Wild Herd Kolsch Review: A Drinkable and Smooth Kolsch

Wild Herd Kolsch is a Kolsch-style ale that was specially brewed for Buffalo Wild Wings, so you can enjoy this drinkable ale on any occasion. It combines the features of a lager and ale, making it light, refreshing, and slightly citrusy.

If you’re looking for a good Kolsch that will go down easy, you should consider trying the Wild Herd out. In our review, we cover the tasting notes, food pairing, and more, so keep on reading below.

Wild Herd Kolsch Stats

Tasting Notes

Wild Herd Kolsch Review

Wild Herd is a Kolsch beer made by Goose Island Company. It has an alcohol content of 5 percent and features a taste of malts and grassy pine from the hops. The beer has a light body and a pale gold color and is the house beer for Buffalo Wild Wings.

It has flavors and aromas of malts, hops, grassy pine, bread, and grapes, with a sweet and light flavor. The beer represents a unique style of the Kolsch and is best served in a stange glass, which is a slim and tall glass that holds the head and compresses the flavor.

The ideal serving temperature for the Kolsch is from 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, which gives you a drinkable and cool taste.

– Appearance

The Goose Island Wild Herd Kolsch pours a sparkling gold color into your glass, and there is lively carbonation in the appearance.

You can see the bubbles floating to the top of the glass. Atop the beer is a two-finger foamy head that will quickly fade into a ring. It leaves no lacing against the glass.

– Aroma

The smell of the beer is light and mostly malty. It does not overshadow the flavor of the beer and smells sweet. You will notice some bread in the aromas of the beer, and there is some suggested bitterness in the aroma.

– Mouthfeel

On the palate, the beer feels light, which is unexpected for the Kolsch style.

The feel is smooth and goes down easy, almost creamy, despite the lack of head and the light feel. Not much changes in the feel, even if the beer warms up, as it only brings out the malts.

– Flavor

When you drink Wild Herd beer, you get a delicious taste of sweet malts. The flavor is more vibrant than the aroma of the beer, starting with a malty and sweet flavor at the forefront of your tongue. The malts fade into a light, lager-like flavor.

You will notice the hops too, which are quite bitter and offers a grassy pine flavor behind the malts. The bitterness in the beer is very light, and you will mostly taste the bread and some malty sweetness. There are hints of sweet caramel, toffee, and citrus, with some floral notes.

– Food Pairings

The slight hoppiness of the Wild Herd beer goes well with light dishes, so you should try it out with light fish dishes and seafood like a meaty monkfish or a sole drizzled with lemon. Other food pairings that you can consider include Jamaican and North African-style dishes.

You can have a beer with fried chicken, salads with a lot of herbs, buffalo wings, and burgers. You can try the beer out with spicy, fried, and nutty foods, steaks, pizza, and Asian and Mexican food. With its drinkable and light nature, the beer goes great with a wide range of foods.

If you want to give in to your sweet tooth, you can enjoy the beer with a light apricot or mandarin cake, panna cotta with lemon, peach pie, fruit soup, or blood orange sorbet. As for cheese, have the beer with marinated cheeses, burrata, feta, and mozzarella.

Ingredients

The exact ingredients of the Wild Herd are unknown, but the beer is made with malts, hops, yeast, and water. The malts of the beer are forward in flavor, but you can still taste the slight hops that offer a grassy and floral note in the flavor and aroma.

Nutrition Facts

In the Wild Herd beer, you get an ABV of 5 percent, which is a pretty decent level. You can barely taste the alcohol or smell it in the beer. Also, the beer has an IBU of 20, as there is only a decent level of hops and bitterness in the beer.

There are 150 calories in the Kolsch, which is a decent level. Drinkers should keep this in mind when calculating their daily dietary requirements. There are also 12 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein, and 10 mg of sodium. The beer is not a gluten-friendly option, and it is not ideal for those on a keto diet.

History

Wild Herd Kolsch is brewed by Goose Island Beer Company and was first released in 2020. It is probably one of the most well-known and new beers from the brewery that is based in Illinois. When the beer was released, it was the house beer of Buffalo Wild Wings, which is known as the largest pourer of draft beer in the US.

The beer was released to be an easy-drinking beer that the restaurant guests can enjoy with burgers and wings. It also goes well with different kinds of food offered by the restaurant.

Conclusion

Wild Herd beer is the ideal choice for those who want an easy-drinking Kolsch, as it offers a smooth and light flavor. Here’s a summary of our beer review:

• Wild Herd is a Kolsch with an ABV of 5 percent, made by Goose Island.
• The beer has flavors and aromas of malts, grassy pine, hops, bread, and grape and features a sweet, light body.
• Its exact ingredients are unknown, but the malty taste is forward.
• The beer is best served in a stange glass at 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
• It pairs well with light seafood, fried chicken and buffalo wings, Asian, Mexican, and North American cuisine, mandarin cake, and marinated cheese.

If you’re curious about the beer, you can purchase it at physical and online stores or get it on tap at the brewery.