The folks at Summit Brewing in St. Paul have been busy this year. After not releasing any new beers for many years, they have released two this year with another on the way. The first was Horizon Red Ale, released in April. This week they are rolling out the first of their Unchained Series, a traditional German Style Kölsch. According to their press release we can look forward to the next beer in this series sometime in late fall.

I’m excited about the Unchained Series, which allows Summit’s brewers an opportunity to spread their wings and explore. According to the press release, “the inspiration for the series was to give the team of six full time brewers a chance to show off their skills and creativity and to have a little fun in the process. Each brewer will have an opportunity to choose their own beer style and manage the process from start to finish, from research and recipe development all the way to tasting the beer in the final stages to determine proper conditioning and filtration for the ideal flavor and aroma profile.” Not intended as license for brewers to get wild and crazy, the Unchained Series offers them the opportunity to explore seldom brewed styles using traditional methods.

The first in the Series is a Kölsch from brewer Mike “the Miz” Miziorko. The Kölsch style is an appellation protected by the Kölsch Konvention and use of the name is restricted to a few breweries in Cologne, Germany. It is one of the few remaining German ale styles, a holdover from the time before lager beers swept Germany and later the rest of the world. However, colder fermentation temperatures and a period of cold conditioning gives Kölsch a very lager-like character. Like a more delicate and slightly fruity Pilsner, it is typically a yellow to gold colored beer filtered to brilliant clarity. It’s light bodied and features a balance of pilsner malt and spicy European hops with a well attenuated dry finish. Kölsch is an easy-drinking and refreshingly light beer for summer. The Summit version is brewed with all imported ingredients using “traditional mashing and brewing procedures” that I’m told included a multi-step mash.

Here’s my notes:

German Style Kölsch
Summit Brewing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota
Style: Kölsch
Serving Style: 12 oz. Bottle

Aroma: Soft bready malt with slight DMS corny character of pilsner malt. Reminds me of the crust on a loaf of fresh-baked white bread. Malt is the centerpiece of the aroma with only the slightest hint of herbal hops and stone fruits. Simple and delicate, but still delightful.
Appearance: Deep golden and crystal clear. Moderate creamy white head that dissipated quickly leaving lace on the glass and a film on the surface of the beer. Nice to look at.
Flavor: Starts with a kick of bitterness and peppery and herbal hop flavors until balancing bready malt moves in. Well balanced between malt and hops. A bit of sweetness and the same light corny character from the aroma give some complexity to the malt. Mid palate brings very subtle stone fruit. The finish is dry with a lingering hop spice and light residual sweetness.
Mouthfeel: Light body. Crisp and clean like a lager. Medium carbonation.
Overall Impression: Light, delicate, crisp, balanced. This beer is everything a Kölsch should be. The bready malt has depth and reminds me of the great Helles beers of Munich. In the sea of überhopped, barrel-aged, high alcohol monster beers Summit Kölsch is a welcome reminder of the pleasures of simplicity and balance in beer. Nicely done.