Sunday Night Suds - Uinta Hoodoo Kolsch Style Ale

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Uinta's Hoodoo Kolsch Style Ale.

Uinta is a Utah based craft brewery which produces some outstanding brews. One of my favorite IPAs is the Uinta Hop Notch IPA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2012/07/sunday-night-suds-uinta-hop-notch-ipa.html) while their Wyld APA (reviewed here kosherbeers.blogspot.com/2011/09/sunday-night-suds-uinta-wyld.html) is one of Mrs KB's favorites.

Over the last few weeks, I have been asked in numerous forums (via email, in shul, by phone, etc...) why the various kashrus agencies have been taking a closer look at craft breweries and why there is a need for breweries such as Uinta (certified kosher by the OU) to obtain kosher certification. 

While the some of the issues with flavorings are obvious, there are other more intricate issues which have been explored by the mashgichim which touch more on questions related to other beers being produced at the brewery. These issues become more complicated because the plants do not want to have any down time and often a brewery will contract brew (or bottle) products for other breweries.

Recently, I came across a great summary of the issues related to the kashruth of beer. The article was written by Rabbi Akiva Niehaus of the CRC and can be found here http://www.crcweb.org/kosher_articles/Beer.php. Although the CRC does not currently give hashgacha for any craft breweries, I have been advised that they are presently in talks with some breweries. Here's hoping that they are successful in their attempts to add more kosher certified beer to the marketplace.

So what does the Hoodoo Kolsch Style Ale taste like? It packs more hop bite than any kolsch I have tried before. The hops are prominent in the beginning of the sip and there is a nice amount of citrus - almost grapefruit like bite in the back end. The resulting beer is more complex than the average kolsch and would be a nice accompaniment to savory meat dishes.

Uinta Hoodoo Kolsch Style Ale is certified kosher by the Orthodox Union and bears an OU on the label. For the experts' take on the Uinta Hoodoo Kolsch Style Ale please click here www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/74437. 

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver. If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable). 

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com / to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!