12 Types of Beer Glasses (and the Perfect Brew for Each)

You might think that there’s nothing simpler than enjoying a cold beer after a long day. I’m sorry to report that you are wrong. No, Beer doesn’t have the same mystique as wine or cocktails. While the average beer drinker knows there are many different varieties of beer, this is a matter of taste, and doesn’t… Read more…

What to expect from… an Oktoberfest beer

It’s that time of year again: the summer’s over, the harvest is coming in (barley and hops included) and Oktoberfest is on the horizon. Don’t be fooled by the name though, it actually begins in mid-September and runs until early October. You should see the beers appear around the same time. You can probably find them year-round if you hunt about long enough, but with a beer that’s supposed to be…

What to expect from… a Kölsch

Kölsch is a bit of an inbetweener. It’s an ale that thinks its a lager – or maybe that’s the other way around. Expect brilliant clarity, a golden colour and a creamy white head. So far so lager, right? But when you smell it you should find some fruitiness there. It’s brewed with an ale yeast and has the characteristic esters to match, albeit in a subtle way. You may pick up a little noble hop…

What to expect from… a Pale Ale

Think of this as IPAs little brother if you like. It has a similar pale appearance and refreshing character with malts and hops in good balance, but it’s all pitched at a gentler level. It should pour a pale golden to light amber colour with a good head of white foam. It should range from clear to slightly hazy. Any more murk than that suggests too much hopping for the style and sees you edging…

Think of this as IPAs little brother if you like. It has a similar pale appearance and refreshing character with malts and hops in good balance, but it’s all pitched at a gentler level.

It should pour a pale golden to light amber colour with a good head of white foam. It should range from clear to slightly hazy. Any more murk than that suggests too much hopping for the style and sees you edging away from pale ale territory into the land of IPAs. It’s always going to be a bit of a blurred line however.

The malt character should be light and clean, possibly with some speciality malt flavours such as bready, toasty or biscuity. Caramel might be a step too far here. A classic English pale ale would be identifiable by its hop character with spicy, herbal and earthy aromas being the order of the day. American pale ales display fruitier hop aromas, as you’d expect; look for stone fruit, toprical fruit, berry or melon, citrus, floral, pine or resinous. The yeast profile here is usually neutral to lightly fruity.

Kölsch is a bit of an inbetweener. It’s an ale that thinks its a lager - or maybe that’s the other way around. Expect brilliant clarity, a golden colour and a creamy white head. So far so lager, right? But when you smell it you should find some fruitiness there. It’s brewed with an ale yeast and has the characteristic esters to match, albeit in a subtle way. You may pick up a little noble hop character on the aroma but it shouldn’t be too pronounced.

The flavour is crisp, clean and again subtly fruity with a drying finish and very little bitterness. It can sometimes have a creaminess to it that’s very pleasing. It’s an excellent, refreshing session beer. The BJCP 2015 guidelines have this to say:

“Soft, rounded palate comprised of a delicate flavor balance between soft yet attenuated malt, an almost imperceptible fruity sweetness from fermentation, and a medium-low to medium bitterness with a delicate dryness and slight crispness in the finish (but no harsh aftertaste).”

If it’s not from Cologne (Köln) then it’s not officially Kölsch - although some breweries in the USA are apparently not too bothered about this ruling. Kölsch is traditionally served in a narrow 200ml glass called a Stange (literally a ‘stick’). You don’t order it, as such; you go into the bar and the bring you the beer, and keep on bringing it until you signal that you’ve had enough. This can be fun when you’re trying to work out exactly what that signal is…