In the US, sales of craft beer have steadily grown over the past 20 years. Despite that increase, 85% of all beer sold is still produced by large-scale breweries.  The dominating styles are American Light Lager and American Lager.

How does Hiatus grab the attention of the 85%? The solution is a beer style called Kölsch. Cologne, Germany (Köln) has had a top-fermenting (ale yeast) brewing tradition since the Middle Ages but developed the beer now known as Kölsch in the late 1800’s to combat encroaching bottom-fermenting pale lagers.

Our first planned brew is our version of a Kölsch and we plan to call it Everyday is Saturday. The recipe isn’t overly complex and will allow us to dial in our new brew system. With that said, don’t let this brew’s simplicity fool you. Our Kölsch is clean and crisp. It displays subtle fruit and hop characters, and subdued maltiness thanks to the bitterness from the hops. This gives it a balanced, well-attenuated refreshing finish. Freshness is key with this beer, as the delicate character can fade quickly with age. No worries about freshness when it comes to the taps at Hiatus. Some of our brews are served in as little as two weeks after brew day. The Kölsch allows us to pour a beer for the consumer that comes in and just asks for “a beer.” There’s nothing to think about when it comes to this beer. It’s cold, effervescent, and enjoyable.

Enjoy a Hiatus,

Lucas

The historical description of the kölsch was provided by the 2015 BJCP Guidelines which can be found at this link https://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf