Koelsch Recipie..and Some News

[Green Iguana]

Here is my first attempt at a koelsch to be brewed tonight......


4.03 kg. Australian Pilsner
0.11 kg. Melanoidin Malt
0.13 kg. Munich Malt
20 g. Tettnanger (Pellets, 5.6 %AA) boiled 60 minutes.
20 g. Hallertau (Pellets, 3 %AA) boiled 15 minutes.
20 g. Hallertau (Whole, 3 %AA) boiled 1 minutes.
Yeast : White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Klsch

Predicted Koelsch-Style Ale Compliance

Original Gravity 1.047 1.040 - 1.048 100 %

Terminal Gravity 1.011 1.008 - 1.013 100 %

Color 4.37 SRM 3.50 - 5.00 SRM 100 %

Bitterness 19.7 IBU 16.00 - 30.00 IBU 100 %

Alcohol (%volume) 4.8 % 4.00 - 5.00 % 100 %

100 % overall



On another note... i have just found out that western suburbs homebrew supplies in chappel hill Brisbane will be changing hands soon..the new owner will discontinue offering grains...however for those intrested mike at mikes homebrew supplies in beenleigh has just purchased a phill mill and some grains....he is very enthusiastic about getting in to all grain and has a genuine passion for craftbrewing i haven't come across before.....it seems that not many people are keen to step up to all grain in SE QLD.....

Cheers

Ps. I have no affiliation with mikes homebrew supplies whatsoever...i'am just keen to see the craftbrewing community in my area develop a bit more..

 

[big d]

hope he gets the support else wise he may not stock grain which will make it hard for local agers to get easy grain access.

 

[Green Iguana]

Yeah thats right Big d...... it's a struggle for all grainers around these parts...

 

[Snow]

I spoke to the guy who bought the Chapel Hill shop on the weekend at the National festival of Beers. I mentioned I was into partial and full mashing and he didn't mention anything about not offering grains. He even offered me the job as manager, because he said he wanted someone in there who knew his stuff and could take the shop to levels above what the other shops in Brisbane are offering. Cutting out grain supplies sure wouldn't achieve this. I'll have a chat to Mal to find out what's going on.

- Snow

 

[tdh]

Being as anal as I am, a Koelsch shouldn't have any coloured grain in it at all, basically it's a warm fermented Pilsner, usually brewed in Cologne as 100% Pils malt with 1-2 breweries adding 5-10% wheat (they are in the minority though).

The beauty of Koelsch is it's 'transparency', actually makes it quite a difficult beer to make.

tdh

 

[xaeros]

I was speaking to Mal on the weekend. He has sold the shop and is currently managing it until the new owner finds a new manager. He said that the new owner wanted to concentrate on grain and the experienced brewers and turn the shop into the best of its kind in Brisbane, which is great news. The new owner apparently already owns 3 other brewshops in Brisbane.

By the way, I picked up a White Labs German Ale/Koelsch yeast while I was there. Bubbling away as we speak at 18oC - this yeast has to be the king of rotten egg gas producing yeasts :blink:

 

[Snow]

Yeah, he told me the same thing. Hopefully he'll develop it into the Grumpys of Brisbane!

Xaeros, as you're in Kenmore, maybe we should organise a yeast swap and a tasting session one of these days. I've got a fridge full of different yeasts, but I don't have a kolsch yeast yet.....

Cheers - Snow

 

[xaeros]

Snow

You're from Kenmore as well? Small world.
I don't have a fridge full of yeasts unfortunately I just re-use the slurry after each fermentation - just means that I have to do a number of styles in a row (I normally do 4 brews per vial). You're more than welcome to help yourself to a cup of slurry if you want.

Cheers

 

[Hoops]

Sorry for keeping off thread topic GI.....
I lived in Brissy a few years ago and found Quality Homebrew in slacks creek to be the best HB store.
Lindsay is the man to speak to and as he is an AG'er he has heaps of 1st hand knowledge in the area, (the other guys are pretty vague).
I have bought from Mal at western suburbs but didn't have time to chat so can't really comment on his store yet. Will have to do extensive research next year

(No affiliation with either store)

Hoops

 

[Snow]

No probs Xaeros - I'll just have to teach you to do yeast starters from now on and split them into storage bottles. Done correctly, you can get 30+ brews from one batch of yeast!

Hoops, I've heard that guy's really good, too. I think he might have been the one who supplied all the hops at the BABBS meeting I went to.

- Snow

 

[Trough Lolly]

Here is my first attempt at a koelsch to be brewed tonight......
4.03 kg. Australian Pilsner
0.11 kg. Melanoidin Malt
0.13 kg. Munich Malt
[etc...]

GI,
Mate, all the best with the Kolsch, but I'd ditch the Munich and Melanoidin and add some wheat malt and up the pale ale malt to compensate.

I have a Kodpiece Kicker Kolsch that uses 4.5kg of Base malt, 500g Wheat Malt and 30g of Hallertau 4.7% AA for bittering and 15g of Tettnanger 4.5% AA for flavouring and aroma and ferment with WYeast 1056 (yes, American Ale is a nice clean ferment).

Promash tells me I get 23L of 1.047 wort that finishes around 1.009.

I don't want to invoke the style nazi's or anything, but IMHO the trick to these babies is the simplicity of the grain bill and using good brewing and fermenting techniques (including a lengthy stay in cold conditioning - brew and primary ferment as an ale (18 to 20C) and cold condition as a lager).

I'm sure your recipe will result in a good beer, but I don't think the use of Munich Malt is in style of a Koelsch region ale - maybe so for an altbier - the melanoidin malt might do the trick that a decoction would do, but honestly, I wouldn't bother with the stuff unless your pilsner malt is lacking and nowadays that is a pretty rare thing...

Let us know how it turns out.
Cheers,
TL

 

[Green Iguana]

Hey there trough lolly......

Driking the kolsch now out of a keg where it's been conditioning at 2C for 3 weeks...it is very malty especially when u let ur beer warm up a bit in the glass...i think that u are right about the munich/melanoidin..not really necessery and outr of style in the end result...

The brew is supper hoppy on the nose,mildly bitter and assertive hop flavour ....this does balance out the maltyness a bit...the brew is really lager like...no esters or fruity ale flavours...

Next brew i will keep things simple...one malt , one hop

cheers

 

[Trough Lolly]

No probs GI,
Kolsch is a delicate ale, it's not real easy to make a real good one, but the bulk of the work is done in using a highly fermentable yeast with well modified, very pale malt such as a light coloured 2-row or pilsner malt.
IBU's of 25 or less are desireable (Hallertau and Tettnang being the most obvious weapons of choice) and that sort of bittering level is quite readily obtainable since you won't be using malt that has an overpowering malty presence - hence the recommendation to do away with the melanoidins. Pale, subtle and balanced - that's what makes a good Kolsch, IMHO...
Here is a really good article on the Kolsch style: Click here...
Cheers,
TL