Secret to an authentic Kölsch

[LegTaste]

Just thought i'd add that my feeble attempt at kolsch was far more palatable than the real deal.

No lagering, hadn't finished conditioning (it didn't taste much different when it had) and it beat the Fruh i recently bought online.

Funny thing, my brother drinks a lot of this piss lager, but he can manage a good ale, he actually tipped away the fruh i gave him to try.

I really can not understand how anyone can say much good about it, fair enough if you like it i suppose, but its on par with these piss lagers taste wise but with more bitterness, i'd actually prefer some of them over kolsch.

All i can think is that a lot of the kolsch drinkers must really like these cheap lagers (nothing wrong in that), and due to the effort required to make a kolsch can somehow justify liking it.

The only reason i have a "problem" with this is because if someone was to ask for a budweiser or corona recipe people are quick to start taking the piss and telling them what they should be brewing, yet when it comes down to kolsch, suddenly its taken seriously.

The generalisations i make may not be applicable to this forum so much, but it is the general situation with homebrewing forums.

[mysterio]

The only reason i have a "problem" with this is because if someone was to ask for a budweiser or corona recipe people are quick to start taking the piss and telling them what they should be brewing, yet when it comes down to kolsch, suddenly its taken seriously.

I have some sympathy with this viewpoint, and I agree bottled Fruh is a pretty nasty beer. I will say however it has nothing in common with the Kolsch you get in Cologne. The main thing is it's fresh and has a very low carbonation (like a cask ale in good condition). That said there is the element of being on holiday, the sense of tradition, drinking out of a cool dinky class, eating lots of hearty food etc.

[LegTaste]

I did drink kolsch in koln, and i'm sure it was better than fruh, but still severely lacking to my tastes.

But yea, if you're in koln then you drink kolsch, will be hard to find anything else anyway.