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Review: Sam Adams East West Kölsch

May 17, 2012 · by Oliver Gray

Cologne, Germany.

A city split by the Rhine into two equally large portions: East Cologne and West Cologne. This bustling German metropolis sits on the bones of a city soaked in European lore and gallons of juicy beer history.

The Romans, when they were gallivanting around the European country side building cities wherever the hell the felt like it, established the city of Colonia in 50 AD. Being the crafty, engineering minded bastards they were, they built a bigass bridge over the Rhine, in order to use the fertile land on the other bank without having to swim the 1000+ foot river over and over and over again.

The Romans ruins are mostly gone, but some reminders of the original Latin overloads remain.

Cologne has an amazing history. Seriously, take some time and read about it.

It’s also the home of the famous “Kölsch” beer style, deriving its name from the German name of the town, “Köln.” When a beer is born of a particular town, it develops its own weird subculture. It’s a phenomenon I know well, living only a short distance from the origin of Natural Bohemian in Baltimore, MD.

The Natty Boh guy is everywhere.

Unlike Natty Boh, who created a subculture of bad beer and binge drinking, Kölsch created its own dialect. It also created a fierce rivalry with nearby Düsseldorf, who claims its own local Altbier (fermented warm with top yeast) is vastly superior to Kölsch (fermented warm then lager conditioned) in all possible ways. Cologne obviously argues the exact opposite.

Dusseldorfians are all like, “Kölsch sucks.”

Colognians are all like, “Nah yo’, Altbier sucks.”

Bitter, bitter rivalry. Worse than Red Socks/Yankees. Worse than Manchester United/Chelsea. Worse than Michigan/Ohio State.

Hatfields vs. McCoys but with more beer and less moonshine.

The good news is, I can resolve this centuries long battle for them. Dusseldorf? Cologne? Put down the pointy sticks and torches. Both beers are good. Very good. Way better than most American stuff. Can you please come over and give brewing lessons? Start in White Plains, New York. They need help.

My boys at Sam Adams have paid homage to the classic, structured traditions of brewing of Western Germany and produced a quite enjoyable beer. East West Kölsch is hoppy enough to notice, but not extreme. It is light and refreshing, making it a perfect addition to their already bright and cheery summer sampler. At 5.1% ABV it is a bit high for a session beer, but it goes down smooth with only a slight carbonation burn.

It doesn’t appear that Sam Adams makes an Altbier, but I imagine when they do, it’ll be hard to keep these two from breaking bottles over each other’s…bottles.

9 out of 10.

Potato cakes and Kölsch. Don’t ask.

Review: Sam Adams Noble Pils

May 3, 2012 · by Oliver Gray

Ah, Noble Pils. The spring seasonal that changed my life. For the better.

The amazing bouquet of hops, sharp citrus bite, and thirst quenching power makes this like a carbonated alcoholic Gatorade full of flowers. Yea, it’s that awesome.

Flavor like this is the reason I drink beer. It’s complex but delicious; not overwhelming to the palette, but not weak by any means. It perfectly walks the line of taste and refreshment, something not many other beers can boast.

I bought Noble Pils during it’s inaugural year (2010) on a whim. I liked the green of the label and the bottles caps. I’m a sucker for marketing, what can I say?

But I’m hella-glad I randomly chose that 6-pack. Before Noble Pils, I had considered all Bohemian style pilsner to be bland and generic, good for slugging down on an oppressively hot summer day, but not much else. I used to scoff at beer drinkers who argued over the subtle differences between Pilsner Urquell, Heineken, Grolsh, and Stella Artois, wanting to scream, “All pilsners taste exactly the same!”

But I was oh so wrong. I let my ignorance of the style cloud my better beer judgement.

A pilsner is technically a bottom-fermented pale lager. What gives it a distinctive taste is the low bitterness but high aroma of the hops used during brewing. The term “noble” refers to four strains of central European hops (Hallertau, Tettnanger, Spalt, and Saaz), some of the oldest and most established hop-farms in the world. Sam Adams claims to use the five noble hop varieties because they include Hersbrucker, which replaced Hallertau in the 1970s due to widespread agricultural disease.

These hops make for a beer that is very drinkable, but packs a lot of flavor and smell (a lot like my new found love, session ale) The subtle bitter of these noble hops balances the sweetness of the malts, resulting in an unmistakable type of beer, that is popular for obvious reasons.

But then there is Sam Adams Noble Pils. Sure, it’s a Bohemian style pilsner brewed with noble hops. Sure, it’s hyper-drinkable, has a small, lacy head, and has the letters P, I, L, and S, in the title.

All similarities end there. Noble Pils is Bohemian-style on crystal meth and PCP. Imagine that Harpoon IPA and Amstel had a wild romp one night. Nine months later?

Noble Pils.

I highly, highly recommend you try this beer if you haven’t already. It’s available year round as of March 2012, so you have no excuses other than being a masochist who likes depriving himself/herself of all things that are good.

10 out of 10.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s ale?

Next up: Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale!

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