Sunner GMBH and Co.'s Sunner Kolsch

One of my favorite styles, and in a craft beer industry that is obsessed with big beers and ever-increasing ABV, it's fairly unusual to find. Craft brewers don't think that craft drinkers want a beer with only 5.5% ABV, and that you can see through like Budweiser, I guess.

Wow, one of the clearest beers I've ever seen. It's a bright yellow with just a twinge of amber, and a huge pillowy off-white head that stays forever.

Nice light, malty smell with a floral, almost soapy smell at first. Lavender, maybe? Slightly pils-ish when cold, but when it warms it gets a hint of that Belgian/German wit smell that I don't like.

Back toward pilsner in the taste, it's very lightly bitter with no distinct hops flavor. Light malt as well, it's clean and crisp. This would make an excellent lawnmower beer as well. More flavor than any macro of the same clarity/color/body, but still very drinkable.

Cape Ann Brewing Company's Kolsch Style Ale

This one should be interesting. I love this style, but remember not being too excited about this one. I remember it being a bit oily, too hoppy, and maybe a little heavy for the style. Let's see how the months have treated it.

Pours a deeper yellow than most kolschs, with decent carbonation that rises slowly. Good off white head that fades fast.

Smells sweet. Too malty for a kolsch, if you ask me. The time has attenuated the bitterness, but it's still a bit heavy and oily for me. Almost like a German pilsner that is too warm. Not really hoppy as much as it is twangy, it just seems a bit weird. Combined with the sweetness, it seems a bit like the sweet side of a citrus sweet tart.

Meh. Glad it's gone.

Cape Ann Brewing Company's Fisherman's Ale

Man, Kolsch is one of my favorite styles, I can't believe I let one get by me and sit for this long.

Pours a bit hazy for a Kolsch, and a smidge on the amber side of yellow. We'll see what that has to do with anything in a bit. Fizzy white head that goes away quickly, almost like a macro, which is just fine in this light style of beer.

Nice, slightly sweet malt smell, a bit like a white grape instead of bread, which is right on type. The tiniest twinge of hops is noticeable. Just barely grassy.

Huh. I'm trying to place the twang that it has. It's light with a fast body that is just right, but it's twangier than I think a Kolsch should be. I can't quite place it, but it's like a zingy white grape juice almost. The hops, which are a little higher than most Kolschs, provide the zing I guess, and the malt doesn't settle down to any noticeable grain taste until the aftertaste.

Not sure about this one. Kolsch is one style where less is more, and this one seems to go in several different directions that I don't really like.

Spoetzel Brewery's Shiner Kosmos Reserve

Glad to see a mixed sixer from Shiner, I buy Real Ale's every once in a while and go to World Markets just to put them together, and I hope Saint Arnold's wakes up and makes them. I'll buy a lot more St. A's if they do.

Anyway, this family six pack had a Kosmos Reserve in it, so it was a no-brainer just for that. It pours a light amber with a crisp white head that thins to a sheet but stays due to strong carbonation.

Crisp lager smell, and lightly malty. I'm going to go with kolsch on the style so far, even though you can't find it anywhere and even the Shiner website is absent any reference of Kosmos Reserve at all.

Yep. Very low and indistinct hops, light, sweet malt, and overall crisp without an aftertaste to speak of. Very good kolsch. I wish they would keep it around, it's better than the blonde, dark, smokehouse, and a couple of others. It also doesn't have that Shiner Bock twang to it, unusual for a Shiner beer. Most of them taste like a Dark Shiner Bock, or Smoke Shiner Bock, or Blonde Shiner Bock, but this stands on its own.

Very good kolsch that I'll buy every chance I get.

Cape Ann Brewing Company's Fisherman's Ale

Probably the most vastly underrated style, Kolsch also happens to be one of my favorites. This one pours an intensely clear deep yellow with a hint of orange. Great crisp white head with good carbonation. This one just looks like it's going to be crisp and light, like it should be.

Great light malt smell with a complete absence of hops, as it should be. Slightly sweet, just because the malt is all there is.

Yep. Just right. Light feel made even lighter by the fairly high carbonation, with a bitterness that comes out in the taste, but is mild at best. It's indistinct, not overpowering, and secondary to the overall malt flavor that retains the slight sweetness. Great lawnmower beer, and one of the best Kolsch's I've had. Wish it was available in Texas.