate its subtle flavors, and find it to be a bit over hyped and bland. I disagree, I think kolsch being so delicate, makes it all the more seductive. Reissdorf is a credible example of the style, and I really enjoy this beer, due to the fact that it, and Gaffel, are the only two examples of real kolsch on the US market. That being said, and now having been to Koln, my opinion of this beer has changed since I first tried it a few years ago. Reissdorf while enjoyable, is not a classic example of the style. Compared to the classic examples I tried in Koln, including Gaffel, Reissdorf is rather ordinary. Kolsch is one of those styles, that really has to be tasted at its source to be understood. A part of me loves the fact that I can get a real kolsch here, but another part of me thinks this beer style should never leave Germany. Available in 1/2 liter bottles for the past few years, it is now available in 4 pack 11.5 oz bottles in select US markets.

Light, lemony aroma, little completexity. A bit of vegetable smell, as well. Very pale, with a big white frothy head. Flavor is pretty thin, not much hopping at all, with a little fruityness. Palate works though.

25 Nov 05 - Light sweet with some burnt malt. Clear yellow amber colour, plain head and suds lacing. Light sweet fruit tatste and low hop complexity. Thin mouthfeel with a hoppy finish. I guess I am not a fan of Kolschs, this beer leaves me a little uninspired.

Poured from bottle into shaker glass. Pale gold body with a white fluffy head. Smells to me like your average BMC pale lager, except a LITTLE richer. Tasted like a boring lager, too. Body was a little more full and smooth. Kind of boring, but not offensive.

Bottle. Poured out a light gold with a very thin sudsy head. The aroma is mainly malt and grain. The flavor has a mixture of sweet malt, some mild frutiness, a bit of corn and some bitter hops. It’s bubbly and crisp on the palate. It’s sort of like a Budweiser twisted with a pale ale. Not bad, not great.

Very clear like a white grape juice. 500ml bottle. Very crisp and clean but no complexity. Not much body.