I pulled this excellent description from Summit brewer Mike “the Miz” Miziorkoand of the new Summit Kölsch off of BeerAdvocate, and thought it worthy of re-posting here. It will also be included in the next Summit newsletter.

It is Summer time once again, and the inaugural brew in Summit’s Unchained series is about to be released. What better beer for hot summer weather than a Kölsch: light, balanced, crisp and refreshing with a slight fruitiness? Sounds good to me; that is why I was chosen to formulate the recipe for our version of this unique German ale style.

What does “Kölsch” mean?
Kölsch, like Kölner and Kölnisch refers to something from or in, or in the style of something from or in, the city of Cologne (Köln) in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. The word “Kölsch” is most frequently used to describe the style of beer native to the city as well as the local dialect. “Kölnisch” might be a familiar descriptor from 4711″Kölnisch Wasser”, the original Eau de Cologne. “Kölner”, the most widely used descriptor, would refer to everything from the people who live in Cologne (die Kölner) to the train station and the famous cathedral (Kölner Hauptbahnhof, Kölner Dom). So, Kölsch is simply “Beer from Cologne”.