Brewery: Whitestone Brewery
Beer: Konverter Kölsch
Style: Kölsch
ABV: 4.7%
Character: Light, extremely clear and crisp. It drinks with a mild malt sweetness and a low earthy hop aroma.
Ratings: BeerAdvocate: 3.45/5 | Untappd: 3.6/5
Metal Connection: OVERFLASH – Life Converter

BeerMetal Rating: 4/5

Whitstone Brewery began their beer journey in 2016, as they are celebrating their 6th anniversary this month. It’s cray to think about that, since I visited their brewery back in October 2016, and it feels like yesterday. I went to Cedar Park so I could go to a Bryan Adams concert, but I had time to kill before the show so i visited Whitestone which was located right across the street from the hotel I was staying at that day. I had a great time there and enjoyed the beers I had. You can read about my weekend beer adventure that day here.

I haven’t actually featured any beer from Whitestone here on the site or in my podcast yet. Today I am drinking Konverter Kölsch for this review. I bought this can thinking I had never had this beer before, and because I had really liked the can design. Well, it turns out I have had this beer a couple of times before on draft at some of the Craft Beer bars around San Antonio. My first time having this beer was back in mid 2018 at The Hoppy Monk, and then again in early 2019 at Big Hops Shaenfield. I enjoyed this beer both times according to my Untappd check-ins, giving it a 3.75/5 rating each time. Let’s see what I think about this beer again, this time out of a can.

But first, the can art. I do believe their cans have recently been given a makeover, so this is one of the new designs. They all seem to have the same patters just with different color schemes. There is a large W formed at the bottom of the label that is a border around the can. It is colored dark blue, purple, and yellow. On one half of the W there are 3 stars, on the other side there are 3 life preserver rings with a few clipart waves. The background of the can seems to be ocean waves and a blue sky. The Whitestone logo sits centered on the top of the label, and it has sun rays coming from behind it. Now without spending a shit load of time on it, I didn’t really bother to figure out why the name and the can design, but I’m guessing maybe it has to do with an engine part for a boat or something. I can be pretty simple minded at times, so if any of you have an idea, hit me up. Thanks!

Appearance: Nearly clear bright golden straw color topped with a large 2.5 white foamy head. Looks very refreshing.

Aroma: Sweet malts, herbal, earthiness, a bit vinous, slight lemony, hay/straw.

Taste: Picking up on the same notes as the nose with some added flavors going on here. Pear, orange/tangerine, apricot, white bread and grainy. Aftertaste is fruity, lemon, apricot, vinous.

Body/Mouthfeel: Light body, smooth and silky mouthfeel, semi-dry yet a bit mouth coating finish.

Overall: So I really enjoyed this beer today. So much so that I bumped up my Untappd score from a 3.75 to a 4. This beer definitely deserves this score. It is such a crusher of a beer. Maybe I enjoyed this one more from the can rather than draft. If I ever have a night with the boys and we’re slamming cans back, I would definitely get a 6 pack of this beer to join in on the festivities. I hope to one day get to visit Whitestone once again. it has been way too long.

Metal Connection: For Whitestone’s Konverter Kolsch, I searched for a Metal song with the word converter in the title. What I found was a song by the name of “Life Converter” by a band named Overflash from Sweden. Overflash began back in 1986, according to their Metal-Archives page. They didn’t release any material until 1992 demo, Sodomizing Songs of Pure Radiation. In 1993 they released their debut full length album, Threashold to Reality on MNW Records & Steamhammer. The main man behind this project is Magnus “Devo” Andersson, who has also played in such bands as Cardinal Sin, Endarker, Marduk, Pain & more. For their debut album, Andersson had help with the drums & programming by none other than the man, one of my musical idols, Dan Swanö from Edge of Sanity. Yes, I have mentioned his name several times on this website and podcast. You all should know by no how much I worship this dude! back then in 1993 when they released Threshold to Reality, Overflash was playing Death Metal with a slight Industrial touch to it due to the programming and effects provided by Mr. Swanö. Later in their career, Magnus Andersson would take Overflash into an EBM (Electronic Body Music) & Gothic Metal style. Being such a fan of anything Dan Swanö touches, I had heard the music of Overflash before, but it has been stored away for many years, and forgotten, to be honest with you. Our Metal Connenction song, “Life Converter” is a real banger. Great little catchy tune with some great music and painful screaming growls in the vein of Death, Morgoth, Pestilence, Asphyx and the like. Please enjoy this old school very underground Metal song.