Kolsch and beer snobs

I found myself in Chicago a couple of months ago, having dinner in a nice northern downtown restaurant. Though it was on the cold side, I order a Metropolitan Krankshaft Kolsch. It was a local brew I hadn't had yet.

I thought the beer was phenomenal. It was light and crisp. I detected some apple and honey with a nice finish. So good I quickly ordered a second one.

Months later, I found myself in Illinois once again. This time at a Mexican restaurant in Naperville. I saw a relatively new Kolsch being offered on tap. It reminded me of the Metropolitan brew. Like months earlier, I quickly ordered a second.

This beer was Leinenkugel's Canoe Paddler. A friend at work had recommended it, saying he was surprised it was that good. I agreed.

Later I would find myself looking at a couple of beer sites and find that while much smaller Krankshaft was given good ratings, the mass produced brewer was given low scores. To me, they were both similar and quite the same.

It got me to wondering. I wonder how some of these beers would do in a blind taste test. If people didn't know it was Leinenkugels, would they give it a low score?

I did something similar last year. I compared Leinenkugels Original Lager to Yuengling Lager. Each one reminded me of the other. So I put them face to face and tried them. I found I preferred the Yuengling.

I plan to put the Leinies up against the Metropolitan some time soon. I think I may find some people rethinking their taste buds.