Turtle Anarchy "Catfish" Kolsch

In addition to several turtles, there is a large catfish on the label. Even the clouds are vaguely catfish shaped. I wish I knew what this beer had to do with catfish. I don't particularly like catfish as a foodstuff, and I can't imagine it would make a particularly good ingredient in beer. I may be entirely wrong. After all, Guinness famously used fish bladders for filtering their fantastic Irish stout for generations, and that seems to work out very well. I guess we shall see.

The slightly hazy, pale yellow beer has just about the right amount of head, and it dissipates to a somewhat uneven but complete layer across the top of the beer. There's not much lacing, but that's not unusual for a kolsch. What is unusual is the haziness. I am I to understand that a kolsch is specifically designed to be clear, but I guess everyone will have their own take on such things. The aroma is coriander and grapefruit with a somewhat yeasty bread backing. It's a good start.

Flowers, bread, and crackers seem to fill the sip. A little lemon is seeping into the crispy crackers, and the yeast is a powdered layer on top of the bread. It doesn't seem like this would be easily crushable like some other kolschs might, as the bitterness seems to bite a little hard for beer with this much malt. It's not unpleasant to drink, but it doesn't seem like it's at the forefront of kolsch culture.

Tip-in is moderate carbonation burn with lemons and crackers. The middle does actually turn into an easy-going beer with the bread rising for a certain amount of mildness that eases the floral and citrus into a nice, gentle drink. The finish is an uptick of carbonation with a harshness of bitterness and an increase in yeast before all more floral trail off.

Bottom Line: It needs to be more like a kolsch.

2.25/5