00:00 Introduction I mean, you should have seen the look on Greg's face at the idea of drinking Kölsch. Kölsch, yeah. Basically like. Boring. Yeah. No Hobbs. Those are great beers. Yeah, they're. He's a curmudgeon. Infinitely drinkable. Old curmudgeon. I love Kölsch so much that I'm going to Cologne next year. Yes. I'm very excited. Very jealous. And are you going to Düsseldorf? I think we might try to stop in Düsseldorf. Might try. Is it all to beer? Jim, I don't know what it is in kilometers, but it's like 30 minutes. No, it's really close. Yeah, you got to go. You need to go. Yeah, I know. It's where the mustard's from. I know. And I love Düsseldorf mustard. So you're a mustard guy. Düsseldorf mustard is delicious. I am a big fan of the lion one. I buy that it's the worst kitchen. Yeah. I just had some yesterday with their Christmas sausage. Shout out worst kitchen. Worst kitchen is the best. Worst kitchen is the best. Sharp or missile sharp? What? Do you like it spicy or moderately so? Sharp or? I like the standard one. The missile sharp? Yeah. Middle. Yes, right in the middle. It's the green, the lion brand one. I like the green one. Yeah. OK. So if you haven't guessed, we're going to talk about German beer today. Kölsch, to be more specific, since we've been discussing mustard and sausages at Great Length. You're listening to Barrel to Bottle, The Binny's Podcast, and today we're going to be talking about beer. If nothing else, we will teach you how to pronounce the word Kölsch. It is not Kolsch, which is what most people say. I mean, it is Chicago. Yeah. I mean, right. You're going to hear everyone say Kolsch, but- It does have the umlaut. Yeah, it's got the umlaut. Kolsch beer. I've always wondered how you pronounce that, so thank you for that. Now you know. Well, 99% of people you will ever meet will say Kolsch. We'll say Kolsch. Yeah. But it's technically Kölsch. Just think like it would be very cool if you ordered some Kölsch. So very cool. All right. In our studio today, joining me, we have- Jim, Communications. Chris, Wine Stuff. Lexi, Socials. I'm Roger. I bring the beers. Yeah. We all love Kolsch because Lexi loves Kolsch. I love Kolsch. I love Kolsch. I know that Chris and Roger love Kolsch. Yeah. One of the first beer styles I ever brewed, which was ambitious. Seriously, dude. Loggering requirements. Yeah. How did you logger it? Well, I had a commercial kitchen at the time. Oh, right. There you go. Perfect. Which I could use for my own devices. Nice. One thing that I wanted to point out is, it's very apropos for us to be talking about Kolsch because Chicago really embraces this style. Over the years, I've met with breweries from across the country, and when we mention or I ask about the beer style, they're like, nobody knows what a Kolsch is, like West. Yeah. They're like, no, everybody in Chicago is all about this style. Want to give credit where credit's due, Goose Island played a major role in that. Summertime. Summertime, yeah. Their summertime beer is a Kölsch. I think that's a good way of introducing this style. It is the perfect summertime beer. Had that at my wedding. Had it served at my wedding. Nice. Also, their bottles used to show on the back with the proper glassware. 3:26 Kölsch Traditions Oh, yeah. Which is where I first learned that the proper glassware. The Stanger. The Stange. The lovely, delicate little, what is it? It's 0.2 liters. 0.2 liter. 8.4 ounces. Adorable little glass. Is it the one with the little rounded things on the bottom? No, they're straight up and down. It looks like a little cylindrical. They're super fragile. If you drop it, it shatters into a million pieces. But an easy way to think about it is essentially it's like a half a pint. The custom around this beer style, it really has a whole drinking culture. You can not stop drinking it. It's the Brazilian steakhouse method of the- The cronts. Yeah, the waiters just keep coming. They'll just give you a fresh one when as soon as your glass is empty, and they put a little tick mark on your coaster. So then when you want to stop, you put the coaster on top of your Stange, and then they tally up the check marks, and that's how much you owe. Just like eating Pekana at wherever. Yeah. We should bring that back. It's back. Is it back? It's never left. Where do I go do this? Where do I do this? Can you do it in Chicago? Yes. Dovetail, a lot of, they do quarterly Kölsch service, but a lot of other breweries are doing it. Goose Island does it too. So they carry around these glasses and a little, the word is it's a Goose Cron's, but it's like a wreath that holds all these little glasses. Yeah. Cron's, I think, is wreath in Germany. With a handle in the middle and it's round and it holds all these glasses. Yeah. It's pretty great. But yeah, you can- Comradery night, man. That's awesome. What a tradition. For sure. Yeah, you can- Greg will not be there. I have to say that once I was on a cruise up the Rhine having dinner, going to wineries, and once I had grown sated with the wines, I was not far from Cologne. You jumped off the boat. I just started drinking all of the Kölsch beer I could get my hand on, which they were serving. I was hoping you were going to tell me a little Kölsch boat pulled up alongside when you got to Cologne. I was on the Kölsch boat. So would you like some Kölsch? Also worth mentioning, this is one of those German beer styles where if you're in the city of Cologne, it's not a matter of what kind of beer you're drinking, you're just drinking Kölsch. What brand perhaps? It's just which house are you going to, but it's not really, they're so proud of it that that's the beer. Yeah. And again, the bars or beer gardens are tide houses basically. Yeah. Oh, nice. Yeah. So there's three big breweries in Cologne that manufacture this beer. It's Früh, Goffel, and Reisdorf. We're going to try those three. And then I have a bunch of Kölsch made here in the United States. In Germany, this is a protected beer style. So there's rules. This got set up in the Kölsch Convention of 1986. They came up with this document stating that to be called a Kölsch, it had to meet the following criteria. So it had to have been brewed on-site in Cologne or the surroundings. I think it's like a 30-kilometer radius. It had to be top fermented, light-colored, clear, highly fermented beer, brewed according to the German purity law of 1516. The Reinheitsgebot. Indeed. It had to be served in that traditional Kölsch glass, the Stange. The Stange. Stic or Rod. It looks like a little vase. I just looked it up. It's super cute. Kind of like a flute. I think people compare them to a champagne flute sometimes. Not the stem. You could take a whole one down and one down. Oh, man. Lexi. Yeah. Like I said before, Goose Island was brilliant. Choosing this style for summer because this is the perfect outdoor, warm weather, it's very refreshing. Germany has become synonymous with loggers, but this is an interesting style in that it's sort of the best of both worlds. So it's brewed with a top fermenting ale yeast. So you get a little bit of that fruity esters that you would find in an ale, but then the beer is conditioned or loggered at cold temperatures like you would a logger. So you get the aromatics and some of the flavor profile of an ale, but the crispness and refreshing finish of a logger. I have to say when I actually brewed this style, I was so happy with the results because the nose was full of like apricot fruity-ness, but it was so crisp and clean. So if you've had Pilsners or some loggers and they weren't necessarily your thing, Kölsch can be an awesome alternative. It's something that is meant to have a little bit more character. Like the nose on a lot of loggers, especially traditional loggers should be pretty neutral, might not really have much going on. But alternatively on a with a cool she'll get some aromatics, which is quite nice. 8:47 German Kölsch Tasting So, let's drink some beer. Yeah, let's fire it up. All right, let's start out with Früh. Lovely, pale golden color. Fits the model. Clear. So yeah, as the Kölsch Convention said, these should be clear beers, so. Zima. They're impeccably. Yep, like Zima. Impeccably loggered or filtered. I know for sure this one is filtered. Yeah. How could you not like it? So, so refreshing. It has like a subtle hop note. It's not pronounced at all, but again, we're talking about like German hops here. So, we become so accustomed to American hops, which have been selectively bred to be like very fruity, a lot of tropical notes and everything. But this is old school German hop varietals, which typically present as kind of an herbal grassy, and they offset the sweetness of the malt. Such a well-balanced. Yeah. I was going to say, despite how light this is, it's not devoid of malt character. There's almost a smoky side to it. Do you get that at all? Yeah. Maybe they're very subtle. I love this hop character. It's just that very woodsy kind of, so good. On the nose, a little bit of fruitiness. I think that's going to be, so there's going to be a lot of, this is a risky, and I was talking to Jim about, we should do a podcast on this, and I thought, how have we not done one yet? There's probably going to be a lot of stylistic overlap here. You're going to notice a lot of similarities between these, but I viewed it as why not taste through them, and it was more of just getting the word out there about the style for those who've never tried it before, because it is such a refreshing beer That's when you switched to Alt beer. I feel like these are the kind of beers that you... Sometimes with beer personally, I have a bit of an issue drinking multiple of them. You start to get full, and these ones, I feel like you might be able to get around that. Crushable, definitely sessionable. I mean, it's totally what they're designed for, and they do it well. I think this is going to fall on the, you said Woodsy, the earthier side of the spectrum of the three German ones, personally. Yeah, I like that. One thing that I found kind of interesting when I was reading up on this, to emphasize how important that this is such a draft experience where they're going to try this beer. This brewery has been family owned for 120 years, but they never bottled beer until 1968. Yeah. So. Highly localized. Yeah, local, all about the draft experience. Which is why, Jim, you have to go to Düsseldorf, because never the twain shall meet. Yeah. Although I know very close. I know. Yeah. They talk a lot of trash apparently. People in Cologne hate the beer in Düsseldorf and vice versa. Yeah. Alt beer, similarly, alt is a German word for old, being a reference to brewing with ale yeast as opposed to lager yeast. You can think of alt beer as the darker counterpart to a Kölsch. They're about amber in color, much more hop forward. There's a good hop character to them. Roaring Table makes an awesome alt beer as well as Kölsch. I was there once when they did Kölsch service, and you could get either an alt beer or a Kölsch. It's still an incredibly drinkable style. Yeah. It's also top fermented. It's made the same way but just darker malts then and a little more hoppy. Yep. A bastion of ale yeast. I mean, the glasses are similar. It's just they're a little shorter and a little wider. Yeah. Yeah. But I couldn't find a name of them. It could hold up to their famous mustard. Yes. Better than a Kölsch. Okay. So, Früh is available in four packs. It comes in half-liter cans. So, if you get your hands on a official Stange glass, you'll get two pours out of that. Doesn't it? Do they also have the big kegs of Früh or is that Reisdorf? No. It's them too. They have the five liter. Yeah. Nice thing to bring to the party. I purchased some of those on occasion. Yeah. Cool. Mini kegs? Yeah. By the way, I think I have a tube of Dusseldorf or mustard in my desk drawer. Don't brush your teeth with it or do. I don't know. Why not? If you get your hands on a Stanga, it's much easier to do now than it was 15 years ago. Because I remember when I first started drinking and started drinking summertime a lot, I was desperate to find one of these. Goose Island didn't sell them. No one sold these. I had to go on a German website for some manufacturing company that also sold like cuckoo clocks with their logo on it, and just little knickknacks and crap with their logo on it. But they had Kölsch glasses, Kölsch glasses, and so I had to buy a case of 24 and get them shipped over, and I gave 12 to my brother and I kept 12 for myself. You have one left. No, I still actually have all of them. Are they Crystal? No, I don't think so. So that's the issue, I think, with why they're hard to find and you never get them, is that the ones that I would come across from some of these breweries were Crystal and they were super thin. Right. Right. And would always break. Yeah. Like even hand washing them, it like slip out of your hand and. Sure. Yeah. Because they're so narrow, trying to get in there, you can easily break them. Oh yeah. And I've tried just being like, whatever, and put it in the dishwasher and they broke it in the dishwasher. So I think the key, and when I've gone to breweries like Roaring Table or Dovetail, I don't think they're using these paper thin crystal. No. It's like normal glassware, just the appropriate shape and size. Yeah. I bought several of the Dovetail ones and other breweries, and my parents went, brought me back one from I think Reisdorf or Gothel. I'm obsessed with these. They're really, really cute. Speaking of Gothel, let's try that next. Yeah. The Blue Cam. This one is family owned since 1908. The site of the brewery though has had a brewery on it since 1302. Johnny come Lately's. This is the number one selling Kölsch in Cologne. Again, delightful. I get more fruitiness in the nose and on the palate here. For sure. In the original one or the first one, the Früh in that soft pit fruit type of way. You mentioned apricots before when you were talking about your home brew. I think I get that idea for sure. I think that's precisely what I'm referring to. I think you were right about the other one was a little more hop forward. Yeah. This is more earthier. This is a little more fruity and super easy to drink. This one feels like the prototypical Kölsch because it's not as hop forward as that first one. Lexi. I almost feel like this one is a little more bitter. Interesting. What was the ABV on the Früh? This is 4.8. I think that's right around. They're usually between 4.8 and 5.2. Yeah, that's about right. 4.8. Sharp can. I love that these are finally available in cans. Yeah, seriously. For years, it was bottles, single bottles. They're much more affordable now. The Goffel is $12.99. So is the Früh for four packs, half liter cans. And I mean, can for such a delicate beer, an import, I think is a great move. That's key. All right. Rounding out the mix for the big three, you have Rice Door. Yeah, that's used to only be available in those big bottles, right? Yeah. Yeah. They self-described this one as full-bodied. So let's see if this one seems any more full-bodied than the other two. Let me check the ABV. It's 48 as well, I think. Is it? How about that? I like the taller cans. That's fun. The appropriate size. Yep. That extra 0.9 ounces. They've been around since 1894. One thing we haven't mentioned is this beautiful, very tight-knit, stark white head. It's very important to get a little head on your cushion. Yep. Beautiful, tall crown of foam on this. I mean, this is pillowy soft. So easy. Bread-y. Not getting a ton of hops on this. Agreed. So it's interesting. I think we went from earthy to fruity to more bread-y, malty. Yeah. So despite being very similar in body and style, there are distinctions to be made and certainly have your favorite. This one doesn't seem very full-bodied to me. Yeah, it's kind of funny. But I don't mind that because this one I feel like you could really drink the hell out of. I mean, it's got to be a relative term when it comes to this style. I think they're probably talking about full-bodied in comparison to like walker. Right. I find it to be soft and rounded in the mouth, like really silky in its texture. So maybe the mouthfeel is adding to the idea of body. Reisdorf, also in four-pack, half-liter cans, 13.99. Greg doesn't know what he's missing out on. 18:08 American Kölsch Tasting All right, here's the beer that makes Chicago full of love, Goose Island Summertime. I mean, we are a very German city. You know, it makes sense. The other thing I love about the story of Goose Island Summertime was one year they decided not to make it and people were not happy. It's not summer? They were like, we have this new summertime IPA, and the pitchforks got sharpened. Get out. Get off of my lawn with this, because that's what we need, right? Another IPA. It's a summer IPA. Like, give us our damn cool track. It was a weird time. So this one instantly seems way more carbonated. More color similar. Not, yeah. I mean, nose is pretty malty. Some fruitiness there, too. It must get like a peach. Yeah. Kind of reminds me of the guffle. Yeah, I think. Exactly. I think when you get the fruit, it resonates in that stone fruit, apricot, peach realm. Yeah, for sure. I'm getting peach for sure. This comes in a 12-pack, and if you really want to do your own Kölsch service, a little briefcase of these, this is a summer crusher for sure. Yeah. I agree with you, Jim. I think the carbonation has a high impact on this beer. Yeah. Just gets here right away. I think it would be funny if you bought these and made your friends sit around your patio and do Kölsch service for them. I would love it. You should. They had each head of stone, so they would only get a little bit at a time. I think it's perfect. I mean, I'm in if you're willing to serve me. I need to get a Franz. I wrote down, I think, the prices on all these except this one. We're looking to see what's the normal. Yeah, so it's normally $18.99 a 12-pack, but we've been running on sale periodically. Great. Now, at the time of taping, it's $16.99. But keep your eyes peeled. There's sometimes some can't miss sales on Goose Island. The value of the bunch for sure is Goose Island summertime. It is Hopped worth mentioning with Hallertau and Saz, two of the four noble German varieties. Saz is the beloved Pilsener Hop, the key hop in traditional Czech style Pilseners and often used in a lot of German beer as well. Hallertau most likely is Hallertau Middlefru. It's also the most famous hop growing region in Germany, if not the world. Beautiful, highly regarded hop with a subtle floral character. But I think the star of the show here is definitely the Yeasty Esters for sure. Now, what is Früh mean? Because you said Middlefru is the same spelling as the beer, Früh, F-R-U-H. Yeah, that's true. What does that mean? Middlefru refers to the middle of the harvest time when you pick hops. It's considered that when you pick them on, there's no set time, you're making a choice at some degree of when you're picking it. But if you go too late, then the hop can be unusable or it's not as good. Typically, the middle of the harvest time is considered the best. Middlefru is like the middle picking of the harvest time for a hop. According to this, fru means early. So it's the middle early? Probably, yeah. I like middle late. At least it's not middle sharp. What does that mean? Medium sharp, the mustard. Oh, yeah. There we go. Really big mustard, guys. Oh, yeah. Here, Lexi, I want you to pop this one open. So we've got a nice treat here. Three Floyd's is celebrating their 30th anniversary. It's my to-go bottle opener. I mean, you got to have one. Three Floyd's is bringing back some iconic beers from their past, including a couple of German styles as of late, which are two of my favorite beers from them. My sneaking suspicion of why we don't see these more often is that Three Floyd's slogan is, it's not normal. This is Three Floyd's Kalumet Queen, and it's a pretty faithful interpretation of a German style. Totally normal. Yeah. So it's like, oh, we didn't hop it up and make it extreme like a lot of our other things. But it's pretty happy, it seems. I mean, I like it, but it's and they claim it's only it's 20 IBUs. And like, I think the the Reissdorf was even like higher than that. It's pretty happy to me. But it's very fresh. Yeah. So I mean, this came out like a few weeks ago. So, you know, it's going to taste different than something that came from Germany. And is you typically German beers are codated for a year because a lot of them are also like filtered, if not pasteurized, when they're sent for export. Alternatively, when you're drinking some of these locally made cool, you're probably getting it a little fresher. Even if it's the same technical like rate of hopping or IBUs, you'll perceive the hoppiness more probably when it's a lot fresher. Kelly McQueen, six pack, 12 ounce bottles, 5.5 ABV. So there's a difference. I think in the Kuhsch Convention might have stipulations on ABV. Since you're sitting around drinking endless amounts of this, it's a little stronger. I'm not sure I ever had this beer because it was always in the bombers. Roger, do you put it in the buzz or something recently? Yeah, I did. You put it in the buzz and I kept hearing about it. Then when I was at the bar nearby, I saw it on draft and I told you already, I was heartbroken when it was gone. It's gone already. I didn't even think it lasted through the weekend. It was so fast. I think that because the craft scene became so IPA heavy, and lots of the IPAs focus on the hip new hops, which are very fruity and very tropical, when people try some of these beers, and usually it's a lager, but in this case, this unique hybrid I mean, the hopping clearly here is on the earthier, herbal side. We also lost Metropolitan and Crankshift. Yeah, true. So anytime someone sees a Kölsch, they're ready to go for it. Yeah. I mean, good call, Jim. Like the last time we saw this beer was in a Palmer. It's been a long time. Also what came back recently, their Hellas is available. There's still a little bit of a trickling around there, Gorsh Fock, and that's another beer. Yeah. They somewhat bizarrely named after a pre-World War I training bark, the Gorsh Fock. Yeah. It's cool. It got captured by the, I think the Russians and then the Ukrainians used it for years, and now it's back in German hands and restored as a museum ship. Okay. Anyway, it's got a cool label, and if you dig Kelly McQueen, which as Lexine pointed out is selling quickly and is almost gone, Gorsh Fock might be hiding around as well. Grab that before it's gone. That was another 30th anniversary. Rebrew. Wasn't that a Billy Ocean song? Yeah. Kelly McQueen. You have a beautiful false shadow, Jim. Billy Ocean doesn't have a false shadow. I'm not really doing any justice. Also of note, old school Three Floor Aids artwork, you just brought up Metropolitan. I believe that's Randy Moser did the art on that. Oh, wow. An icon. Yeah. Okay. So like we said, pick that up. If you can't find it, we're going to give you lots of other options. Definitely look for Three Floor Aids, Borscht Falk II, German Helles, which is kind of similar. Six pack, 12 ounce bottles, $13.99. Up next, Pollyanna. They started in Lamont, and now they have multiple locations. I actually picked this up from their Roselle location. Oh, it's an NIU pair. Beautiful little taproom. A dance alma mater. It's a collaboration on this one with NIU. Some proceeds go to their alumni association. One of Illinois' great jazz programs. I didn't know that. Pollyanna is, they're known for some of their, more of their ales, like things like, you know, Summer Lee, their summer beer with raspberries is iconic. They make Fun Size, which is that kind of stout that's sort of like a Snickers bar. And then they make some pretty wild out there things. They have like a sour called Smart Smart that's blue. But they have a trophy case full of metals, and they often win for their traditional beer. Yeah, that's quite a brewery. Really good, wide range. They totally fly under the radar, but like their Oktoberfest is phenomenal, and they've won a medal for that. I mean, they won medals for their IPAs too, but their Vienna style lager is phenomenal. And that's kind of was an anniversary beer brew for that Roselle location. And then they have a location in St. Charles where there's a distillery at there, because they distill too. So, it's quite the operation. And when it comes to just like classic styles, I think they really hit it out of the park. And Brian doesn't really get the recognition that he deserves for his lagers. They're some of the best in the state, if not the country. And again, he doesn't... They don't really brag about it. They'll put some of the wins on their cans, but like they have a lot of hardware to prove like how impeccable a lot of their beer is. So, their Kölsch just comes out periodically. But it is a very traditional German style made with imported German malts, pills, and Vienna. And then it's topped with Tetanang and Middle Früh and uses the traditional German Kölsch yeast. Very flinty. This compared to the last one compared to the second one are like three totally different beers. Yeah, isn't it wild? Yeah, I get that minerality you're talking about for sure. I've been picking up on that in the last few. I don't know if it's an artifact of the higher carbonation levels in these. I feel like all the domestic ones have had more carbonation. You almost can taste the carbonic bite. Yeah, exactly. Very, very pale version. I'll have to ask, Brian's classically trained at the Siebel program where they finish in Germany. He's all about much like Hagen over at Dovetail. They geek out on water chemistry. Yeah. He might be playing around with the water chemistry here. And you're getting some neutrality from now. I like kind of the... There's almost a little bit of citrusy kind of... Yeah. I get a slight floral note in the nose too. Yeah. Super refreshing. This is available in four packs. Just hit in stores now. Four packs, 16-ounce cans, $10.99. Almost a hint of like wildflower honey in the nose. All right. Speaking of Dovetail, in the iconic traffic sign yellow cans. The green top. Should I go or yield? Which is always the question when drinking Kölsch. Little hazy. I totally am. The Germans would not approve. Yeah. It doesn't meet that clear, bright standard, however. But it's very pale. This I feel definitely has some of that carbonic bite. It's got a really razor sharp finish. If you let it sit for a sec, will that help it without getting it warm? Or do you think it's just in there to go? Yeah. What, the haze? The carbonic bite. You'll perceive it more when something's cold. So if it warms up, it might be a little softer and not quite as, I mean, I wouldn't say it's like austere or anything, but it definitely it's just like a real big snap, which is pretty refreshing. Yeah, I think it's good. One thing I'm perceiving that's different from everything else so far is a grainy husk texture to the beer. Could that be why there's haze? Could there be more? Could be. It could just be a chill haze. Now, that is something that could clean up when it warms up a little bit. Sometimes you can get a little haze from being cold. So these came directly from the Binny's Beer Cooler in the store, and the other ones were in the Binny's janky ass kitchen fridge. So it's possible that this, to me, I'm perceiving it as the coldest beer we've had today. Yeah, I think so. I'm not getting much fruity. The nose isn't as fruity as some of the other ones. I feel like the American ones are just not as fruity though. I mean, the German ones are just so fruity, and the American ones are definitely a little, which is surprising that we've, the Americans have dialed back. I would have expected more overt prettiness for the domestic ones. Although, I think it was quite evident in the Goose Island. Yeah, that would be it. Dovetail Kölsch, four packs, 16 ounce cans, $11.99. This one clocks in at 4.6. What was the Pollyanna? 5.2. There you go. It's the highest one. Everything else has been like four, right? I'm going to blow five. Except for three Floyd's. That's the we're not normal aspect of it. OK, up next, we have old Irving. Nice. Haven't been there in a while. My neighbors. Yeah, great food. I was always a big fan of this can art. Yeah. This one, 5.2, before I forget. I don't know if I have it on here. This is one of metal. I'll look that up. 2021 GABF silver metal. Wow. Got the steam engine in there. That's what I was going to say. It's making me think of- Did you see the big boy? No, I missed the big boy, man. I almost drove out at like six in the morning. You really should have. Did you see it last time? What time is that? No. The largest operating steam locomotive in the world was built in late 1800s, I think, and completely taken apart, like thousands of parts and rebuilt by Union Pacific. It's currently undergoing a coast to coast tour to celebrate 250th. It's an amazing sight to behold when it's running. I mean, it's so loud and powerful and the driving wheels are taller than you are. It's just insane. All right. We're really getting off the rails here. Folks, I'm Old Irving Della, which has this iconic steam engine on the label. That's how we got railroaded into this. We got railroaded into that conversation. This is made with Pilsner, a touch of Yenomal and it's lightly hopped with Zupa Saza, Hallertal, Middlefrew and Tetning. Hallertal, Middlefrew and Tetning, two of the noble hops. Then Zupa Saza is a domestically grown Saz variant, whom a lot of breweries were sourcing from Hophead Farms in Michigan, which was pretty cool. But unfortunately, they closed up shop, so they will probably either have to find a different source for it or maybe make a substitution. Oh my gosh. Did you know at every Hölsch beer garden, you'll get a choice of Zupa Saza with your meal? Would you like to Zupa Saza? I named crickets. I'm sure all of you do. I have a cricket song, if I can't worry. This one is also flinty, like the Pollyanna. Although I think with both of them, that first sip is very flinty. I think after that first sip, it dissipates a little bit. Hop characteristic is a lot bigger on this guy. I think that Zupa Saza to me has this very identifiable flavor. It's peppery, like peppery spice, black pepper, and that's what I get. It definitely shows up in the finish. I mean, there are plenty of bittering hops in here compared to the German ones, which almost non-existent in the bittering. Again, what's interesting is this says it's only 23 IBU. Again, I think some of it is the nature of that hop in particular, and just freshness and how when you get something fresh, it can be so much more pronounced. Really a nice beer. This is 4-pack, 16-ounce cans, $10.99. And sometimes you run it on sale for $9.99. And it has the spot on look. It's very pale. Yeah. So, that concludes the alcohol portion of today's segment. 35:16 Non-Alcoholic Kölsch Oh, no. I'm just gonna leave. Wait, I've been wanting to try these. Much to our chagrin, every January, we're trying all the NA's. And one of the standout producers I felt this year when I was tasting through a lot of them was Best Day Brewing. So, we are going to try Best Day's Kölsch style. To their credit, they write Kölsch style, non-alcoholic. Doesn't everyone have to write Kölsch style if it's in America? It's like an EU thing that you're not allowed to do it. So, like... What are they going to do? Come over here. Yeah. We don't really care. Binnies and soccer, what the hell? I mean, we make California champagne, so I don't think anyone's too worried about calling something a Kölsch. Well, it looks right and remarkable head retention. Yep. The body is a little bit missing, as you notice. Yeah, it's kind of an NA thing. But honestly... It's pretty clean. Yeah, it's really close. Given the fact that these beers are so light-bodied, it's much less noticeable than in other styles. I think this is actually surprisingly good. Yeah, it is. It is. I think the added bonus to some of these NA's that people don't always realize is that they can be, they're not always, pretty low calorie. So this is only 55 calories. So maybe you intermittent of it. Yeah. I know some people like to do that. You can alternate, yeah. And like slow down their marathon, oh, drinking. Yeah. I've found that the trickiest of the NA styles to hit are the hop forward ones, like IPAs and pale ales. So I mean, there's something to be said with that this is, you know, it's not a hop forward style by any means. So this is pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. It works. This comes in six packs, 12 ounce cans, $11.99. Nice. Cool. That's it. I could do this all day. That concludes our Kuhlsch service. You know, one thing we didn't even point out is we talked about it briefly, but all these are from Chicago except for the German beers in the NA. They're all local beers. Yeah. I mean, Roger talked about at the top about how we embraced Kölsch here, but I don't think it's- That's true. Yeah. There aren't a ton of them outside the- No, I couldn't find it. I mean, I couldn't really find any in our beer section outside of local stuff. We've lost one brand, but I think most of the other breweries that make them still make them locally. Yeah. A lot of people treat them as a seasonal. Yeah. Some of them, even though the beer industry is usually ahead of schedule, like I'm starting to see Oktoberfest coming in in July. But a lot of these breweries are brewing these to serve at their tap rooms during the summer. So some of the breweries are just starting to release them now. So like Roing Table, again, does great classic styles. They have a Kolsch called Sunwork. Church Street is getting ready to release one. Salomoth does make a Kolsch all the time. That's something you can seek out too. But yeah, a lot of the times it's like summer seasonal. So as summer is just getting underway here officially, keep an eye out on local tap room menus and see if they make one. But yeah, to Jim's point, I think Fair State, they're like in Minnesota. They make a Kolsch. But yeah, most of them, it's definitely been something that we fell in love with here in the Midwest. People joke we have like two seasons. Well, hot as hell and cold as hell. So when it's really hot out, this is a great beer style, super refreshing, easy to drink. Well, remember we did the Central Illinois beer episode. First two beers we did were Kolsch. That's true. We did the Analytical Brewing, Kölngeist and the Triptych, Chip It on the Green. Indeed. Chip It on the Green. And those are both really good. Yeah, salad. I mean, definitely a beer for the golf course. Yeah. 16 inch softball games, you know. Illinois loves Kolsch. Chicago stuff. Yep. Sitting by the lake. Perfect with a hot dog or a Polish. So yeah, keep an eye out for Kusch. Maybe consider doing your own little backyard Kusch service. Jim's available. Take your friends. Dude, I want more beer. No, no, no. One at a time. One at a time. This keeps it nice and refreshingly cold. Yeah, that's problematic. If you get the right size glass, then you have a couple extra ounces. Yeah. Although if you get the ones from Germany, you get two pours out of the one can. Right. So there's an argument for picking up those. Yep. We recently got some good patio furniture. Nice. We have a little mini bar now with four chairs. So now we could definitely do Kölsch service. Someone just has to stand the whole time. It'll be great. Party of five, four chairs. All right. That is it for the Kölsch episode. If you enjoyed it, please leave us a review. Don't forget to tell your friends, your family, anybody who will listen about Barrel to Bottle The Binnys Podcast will be back in your feed sometime soon with another beer, wine, or spirits episode. So until next time, I am Roger. I am Jim. I am Chris. And I am Lexi. Keep tasting. I did try to see it, it was not on time. Where do you think we are, Germany? Yeah, I think it takes a little time to get this thing up and running these days. But I drove up to the railroad tracks in Lombard, and people were standing like five feet from the railroad tracks, which is ridiculous. Like you get burned horrifically by the steam. So hopefully, it said all over the website, stay at least 25 feet away and people were on top of the railroad tracks. Hopefully, it was because the train wasn't anywhere close, but I was happy though how many people came out to try to see it. They all went home with burns and cinders in their eyes, but a smile on their face.