Sunday's Quest

I yet again ventured out into the great and wonderful city of Cologne yesterday. As I walked around the beautiful city past the Dom, walking along the Rhine, I began to get a little thirsty (amazing how that happens). So I looked around for the nearest watering hole and found a small cafe along the river serving a brand of Kolsch that I had never had before. So in my state of discovery I decided to have a late lunch and some kolsch. The Kolsch in question was Ganser, which is an outfit that no longer has a brewery in Cologne city proper. It was poured into the 0.3 L not the traditional 0.2L glass. A nice pillowy white head capped the glass. The beer itself was bubbly and a slightly darker shade of yellow than a pils. The nose was green and grassy with maybe a hint of limestone and earth. The first taste was really rich, with pale malts on the forefront a little tartness that mellows out on the aftertaste with just a hint of hop bitterness. Very nice. The carbonation was very good just bordering on too much. For lunch I had a goulash soup (think beef stew in a tomato broth). The combination worked very well together as the carbonation of the Kolsch cut through the acidity of the tomatoes. This is another Kolsch that I will be on the look out at cafe's aroiund Cologne.