It makes me feel uneasy. Zoigl is such a special thing. And Kölsch has very strong ties to a specific region.
I understand there's some sort of communal aspect to the brewery. But it still rankles.
For the record, it annoys me just as much when commercial breweries in Germany market beers called Zoigl.
Be interested in your opinions.
Posts
6 comments:
Guess how we feel about Berliner Weisse and Gose ...
The examples that are actually brewed have nothing in common with history ...
Just call it sour beer with fruit..
And Kölsch is registered as a protected geographical indication so in EU you could be sued ...
And Zoigl ... this is just a mish mash of stuff a Zoigl Wirtschaft wouldn't brew a Kölsch ...
... Americans ;)
Honestly, it annoys me, sure.
The Zoigl-part more than the Kölsch part- I mean, "Kölsch" is at least a definable style of beer. When I read "Kölsch" on a beer label, I have expectations.
"Zoigl" on the other hand refers more to a whole culture of brewing.
But actually, I think the worst case of using the name Zoigl is when commercial enterprises actually BUY the rights to brew in the Kommunbrauhaus and fill the beer in bottles and actually sell it!! Yup, that happened, and I find it more offensive than Oberpfalz breweries like Würth, Hösl or Nothaft brewing a cloudy beer and calling it "Zoigl".
Now that the Saison fad is passing, it looks like North American craft brewers are using Koelsch as a convenient base for various experimental concoctions. Someone in Ontario made a cloudy, peach flavoured thing. I couldn't help wondering what the people of Cologne would make of it.
Wow, a Zoigl, an ale and an infringement upon a regional style protection law all in one bottle!
Obviously I'm not being serious and I am aware that US breweries can label their beer "Kölsch"
I've read in some reviews that this "Kölsch-style ale" is hazy. AFAIK this is very unusual for authentic Kölsch and puts it more into the "Wieß" category. Since you have been studying german top-fermented beers, I wanted to ask you if you have ever seen this style of beer come up or if it's just another modern invention that is just called "historic beer style from Cologne"?
According to the descriptions I found elsewhere, the Zoiglhaus “Zoigl-Kölsch” is hazy. Kölsch is defined as a “blankes obergäriges Vollbier” (Kölsch-Konvention). Now, blank ‘shining, bright’ means clear/filtered in this context. In fact, every single commercial kölsch here in Cologne is filtered. A beer brewed and lagered like a Kölsch, but left unfiltered, is called a Wiess.
I don’t really care if you take a regional style and get creative with it. Good on you! If you feel you need to reference the style that inspired you, ok, if you need to, go ahead use that word, but if you frankenstein a bizarre name on a par with a stout-lambic or a real-ale-lager, I just won’t take you seriously anymore.
... and if you happen to get so creative and you end up making a wiess, for heaven‘s sake, call it a wiess.
Anyone with a pulse can know words have never meant less over here than ever before. Get used to it. We're in for an awful run. It wasn't good before, but now....
Post a Comment