TELLURIDE, Colo. – Telluride Brewing Co. brewmaster, Chris Fish, and president, Tommy Thacher, created a beer so perfect for the relaxed, outdoor lifestyle of the place they call home, they decided to name it after the town. They are proud to announce the addition of Telluride Mountain Beer, a traditional-style Kölsch, to their year round line up of cans and kegs.
“Telluride Mountain Beer is perfect for Colorado, and Kölsch checks all the boxes,” said Thacher.
The only issue with the name and style: the beer Fish and Thacher brewed already has a hometown. In fact, Kölsch, a clean, easy-drinking, straw-colored ale, is already named for the town of Cologne (Köln), Germany, where it originated.
Initially brewed to compete with the popular, bottom-fermented lagers of the day, Kölsch is brewed by pitching top-fermenting ale yeast at warmer temperatures then chilling the beer down to condition it, producing a hybrid that embodies the crisp complexity of an ale and refreshing drinkability of a lager.
Fish faithfully follows this process while brewing Telluride Mountain Beer, using German Magnum and Tettnanger hops to balance out the light malt body. In doing so, he recreates the distinct taste of a true-to-style Kölsch, evocative the beer’s home in the Gothic architecture and rolling fields of the German lowlands, a far cry from the mountains of Colorado.
Despite this, Fish and Thacher believe that the name and the style still work.
“Kölsch is the kind of beer we wanted to drink at the end of a long day of brewing, throw in a backpack, or crack open on a river,” remarked Fish. “It just makes sense!”
Fish, a transplant to Telluride from the Front Range, and Thacher, who moved to Colorado from New York almost twenty years ago, know that, like people, all things can find a new place in the world where they fit perfectly. They believe even a traditional Kölsch can find a new home in the mountains.
Clean, crisp and sessionable, Telluride Mountain Beer is true to the traditional style of its hometown in Germany, yet is proof that it’s not where you’re born that matters. It’s where you end up.
Fish and Thacher’s new Kölsch is available now on draft and in cans throughout the state they call home.
About Telluride Brewing Co.
Telluride Brewing crafts gold-medal beer in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Telluride, CO. Brewed with premium malts and worthy hops, the beers it produces are distinct yet classic. In just seven years, the brewery has grown from a local favorite to a statewide sensation, serving up its beers in kegs and cans throughout Colorado. Telluride has earned accolades for its Face Down Brown and Whacked Out Wheat at the Great American Beer Festival (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016) and World Beer Cup (2012, 2016, 2018). Telluride Brewing currently cans its Telluride Mountain Beer, Face Down Brown, Tempter IPA, Russell Kelly Pale Ale, Ski in Ski Stout, and AlpenGOSE. For more information, visit telluridebrewingco.com, and follow @Telluridebrewing on Instagram, and Facebook.