When I think of beer maybe I think of Half Cut, but not surprisingly my first thought isn’t clean cut.
Whistlin’ Their Way Home
When it comes to clean cut I picture the opening of The Andy Griffith Show*, Andy and Opie, Father and son residents of Mayberry North Carolina, walking home down a country lane, coming back from the ol’ fishin’ hole with fishing rods in hand. Andy whistling along to the theme song **, while Aunt Bee busied herself making pies. Created by perhaps one of the least clean cut industries and locales of the day, that being Hollywood.
This “Kölsch Inspired” brew is honouring the Kölsch-Konvention of 1985 which decrees that if a beer is not from Cologne (Köln) Germany or made by a brewer within the Köln Kölsch-Konvention (an alliterative appellation adjudication), it cannot be called a Kölsch. We have had other brews honour or circumvent this in different ways. How about a topless “o”, that’s right, Kolsch sans umulat. Occasionally we will run into one that is un-konventional and just says the hell with it and calls itself a Kölsch despite being brewed in Picton.
This Beyond the Pale inspired by Kölsch brew pours pale, golden, and clear as clear can be. A super clear pour, and a super, clear pour. A bread malt aroma, maybe a bit grainy? The first cut is mild malt with some grainy and slight bitters, no real aftertaste to speak of so I won’t.** Oh oh, bottom of the bag of chips plus bottom of the jar of dip makes for a messy snack. But the tasting must go on. This brew evolves into a nice pale easy drinking ale, or is it lager, the bitters gone and the refreshing stayed. A touch of sweet lager like shows up in the finish occasionally, with a sometimes crisp finish alternating between a pils and a lager. Text book Kölsch. Easy as the day is long. This clean cut is a cut above.
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