Klsch Recipe - Do You Lager?

[Ollieb]

Hi guys,

Doing my first Klsch recipe (an extract not AG) and I am kind of pising in the wind a little! Not too sure on some of the specifics. Recipe is below:

1.5kg Pale Liquid Malt Extract
1kg Light Dry Malt
450g Munich Malt Grain
110g Light Crystal Malt Gain
20g Perle @ 60 mins
15g Perle @ 30 mins
15g Tettnanger @ 2 mins
WLP029 Yeast
20L

I was planning on fermenting this at about 19oC...(Is this ok do you think?)

Also once the fermentation is done do I need to lager this at all? If so at what temps and for how long? Or can I just rack it straight into my keg and start drinking?

Also if anyone has done this or similar before, how long did you ferment it for give or take?

Any info would be great. Thanks very much.

 

[joshuahardie]

Your fermentation profile is really up to you, but just as a contrast for a Kolsch

I ferment at 16 degrees for 10 days and do lager. How long for. It depends on how much time I have, but lagering 7-14 days is typical for me.

 

[Ollieb]

Your fermentation profile is really up to you, but just as a contrast for a Kolsch

I ferment at 16 degrees for 10 days and do lager. How long for. It depends on how much time I have, but lagering 7-14 days is typical for me.

Thanks for the reply Joshua...

Would that yeast work at 16oC though? I am pretty sure t is an ale yeast? Active at 19oC-25/6oC?
If I go down the path of lagering would you do it at 12oC for the 7-14 days?

Cheers

 

[hsb]

Whitelabs suggest 17C plus unless during active fermentation
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp029.html

I found lagering really cleaned up my Kolsch, to leave a lovely crisp brew.
I just dropped it down to 5C, Palmer suggests a 12C difference between primary and lagering but YMMV and that's based on using a lager yeast I assume.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-5.html

 

[joshuahardie]

Thanks for the reply Joshua...

Would that yeast work at 16oC though? I am pretty sure t is an ale yeast? Active at 19oC-25/6oC?
If I go down the path of lagering would you do it at 12oC for the 7-14 days?

Cheers

The yeast I use is the Wyeast 2565 which has 13-21 degrees as the fermentation range. Your milliage may vary, I'd go with whatever the manufacturer says.

As fas as the lagering goes, I am doing it at 5 degrees. mainly because that is the temp of the keg fridge.

 

[tallie]

Doing my first Klsch recipe (an extract not AG) and I am kind of pising in the wind a little! Not too sure on some of the specifics. Recipe is below:

1.5kg Pale Liquid Malt Extract
1kg Light Dry Malt
450g Munich Malt Grain
...

Just checking, as it's not clear if you're aware or not, but Munich malt usually refers to a base malt, which would need to be mashed to convert the starches to sugar. It should have enough enzymes in it to convert itself, so steeping it at around 65C for an hour should do the trick.

Cheers,
tallie

 

[Ollieb]

Whitelabs suggest 17C plus unless during active fermentation
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp029.html

I found lagering really cleaned up my Kolsch, to leave a lovely crisp brew.
I just dropped it down to 5C, Palmer suggests a 12C difference between primary and lagering but YMMV and that's based on using a lager yeast I assume.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-5.html

HSB,
Thanks for the link to WhiteLabs... Never seen that before it will be a great reference point for future use... Cheers mate

 

[Ollieb]

Just checking, as it's not clear if you're aware or not, but Munich malt usually refers to a base malt, which would need to be mashed to convert the starches to sugar. It should have enough enzymes in it to convert itself, so steeping it at around 65C for an hour should do the trick.

Cheers,
tallie

Hey Tallie,

Thanks for the heads up... I was not aware of what you referring to :unsure:

Do you reckon I can steep the Munich and the Crystal together for the hour? Or will steeping the Crystal for an hour stuff it up?

 

[tallie]

Hey Tallie,

Thanks for the heads up... I was not aware of what you referring to :unsure:

Do you reckon I can steep the Munich and the Crystal together for the hour? Or will steeping the Crystal for an hour stuff it up?

Yes, steeping together should be fine - it's what us AG brewers do all the time B) . The temperature for mashing is a bit more critical than for steeping, as the enzymes that convert the starches only work in a particular temperature range. So try to keep it around the 65C mark (+/- 3) for the whole hour.

The alternative would be to sub the Munich malt for additional extract, but you know you want to partial/mini mash

Cheers,
tallie

 

[donburke]

Hi guys,

Doing my first Klsch recipe (an extract not AG) and I am kind of pising in the wind a little! Not too sure on some of the specifics. Recipe is below:

1.5kg Pale Liquid Malt Extract
1kg Light Dry Malt
450g Munich Malt Grain
110g Light Crystal Malt Gain
20g Perle @ 60 mins
15g Perle @ 30 mins
15g Tettnanger @ 2 mins
WLP029 Yeast
20L

I was planning on fermenting this at about 19oC...(Is this ok do you think?)

Also once the fermentation is done do I need to lager this at all? If so at what temps and for how long? Or can I just rack it straight into my keg and start drinking?

Also if anyone has done this or similar before, how long did you ferment it for give or take?

Any info would be great. Thanks very much.

drop the crystal completely, its out of place in a kolsch, you want a dry beer

add a little wheat malt (5%)

 

[Ollieb]

drop the crystal completely, its out of place in a kolsch, you want a dry beer

add a little wheat malt (5%)

Cheers Don... As the grains are mixed in the one bag I might ahve to go get some Munich separately. Thanks for the advice...

Totally off topic but are you the Don Burke? The gardener? :icon_offtopic:

 

[donburke]

Cheers Don... As the grains are mixed in the one bag I might ahve to go get some Munich separately. Thanks for the advice...

Totally off topic but are you the Don Burke? The gardener? :icon_offtopic:

this is the internet, and i can be anyone you want me to be

 

[manticle]

In that case, I'd like you to be Allison Angel.

 

[donburke]

In that case, I'd like you to be Allison Angel.

drink a few litres of your favourite IPA and your wish will be granted

 

[iralosavic]

From what my tastebuds know about kolches, I would definitely cold condition for 4-6 weeks. Just to get the crispness and clarity. I personally plan to cold condition even some of my ales for a few weeks...

I was enquiring about lagering the other day and it seems the concensus is to drop 5c a day until reaching 0c and then maintain for 4+weeks. I'm guessing this is the reason people opt to convert a freezer into a lagering cabinet... You can't get 0c in a cheap fridge. I'm guessing 1c will mostly do the trick though. I was reading a book the other day that said that the process originated in Bavaria where they'd bury their conditioning vessles in the snow for a couple of months.