Disappointed With My Kolsch

[cpsmusic]

7 day ferment is too short in my book. The beer needs time to condition and yeast to do it on.

I reckon it wasn't properly finished and it's not finished carbonating (as in still priming sugar uneaten) - thus leading to sweetness and overcarb large bubbles.

Have looked through the thread a couple of times and still can't see your mash temp either.

Mash temp was 65 at the start and 64 at the end.

I kept track of the gravity during fermentation:

16/1 - 1.050
20/1 - 1.012
21/1 - 1.010
22/1 - 1.010
23/1 - 1.010

 

[~MikE]

could be residual priming sugar, it doesn't take much, especially in such a delicately balanced beer. this is a style where there's absolutely nothing to hide your faults behind - no roasted barley, 2g/L flameout hops etc.
don't worry if your first attempt at this style (and 4th AG overall) didn't work out - it's a difficult beer to make well.

 

[pmash]

can I just add that today I have just done my first all grain, in my new 20lt Speidel Braumeister, and it is a kolsch from a recipe I made on beer tools software ( thanks Crusty ) , which has just started to go off in my fermenter and that I am as happy as a pig in it

 

[cpsmusic]

can I just add that today I have just done my first all grain, in my new 20lt Speidel Braumeister, and it is a kolsch from a recipe I made on beer tools software ( thanks Crusty ) , which has just started to go off in my fermenter and that I am as happy as a pig in it

Hmmm...I reckon that's cheating

 

[JulieRush]

My first AG was also a Kolsch (but only a 10 litre batch) and I'm pretty happy with it. It is a little "thin" so I'm looking at some options to address that. Taste wise and clarity wise it's really good. I'm heaps pleased with it as a first attempt at AG and I'm definately converted.

Used one of the recipes from here and scaled it back to a 10 litre batch using BrewMate (I went BIAB as it seemed easiest and more "accessible" to get into AG)

bill/temps/etc:
1.9kg pilsner
285g Vienna
Mashed at 66 deg for 90 mins
60 min boil
15g-ish of Nelson sauvin. I think added as a 5g at 60 mins and 10g at 5 mins
chilled in the sink using a couple of cold packs
Fermented in primary with dried US-05 for 2 weeks at around 16 degrees.
Bottled last Friday

Got inpatient and cracked one on Tuesday (after 4 days in the bottle) and it tasted really good. like I said, a little thin, and head retention pretty much non existent... seems like that's typical for the style though... but bloody impressed at it for something I'd made.

*goes off to look at ways to adjust the recipe*