We investigate the Koszul
property for quotients of affine semigroup rings by semigroup ideals. Using a
combinatorial and topological interpretation for the Koszul property in this context,
we recover known results asserting that certain of these rings are Koszul. In the
process, we prove a stronger fact, suggesting a more general definition of
Koszul rings, already considered by Fröberg. This more general definition of
Koszulness turns out to be satisfied by all Cohen-Macaulay rings of minimal
multiplicity.