The Bar Towel

I was very pleased with this one. In general, alt and kolsch styles as replicated here seem rather wide of the mark (IMO) but not in this case. The mineral/lemony notes seem from the German hops, the yeast background is very good, clean yet prominent and the malt also clean and perhaps on the light side but with a pleasant sweetness. Very Germanic IMO and not just that but a darn good beer. Well done Kilannan.

Gary

Kilannan closed a few years back. Lots of rumours as to why....

Anyway, the owner/brewer Spencer ended up at Coffin Ridge Winery as their cider maker/assistance winemaker/pizza chef ( ), and reopened "Kilannan at Coffin Ridge" in September 2023. I just learned about this over the weekend when my parents went. My father said the Alt and Kolsch were as he remembered.

https://www.coffinridge.ca/pages/kilannan-brewery

Wow, that's interesting.

Yes, I have family up that way and this is true. Had a few cans from them recently, and I agree that they were pretty similar to what I remember from old Kilannan (I really liked the Alt back in the day). Of the ones I tried on this visit, I liked the NZ Red (resiny with lovely malt flavours, bone dry), but didn't care much for the Aussie Pale Ale (green and out of balance).

midlife crisis wrote: ↑Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:21 am Yes, I have family up that way and this is true. Had a few cans from them recently, and I agree that they were pretty similar to what I remember from old Kilannan (I really liked the Alt back in the day). Of the ones I tried on this visit, I liked the NZ Red (resiny with lovely malt flavours, bone dry), but didn't care much for the Aussie Pale Ale (green and out of balance).

I ended up at the Winery/Brewery in early July, and agree on all accounts: standards as remembered, NZ red a highlight, Aussie a low point. Also we had one of the pizzas and it was quite good. My wife felt the wines she tried were not that great, however. Worth the trip up for pizza, beer and some nice scenery, imo.