Video by Gabe Pocrass, CTV 11.

While it is sad that this is my last Beer ME! at The Mayor, I have learned so much about beer, and I hope I’ve taught you all a thing or two! But, lets skip the stupid sentimental crap and get down to business … Beer!

This week, I covered the beer “Watermelon Kolsch” by Fate Brewing Company out of Boulder, Colorado. Fate Brewing started in 2012, and in 2014 won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in the German-Style Kolsch category. So, needless to say, they have the Kolsch game down.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “what is a kolsch anyway?” and “what is a watermelon kolsch?” I have answers to both those questions.

First, to put it very generally, a Kolsch is a beer style that came out of Cologne, Germany in the 19th Century. It’s a rather light beer style that’s kind of an in-between beer; it’s like an Ale and a Lager (technically it’s an ale that is fermented at cooler temperatures) but basically, it’s a light beer with crisp, dry and slightly fruity characteristics. And, to answer your next question, Watermelon Kolsch by Fate Brewing Company is a watermelon-infused Kolsch! It is 5 percent ABV and it has 20 IBU’s.

When I first looked at this beer, it looked like a mix between a pilsner and an unfiltered wheat beer. It had the color of a pilsner (that light yellow, slightly carbonated look) and the transparency of an unfiltered wheat (hazy yet still translucent).

Upon smelling and drinking the beer, the first thing I noticed was the watermelon flavor (duh). The smell pretty much consisted of just watermelon and the taste was predominately watermelon as well, but different to what I was expecting. I thought I was going to get that artificial watermelon candy flavor but I got a nice authentic watermelon juice/water flavor. This made the beer way less sweet than I anticipated.

Next, because there are a little bit of hops and malts in a Kolsch style beer, it had a slight acidic-bitter taste present. And, when I say slight, I mean slight; so slight that if you didn’t focus on it, you probably couldn’t even taste it. This made it fun to drink because while it was a pretty fruity and sweet beer, it also had this hidden bitterness to it. The malts also helped dumb down the sweetness and gave it an overall unique flavor, an experience perfect for the summer, I might add.

But, because this beer was so easy for me to drink (soo easy), because it had that hidden hoppy/malty undertone,and because it is perfect for the spring and summer, I gave it an 8.64/10. The Mayor of Old Town gave it a 7.75/10.

Collegian Beer Reviewer Gabe Pocrass can be reached online at blogs@collegian.com or on Twitter at @Gpocrass.