Friday, April 15, 2022

Unfiltered Kölsch: Gaffel Wiess

Never let it be said that I’m unswayed by persuasion. I’m just back from Cologne, and all over the city there are adverts for an interesting-sounding beer, Gaffel Wiess. Gaffel is one of the largest Kölsch breweries, and their standard Kölsch is one of the best, but ‘Wiess’ is an interesting variant, with a long tradition—an unfiltered Kölsch served in a larger glass.

As so often in beer history, folklore and documented fact don’t quite align. Nevertheless, here is the version of events you’ll get from the Gaffel sales department: Top-fermented beer in the Rhineland predates commercial filtration by a wide mark. In the late 19th century, Kölsch was unfiltered, and the ‘Wiess’ style was popular, a white beer with a high quantity of yeast in suspension.

Gaffel have recently (2021) reintroduced Wiess to the market. Or at least, to their Bräustüberl—several smaller Kölsch breweries have been serving Wiess for years. I was in Cologne in 2015, and sought out Brauerei Heller, specifically to try their Wiess. My initial reaction was that it was much like Bavarian Hefeweizen, but lighter and more hoppy. (It is worth noting here that Cologne brewers use the term ‘Wiess’, as opposed to ‘Weiß’; both mean ‘white’, the former in Rhine dialect, the latter in Bavarian.) Wiess has been in the Heller’s stable for years, and is just one of the many interesting brews that make a visit there most worthwhile. (You’ll find it at Roonstraße 33, in the Mauritius-Viertel, west of the city centre.)

But getting back to Gaffel—time was tight, and I didn’t manage to get to the Bräustüberl to try their Wiess vom Fass, but I did track down a bottle. My first impression was that this is a more commercial beer than the Hellers. It is smoother, and significantly less bitter. The yeast contributes to the body, but the aim here is clearly for a light, easy-drinking summer beer. Alcohol is 4.9, where the Hellers Wiess is 4.5 and all standard Kölsch is 4.8. That higher alcohol is balanced against a smaller bottle; the beer is sold in a, stingy but not overpriced, 33cl size.

There is a video below about the history of Wiess, specifically at the Gaffel brewery. I was interested to see the term ‘Wiess’ actually being used back in the day, so there is clearly a valid historical precedent here. What I’m more suspicious about is the very low bitterness, much lower than standard Kölsch and significantly lower than the Hellers as I remember it. My understanding is that standard Kölsch developed in the early 20th century from a similarly top-fermenting beer, but with a very high bitterness level. I suspect that this super-low-hopped version is competing with Bavarian Hefeweizen and ignoring the historical precedent. Still, it is a nice beer. It is also lacking the esters and phenols of Hefeweizen, so it is very much about the malt profile, modest as that is.

One final thought: Wiess would be an interesting project for homebrewing. It probably needs a decoction or two, and you’d need to ferment relatively cool, maybe 15°, but then you could skip lagering and just drink it as is. The stability of the yeast haze might be an issue. This bottle from Gaffel encourages the drinker to shake up the sediment, and the Kölsch yeast is obviously more inclined to settle than the lager yeasts used to condition Hefeweizen. As with Hefeweizen, the solution is to make it fast and drink it fast. If anyone finds a recipe, I’d be keen to give it a go.


 

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