Clodhopper Kölsch

Clodhopper Kölsch (4.8% ABV) is a crisp, easy drinking, effervescent American Kölsch with a grassy aroma and hints of herbal lemon and mild citrus, underscored by flavors of bready malt with a lingering bitterness. We brewed Clodhopper as a traditional Kölsch, but then ‘Americanized’ it by dry hopping the beer with American Noble Simcoe Hops. We also used a small amount of American-grown Zuper Saazer for bittering. The result is a really crushable beer where the hops cut through the malty bready-ness, and you get a lovely, lingering lemon pith finish.

American Noble Hops™ pellets are the leafy parts of the hop cone (bract and strig) which has had most of the lupulin removed resulting in a “de-bittered” hop. They are produced from whole leaf hops using Yakima Chief Hops’ innovative cryogenic process. The result is a hop that provides pleasant noble bitterness, but with the unique aromas of higher resin varieties such as Mosaic and Cascade.

The name Clodhopper Kölsch comes from Brewer Adam, who likes the way the name captures some of our farm brewery vibe, as well as the ‘Americanness’ of the beer. And, on a more personal note, Adam liked how this term tapped into his family’s rural Indiana farming background, where clodhopper was “more of a term of endearment for hard working farm workers’ and also something Adam’s mom would call his oafishly large feet :0).

Clodhopper Kölsch will be available in cans and on draft starting Thursday, August 24th as part of our Day of Hoppiness.