A Coffee Kölsch Inspired by Germany and Indonesia
A Coffee Kölsch Inspired by Germany and Indonesia
Some collaborations are exciting. This one is personal.
A few months ago, I met Kevin, owner of Alibi Ale Works. As we talked, he handed me one of his house-brewed Kölsches.
I immediately smiled.
I was born in Cologne (Köln), Germany—the city where Kölsch beer originated. For anyone from Cologne, Kölsch is more than a style of beer. It's part of the city's identity, history, and culture.
Finding a carefully brewed Kölsch here in the Sierra Nevada was unexpected.
And as Kevin and I talked about beer, brewing, and flavor, an idea started taking shape:
What if we combined the beer of my hometown with coffee from my mother's home country?
From Cologne to Indonesia
My father is German. My mother is Indonesian.
Those two cultures shaped much of who I am—and, in different ways, they shaped Segara Coffee.
Every coffee we source comes from Indonesia. It's a country of extraordinary coffee diversity, with different islands, growing regions, cultivars, and processing traditions producing remarkably different coffees.
Indonesia isn't simply where our coffee comes from. It's part of why Segara exists.
So when Kevin and I began talking about creating something together, the connection felt natural.
A German-style Kölsch.
Indonesian coffee.
One glass.
How do you put coffee into a Kölsch?
The idea sounded simple.
The execution wasn't.
Kölsch is prized for being crisp, refreshing, and highly drinkable. We didn't want to turn it into a heavy coffee beer or create something where coffee overwhelmed the character of the beer.
It needed to remain a Kölsch first.
The coffee's job was to add another dimension.
Over multiple tasting sessions, we experimented with different coffees, ratios, and approaches. Some versions pushed the coffee too far forward. In others, it nearly disappeared.
We adjusted. Tasted. Talked. Adjusted again.
Eventually, we found the balance we were looking for.
The result is a German-style Kölsch with a subtle layer of Indonesian coffee woven through it. It still drinks like a Kölsch.
It simply tells a slightly different story.
Coffee doesn't always have to end up in a coffee cup
This project also reflects something we find increasingly interesting at Segara.
Coffee is an ingredient.
Its acidity, sweetness, bitterness, aromatics, and hundreds of flavor compounds can interact with other foods and drinks in ways that aren't always obvious until you start experimenting.
The challenge is balance.
In this case, the goal wasn't to make the beer shout COFFEE. It was to find the point where the coffee contributed something while still leaving room for the Kölsch to be itself.
That's what made the experimentation so much fun.
Two cultures, one collaboration
There's another reason this one means something to me.
Coffee has always been about more than what's in the cup.
It creates conversations. It connects people, places, traditions, and ideas that might otherwise never meet.
This collaboration did exactly that.
A brewery in the Sierra Nevada working in a German brewing tradition.
Coffee grown in Indonesia.
A founder with roots in both places.
And a conversation between two local businesses that turned into something neither of us would have made alone.
Cologne meets Indonesia, by way of the Sierra Nevada.
I think that's worth raising a glass to.
Prost.