Fruh Kölsch

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Price: £4.20

Description 4.8%abv. An amazing individual refreshing beer from Cologne or Koln, The area around Cologne has its own style of beer the Kolsch, a top fermented hoppy light beer often thought to be a pilsner. NO NO NO, this beer is far more interesting than a mere lager. This beer is top fermented, thus more like a summer ale from the UK. However the beer is then cold-conditioned for a number of weeks giving it a lager like appearance and texture. You drink a Kölsch from a so-called "Kölschstange", a thin cylindrical glass (holding 0.2 liters of beer). It is served to you from a "Kranz"- a circular tray, by a "Köbes"- the typical term in Cologne for brewery waiters.  A style distinctive to Cologne, the name Kölsch is protected by law so that only beers brewed in and around the city can bear the name. Früh is well regarded in the city and considered one of the best Kölsch. Probably the most famous place to drink Kölsch is the Tavern Früh near to the cathedral in Cologne. Fruh Kolsch is a dangerously drinkable beer with an unsurpassed balance in Kölsch beer of malt and soft delicate hops. Pale gold in colour with a good lasting head, the hoppy, dry finish is from using Hallertau and Tettnang hops. This beer is soft and delicate, ever so slightly grape like on the palate. The softness comes from the soft water around Cologne. Kölsch is an appelation given to top fermented beers brewed only in Cologne and this is one of the best. The term "obergarige" on the label reveals that though this beer has the appearance of a lager it is, in fact, an ale - warm fermented by a top fermenting yeast. Pale lemony gold in colour with a pure white lasting head the aroma is lightly fruity with some flowery hops. Taste is very clean, a result unlike normal ales, of cold conditioning. Fresh, with just a touch of bitter hops, beer is a little thin and metallic in the middle and perhaps a little grapey in the finish which is clean short and hoppy. Kölsch is strictly defined by the Kölsch-Konvention, an agreement between the members of the Cologne Brewery Association. It is a pale, highly attenuated, hoppy, clear, top-fermenting beer with an original gravity of between 11 and 16 degrees Plato (1.044--1.065). In practice almost all Kölsch brands have a very similar gravity near the middle of this range. P J Fruh's pub sits in the shadow of Cologne's magnificent gothic cathedral, it sells the house Kolsh in small thin glasses, the opposite of the great steins of Munich. The brewery, Früh am Dom, is geographically the center of the city. A fine beer, pairs well with german cuisine, shellfish, salads, fish and pork dishes. 50cl bottle.