Krankshaft Kölsch - Metropolitan Brewing

    Krankshaft is a Kölsch created by Metropolitan Brewing which is located in Chicago, Illinois. I went looking for a Kölsch the other day and this was the only one I could find in the store. Looks like I lucked out that it is a local beer...Oh yeah, It wasn't too bad tasting either!

    Krankshaft pours a light straw color with a huge foamy head. The foam leaves light, soapy lacing on the inside of the glass. Lots of bubbles dance throughout the yellow brew.

    Metropolitan's Kölsch smells sweetly of hay, grass, and musty wheat. Just the slightest bit of hops aroma gives the beer an almost grassy scent.

    The beer is medium bodied with a light to medium level of carbonation. With the beer's appearance I had expected a light body and for the beer to be watery. I'm pleasantly surprised that it isn't! After drinking for a while the beer starts to cloy the mouth with a sourness, however, which isn't something you want in a Kölsch. The beer's alcohol content comes in at 5% ABV.

Beer power is the future!

    Krankshaft Kölsch tastes of sweet grains, mainly barley and some wheat. There is a sourness to the beer that reminds me of the flavor of corn when it's used during brewing as an adjunct grain. Some light citrus hops attempt to round out the sweetness with a bit of zest, but the grains are definitely the main flavor in the beer. The malt flavors don't come off as clean as other Kölschs I have had, which is sad.

    It's a little known (non)fact that the recent trend of using ethanol to power engines was not the first attempt at such alternative power. Back in the early 1900's, Winston McMaidemup invented an engine which ran entirely on beer. Winston, or as his friends called him, Loseton (those cheeky bastards), quickly lost the chance to trademark his idea when the local kids found out that they could siphon the fuel from the tank and get drunk. Winston's invention clearly would have changed the way we see beer today, though frankly I'm glad that beer's production is solely for drinking in the present time.

    Krankshaft Kölsch is definitely not my favorite Kölsch. That said, it's a very good American version of the German style. The main difference between the two is the cleanliness of grain flavor, which was definitely lacking in Krankshaft. Still, Metropolitan's Kölsch is a great beer to enjoy on the hottest of summer days!

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