Prebeer Preamble: One of the last defenses for those that argue in favor of Macrobrew goes something like “Well, it’s great after mowing the lawn” OK, but have you tried one of these summer brews post-yardwork?
Beer #1 Hoegaarden White Beer. I’m once more joined by SoB stalwart Eric in the triple-digit temps of my back yard to get an “in-context” experience. Much discussion of Belgian witbier follows. No mention is made of the fact that we didn’t actually mow any lawns.
Interbeer Interlude: Beer As Folk. “Big Brew ’06″. I dropped by local homebrew supply store Brewer’s Connection this past National Homebrew Day to talk to a bunch of hombrewers all making the same recipe: a kölsch summer ale. How’d it turn out? Tune in and see!
Beer #2: With an actual lawnmower droning in the background, Eric and I now hoist a couple of Alaskan Summer Ales. This kölsch-style brew is an Alaskan interpretation of a German beer. After the effort of sorting all that out, are we refreshed by this light-bodied ale?
Beer Geek Moment: “Wheat and Beer.” Much beer talk swirls around the distinction between wheat beers, witbeers, weisses and weizens. Let’s straighten all of this out, before it comes to actual blows.
Postbeer Postscript: After two blasts of refreshment on a hot summer’s day, are Eric and I freindly with the scores? Or does the mere thought of yardwork turn us grumpy?
It’s pronounce kooolsch, Charlie. Not kelsch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_Umlaut
Love the Hoegaarden, haven’t had one in forever.
Sorry to offend, Thomas, you obviously Germanic fellow you. I was going by what I had read in books and online, including this entry from the “Defining Beer” site:
“KOLSCH
Pronounced kelsh. Named after the city of Koln (cologne), Germany, and indicates that the beer was brewed in the traditional style of that city. In Germany, only members of the Koln Brewer’s Union may call their beer a kolsh.”
Apparently, there is more than one acceptable pronunciation for this style name. Which is good, because I used more than one pronunciation of kölsch (and Hoegaarden!) in the podcast
Never heard a German not call it Kooolsh. Even when I was Koln. hehe, just giving you a hard time more than anything else.
Great beer blogging of a late.
Every time I smell cloves it makes me want to yak because of the night I drank too much Hoegaarden. An odd beer to be sure.
To help a bit with the pronounciation of “Kölsch” – the ö is closer to the e, because it is local slang and not standard german. In standard german is the ö like in H(oe)gaarden. I tend to say it like K(eo)lsch.
urrrg K(oe)lsch – sorry for the typo…
Strange that the pronouncation is off, because Koln is not too far from the center of Hoch Deutsch (High, proper German). Yeah Charlie I do have my Germanic vein mostly between studying there and minoring in the language. But then I was not in Koln, I was down in the south of Tuebingen. Those folks know how to brew a Hefe let my tell ya
Thanks Leo-oo- for the view from Germany, and thanks Thomas for your input too. Here’s the deal: among the more annoying things for me to listen to is some gringo talking English, then dropping in a perfectly pronounced Spanish word. Props for the pronunciation, but it breaks up the flow of the speech in the language of the speaker. It’s like a white guy from Iowa trying to say “chillin’ wit da homies”; it’s not “true”. When I come across a beer-related term from another language (and there are plenty), I filter it through my Iowa white boy filter and pronounce it as close as I can determine to how it “should” be pronounced, but in a way that my mouth is comfortable working. To try to pronounce “sake” like an Osaka native will make me sound more stupid than “mispronouncing” it by way of my native language (IMHO).
Given the name of the podcast, it’s cool that this discussion is happening. Now go out and drink a kooolsch, koelsch, kelsch, or kolsch, and appreciate what a freakin’ good summer beer it is…
@Thomas
Cologne is in the “Hochdeutsch”-area, but the people in Cologne speak kölsch and it is really hard to understand. It is the own language of the city. There are a culture scene with theater, music-bands and the beer!
@Charlie
You are welcome – a summer beer looks for me like this http://tinyurl.com/odpfo – but it is allways nice to be in Cologne and have one of the tiny glasses http://tinyurl.com/s5pnk
Thanks for the tip on the Alaskan Summer Ale. Brings back memories of pounding stanges at Früh om Dom in Köln!
Reading this is making me thirsty. Hoegaarden is my favorite Belgian beer. I haven’t tried the Alaskan Summer Ale yet, although I’m checking my supermarket later today.
Koelsch has an umlaut, so like Leo says, something like “oe” is the hoch deutsch pronunciation. But those Koelner people have their own way of speaking.