Founders Dicks Kolsch

Formerly brewed at Founders Restaurant & Brewing Co.
Style: Kölsch
Alexandria, Virginia USA

Serve in Kölsch/Altbier

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Served on tap at the brewpub in a pint glass. Lightly grainy aromas with a kiss of grassy noble hops (Saaz? I didn’t get a chance to ask Bill Madden ( the brewer)). Crystal clear goldenrod topped by a small and short-lived white head that dissipates quickly to a small layer of foam, eventually disappearing altogether. Slightly sweet and grainy pale malts with pleasant and grassy finish of noble hops. Light and ephemeral with very very modest aftertastes... like none. Oh so easy and pleasurable to drink. Uber-session beer. There’ll be some props coming to this in the future, I bet. Another gem for the kolsch tradition in DC. Perhaps DC stands for "District of Cologne"?

Clear lemon yellow body with a white head. Aroma of pineapple, lemon, and nutty, continental malts. Sweet tones in the flavor with evidence of underattenuated malt. Has notes of honey, melon, and buttery nuts. Some balancing hops emerge and make this easy drinking.

Some slowing moving bubbles in the yellow body, suggesting stickiness, though it isn’t paraticularly sweet. Pretty clean, just a little bitterness and some tang provided int he form of some lemon citrus amid the grassiness. (on tap at brewpub)

Sparkling gold, thin creamy white head. Nose held very light notes of apple cider, citrus, grass and white bread. Flavor was similar with a slight nutty, yet clean aftertaste. Light bodied and watery with mild carbonation. Not Bill M’s finer brews...

Not bad for the style. Light malt and light bitter flavor. Sweet, with some unfortunate corn flavor. Not a bad kolsch but not really a memorable beer.

Dirty beer water.Had the cheep beer flavor. Not really bitter as much as hoppy in what’s cheap this week. No sign of malts. Below average

Blech. Just another bland bad yellow kolsch. Not particularly exciting or interesting. Had a very crisp finish that left the aftertaste of bad medicine.

Draft... Clear, yellow ale with a small, creamy, white head. Good retention. The aroma and well-balanced flavor is of spent grain (mash) with a whisper of toffee. Light-bodied and creamy with moderate carbonation. Medium-length, crisp, clean finish. Very earthy, refreshing beer.

Could not finish this. Beer was was too sweet for me with an earthy finish. Old? No carbonation or head. Too bad.

Making a Kolsch seems to be de rigueur at US brewpubs. Sadly, it’s not a style that I’ve really been able to get into, so there’s not really any criticism of the brewer in this review. Although this is quite fresh and clean, I struggled to find anything very interesting going on. Inoffensive, tending towards the bland, but I’m sure it would be entirely serviceable as a session beer. On tap at the Founders, Alexandria.

Had this on draft at Founders’ on 11/21/04. Golden body. Nose is light grassiness, light hops, and mild maltiness. Perhaps some hay as well. Taste is light grass, citrus notes, and a pleasant malt backbone. Body is light and refrshing. Finishes with more citrus, grass, and light grains/wheat.