Serve in a stange at 4-7 °C
What it tastes like
Kolsch is the local beer of Cologne, and in Germany the name is protected for brewers in and around that city. It is an ale, fermented with top fermenting yeast, but cool, then cold conditioned like a lager. That gives a beer which looks like a pale lager and tastes softer and a little fruitier.
It is pale straw to light gold and brilliantly clear. The malt is soft and bready, like a fresh white loaf. Hops are gentle and herbal, never citrus. The yeast leaves a faint fruit, a hint of pear or white wine, that you notice and then lose. The finish is dry and short.
In Cologne it comes in a thin 200 ml glass, the stange, carried round on a ring tray and refilled until you put a beer mat on top. The small glass is practical: Kolsch is fragile and tastes best in the first minutes. A Kolsch that tastes of sulphur or of nothing at all has been rushed, and that is the commonest fault you will meet.
Style profile
- Look
- Pale straw to light gold, very clear, with a white, fine head that fades fairly quickly.
- Aroma and flavour
- Soft white bread malt, gentle herbal hops, a faint pear or white grape fruitiness from the yeast.
- Mouthfeel
- Light body, lively but soft carbonation, a crisp, dry, short finish.
- Ingredients
- Pilsner malt, sometimes a little wheat, German noble hops such as Hallertau or Tettnang, a Kolsch ale yeast fermented cool.
In India
Kolsch suits Indian weather better than almost anything. It is light, cold and low in bitterness, so it converts lager drinkers on a hot afternoon and survives a long lunch. The weak point is freshness: delicate beers show heat damage fast, so drink it on tap or from a brewery that ships cold. Several Indian brewpubs keep one on, some with local twists like lemongrass or honey.
At the Indian table
Food pairings contributed by Anuradha Rao
- Bengali bhetki fish fryLight body and carbonation lift the crumb without hiding the fish.
- Masala dosa with coconut chutneyBready malt and gentle hops keep out of the way of the potato and the fermented batter.
- Hyderabadi chicken 65Cold, crisp and low in bitterness, it cools the chilli instead of amplifying it.
- RasgullaA light, dry beer against a light, syrupy sweet, neither crushes the other.
Brewed in India
Want the long read? Kölsch