Mühlen Kölsch (Germany: Kolsch: 4.8% ABV)
Visual: Pale yellow. Clear. A little carbonation in the body and a large loose bubbled head.
Nose: Floral. Lemony.
Body: Light pepper. Smooth lemon and lime – kind of like 7 up without the fizzy pop style. Some bitterness which grows a little over time. Soft orange. Vanilla caramel. Popcorn feeling hops. Quite crisp feeling main body. Toasted teacakes.
Finish: Crisp. Light bitterness and hops. Palma violets. Soft toffee. Popcorn feeling hops.
Conclusion: This is the most gentle beer I have had in a long time. I don’t mean it is lacking flavor wise by the way. I just mean it feels gentle.
I was a bit worried that it was going to be flavourless however, as going in the aroma was very understated and muted – slightly floral but not exactly painting a picture of the beer to come. The first sip dispels that impression. As I said before it is gentle. yes, however flavourless? No. It is sweet and malty with gentle pepperyness to give it grip against the real soft vanilla and caramel.
There are also soft lemon and other citrus flavours, very gentle behind the sweet malt, and just giving it a touch of sparkle. (Note: After finishing the review I looked at Michel Jackson’s notes and he refers to it as marshmallow-like which is a very good call and a good description of the soft sweetness).
The mild level of hops and bitterness are used like the pepper notes, to add backing and make sure it never becomes too sweet. Combined together, the gentle malt and spice prickle becomes a beer that just slides down without becoming too heavy either way and ruining the session.
It is therefore such a sessionable lager and crowd please. Ok, at nearly 5% it is a bit high abv for true session beer, aye, but it is a great beer to show that gentle drinking is not dull drinking. A great beer this one.
Background: Ok, confession time first. This beer is beyond its best before date. Then again its best before date was three months after brewing so I’m confident by any useful measure this is still perfectly fine. Plus it was only two weeks over. However just in case that affected the review I thought I had best declare it. I grabbed it anyway as it is one of Michael Jackson’s 500 great beers and not one I have seen before in all my years of hunting so I didn’t want to miss it. Grabbed from the Beer Emporium’s great bottle selection. Drunk after watching a bit of Attack On Titan, which I am greatly enjoying (and has a great opening theme)
