Sunner Braurei Kolsch

Rating:

imageBrewed in the long Sunner-brewing tradition, after the Reinheitsgrebot of 1516. Spicy, aromatic, traditionally hopped, full bodied and tangy. A real product Kolscher life.”

As far as Kolsch beer goes, we’ve been told, you can’t get any more original than this. Sunner was the first German brewery to brew the style that is now known today as Kolsch (it wasn’t until 1918 that the name of this style of beer was changed from ‘Wiess’ or ‘White’ to Kolsch). OK that’s our history for the day, let’s crack on with the review. Served in a shaker glass. It pours with a pale straw-golden hue and magnificent clarity. Only a modest fingers worth of foam is generated but it’s well retained and draws some streaky lace trails as we imbibe. Really clean and crisp on the nose, it reminds us of smashing down stein’s of German Pils at the snow. We are getting lifted cereal malts, bubblegum, hay, soft citrus notes, grains and a kind of dried tea leaf spiciness. The brewers have done well to pack in a good bouquet but still keep it light and summery. Theres a lovely freshness to the feel in the mouth. The texture is soft and crisp with a vibrant Co2 level, lending the palate a real liveliness. ABV sits at 4.8% and expectedly makes no appearance. The flavour profile is inititated with a delicate blend of grainy/cereal malts and lemon which develop a mild leafy hop bitterness through the mid. A subtle Noble hop spiciness is formed as a hint of underripe pear delivers a clean and super smooth finish. We don’t claim to be Kolsch experts but from the six or seven that we’ve reviewed, this one definitely takes the cake. Well, when you’ve had 185 years to perfect your recipe then we guess it should. Classy drop.We really liked it.