Privatbrauerei Gaffel Becker Gaffel Wiess

A throwback to the beers that were brewed in Köln before the Kölsch-Convention. This cloudy, golden ale has a full head of white foam with sweetish and bready notes of sweet lemon and a semi-dry finish...

Wiess is an ale brewed from barley. Tasting Notes: Cloudy golden in colour. Tasty and mild character with a grainy malt aroma. Hint of lemon and sweetness. 

The new Gaffel Wiess (Wiess, not weiss) is a throwback to the beers that were brewed in Köln before the Kölsch-Konvention. It’s an ale brewed from barley - no wheat is used. It starts at 11.5˚ Plato and comes in at 4.9% ABV. It’s cloudy, golden, and has a full head of white foam that holds well and leaves some very nice lacing behind. The aroma delivers only grainy malt but the flavor is sweetish and bready with notes of sweet lemon. Perhaps they’ve used Lemondrop hops, or at least Citra as they do with their Sonnen Hopfen pale ale. It has a very low level bitterness of around 10 IBUs which leaves it sweet, and semi-dry in the finish. In the mouth it’s medium bodied and crisp. I applaud them for the effort but putting out such a sweet beer with a note of lemon may not have been the best choice, at least in Köln where the Germans sitting next to me found it to be too much of a stretch. Personally I found it a little sweet as well, and although the lemon didn’t bother me I thought it was odd as they’ve also introduced their pale ale with a lemon flavor.