Vermont Hop Project (1/3)
American Style Kolsch
American Style Kolsch
We released over the weekend our first of three Vermont Hop Project brews, a series of single hopped beers from 12 Vermont breweries made entirely with Vermont grown hops. For this first release we used Crystal hops and combined them with traditional German ingredients for a Kolsch style ale. Crisp & malty to get the Spring started right!
Kolsch is one of only 2 German styles of beer fermented with ale yeast. This light & crispy style has a very slight fruitiness contributed by the ale yeast. We kept bittering to a minimum but added that special American character when we doubled down on the dry hop additions. While not very traditional, we love the flavor contribution we got out of the Crystal this way and think it plays well with the fruit character from the yeast.
The ultimate taste test
Commercially grown Vermont hops are brand new to the brewing scene and early anecdotal tests have shown that Crystal grown in Washington’s Yakima Valley, home to 75% of American hops, taste different than ones grown in Vermont.
To learn more about these regional differences we are collecting tasting notes from you all via the QR code on the can and will be sharing submissions publicly to celebrate the regional contribution of Vermont grown hops. We don’t know exactly what we will discover but think there is a good chance we find something neat. Below is our favorite so far from someone named Rick!
