Black Mesa has been making inroads into the Oklahoma beer game, especially with their limited one-off coffee stouts. This Kölsch is one of their year round staple brews. The Kölsch style is definitely not one of the first styles I reach for, but I hadn’t tried one in ages and was craving a little Euro skunk.

Disclaimer: This product was provided at no cost to Barrels and Mash with no strings attached.

Company: Black Mesa Brewing Co.

Location: Oklahoma City, OK but brewed by O’Fallon in Maryland Heights, MO

ABV: 5.2%

Style/Description: German Style Kölsch Ale

Price: $8 (4-pack bottles)

Appearance: Clear copper pour, light head, sticky tenacious lacing. Rising bubbles

Nose: Aroma of sweet grains, light fruits and some spicy European hops. A light amount of Euro skunk.

Taste: Moderate bready malts, toasty, biscuity with some light buttery popcorn notes. Vegetal herbaceous European hop flavors, and impart a light pepper spiciness, and a hint of sweet fruits, strawberries. Light and crisp mouth, with just the right amount of skunkiness.

Finish: Grainy corn flavors linger with some mild DMS skunk, lightly bitter. The buttery malts finish a tad sticky, remaining on the back of the palate

Overall: I am generally not a big fan of the Kölsch style, as most that I’ve tasted seem like glorified pale lagers. That being said, I enjoyed this one quite a bit and recommend it to someone new to craft beer. The malts seem to overtake the hops for me, leaving it somewhat unbalanced and a little sticky. It has a nice German buttery grain flavor, and a bit of the biting Euro skunk I want in a Kölsch. Give it a try!

Rating: 2.5/5