Style Of The Week 3/1/07 - Kolsch

[SJW]

regarding second ferm., should I get a glass carboy or just another plastic bucket type, not sure how keen I am on siphoning if i can avoid it, i hear having a smaller secondary is good for less headroom but I think I can get plastic fermenters pretty close to the glass ones in size.

I dont think u need to go to the expense of a glass carboy. I just use those red lid 25 litre barrels from Bunnings. All u do is put the fermenter on a bench and run it to the secondard thru some clear hose that is coiled around the bottom of the secondardary a few times, so there is no splashing and just drain away. Using this method you sould rack just prior to hitting your FG or 3/4's of the way thru. (Now that could start a fire storm) Then u can leave it in the secondary for as long as u like.
Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[razz]

yep, here's the recipe

90% pils
10% wheat
mashed at 64-65C

22.5IBU with a 60 min addition and then another small addition with 10 mins to go

wyeast koelsch yeast at 14C for a couple weeks then lager for a couple more weeks

thanks Razz, means i can use the left over hops in a bright ale clone

-Phill

I've made Kolsch a couple of times now with a bu:gu ratio of 0.5. The yeast will throw a nice apple tart flavour when the beer is young and then smooth out some what. This is one ale that requires a lot of restraint when it comes to hops. Your FG should be under 10 with that mash schedule. Good luck.

 

[Steve]

Making my first Kolsch tomorrow.

8kg BB Galaxy
1kg BB Wheat

25 IBU

60gms Perle (7.2%) @ 60
35gms Hallertau Mittlefruh (2.4%) @ 10 mins + Whirlfloc

WLP029 x 2

Picked up a 2 litre erlenmeyer flask with a pre-made starter yesterday from BrewYourOwnAtHome in Canberra (now thats service! Thanks Col)

Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve]

Making my first Kolsch tomorrow.

8kg BB Galaxy
1kg BB Wheat

25 IBU

60gms Perle (7.2%) @ 60
35gms Hallertau Mittlefruh (2.4%) @ 10 mins + Whirlfloc

WLP029 x 2

Picked up a 2 litre erlenmeyer flask with a pre-made starter yesterday from BrewYourOwnAtHome in Canberra (now thats service! Thanks Col)

Cheers
Steve

Very happy with this one. Its been in the keg 5 days and its a pearler. Even got the thumbs up from Richard, the head brewer at the wig n pen last night. Couldnt pick a fault with it apart from being a bit young. "Leave it a week and it'll be perfect". :beerbang:

Cheers
Steve

 

[dc59]

Hey everyone I'm having my first crack at this style over the next week and wanted some opinions on the recipe. My main concern is that I've never actually had a commercial example so it has made recipe formulation alittle trickier than normal as I've essentially tried to imagine the taste going off the Warner book.

22L
effic. 75% varies a bit but usually close to this mark.

4.5kg of JW pale
20g Tettnang (2.5%AA) for 60 min
10g pacific gem (13.5%AA) for 60 min
20g Hersbrucker (2.3%AA) in cube (no chiller here)

WL029 yeast.

The pacific gem I put in to give Tettnang a helping hand in the bittering. Anyone had much experience in using this hop? I've only used it twice in small amounts and it seemed fairly neutral, though there isn't much to hide behind in the beer.

Also this is my first crack at a liquid yeast. It arrived in the mail today, so I'm naturaly very excited.

Main question is the hops and what to expect from the yeast.

Thanks David.

 

[Fents]

personally i would drop the 20g hersbruker. you dont need it, this beer is not about the hops.

the yeast will give off a slight fruity taste that cant really be described but it just add's to this beer. make sure you do everything in your power to make the yeast drop out after fermentation. CC'ing for >4 weeks will get you there, this beer is meant to be crystal clear. personally i dont mind if its not clear but other people like thirstyboy choke at the thought of kolsch yeast in suspension.

 

[mje1980]

First beer i brew when i re stock will be a koelsch style ale. 100% pils, 2565, and a touch of hops. Mmmmm.

I brewed one a long time ago, very simple, and it was a cracker of a beer. Can't wait!.

 

[Barry]

I mash at 63-64oc for 75 mins then increase the temp to the late 60's for 15 mins (don't have to if sparge is 72-75oC) to get a light body and dry finish. I add 200 gms of malted wheat for head formation (rest is German pils malt) but not essential.

 

[Fents]

oh yea didnt even see that! loose the JW pale and replace with JW Pils.

 

[dc59]

loose the JW pale and replace with JW Pils.

Will do. I went with the pale because its the only base malt I have, but I'll get a sack of JW pils. I might halve the hersbrucker to 10g and see how that goes.

Thanks for the advice people. Brew day will be next weekend, I'll provide results for the recipe when its complete.

David.

 

[jbirbeck]

Just did a Kolsch, have it lagering at the mo and it seems to be taking forever to clear up. tastes the goods though, fruity yet dry, lovely pils scent...I am looking forward to getting into this.

Recipe was:

Recipe: Kolsch
Brewer: Rooting Kings
Style: Kolsch

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 20.10 L
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 3.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.60 kg Pilsner Powells (2.0 SRM) Grain 95.83 %
0.20 kg Wheat Malt, Powells (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.17 %
10.00 gm Sapphire [5.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort HoHops 5.1 IBU
45.00 gm Sapphire [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Double
Total Grain Weight: 4.80 kg
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Double
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
35 min Protein Rest Add 20.03 L of water at 52.5 C 50.0 C
45 min Saccharification Decoct 6.44 L of mash and boil it 63.9 C
45 min Saccharification Decoct 3.91 L of mash and boil it 70.0 C
10 min Mash Out Heat to 75.6 C over 10 min 75.6 C

The water was mainly rain water and added a few additions to get it up to Pilsen type water...

 

[cubbie]

Requests, Requests Stu eh...

Remember the main thing is that you want high attenuation in this style - so if you're not using an attenuative yeast (usually the Kolsch yeasts don't actually attenuate that much without some work) you have to work on your mash temps to get it up - a 45m rest at 63 followed by another 45m rest at 71 should help you hit 80+% attenuation with pretty much any yeast out there. Also a long maltose rest at 62-63C is very important, to increase the effect of this you can add 10% of your grist about half way through this rest to replenish the beta amylase.

Don't add Gypsum of course, as it's not a hoppy style and will add a weird dryness that will be out of place, just use some Calcium Chloride. I have had good results with Saphir and Taurus hops, i reckon anything German should be fine, there's usually a not of hop flavour/aroma in a Kolsch, just a faint background whiff that could be just 0.5g/L of flavour/aroma hops. You could get away with just using some high-alpha clean bittering hops and just be done with it, about 5-10g of Magnum/Taurus/Northern Brewer would be all it takes at 75m to get about 20-25 IBU.

Yeast - i wouldn't think that US56 would be good, i am about to put one on with K-97 though just to see if it's a good backup dry strain, S-33 or Nottingham *might* be OK as they are fairly clean, however nothing beats 1007 German, 2565 Kolsch, WLP029 German/Kolsch or one of the Euro Ale/Alt strains.

Warner reckons up to 20% wheat and the remainder Pils is the right way to go, personally i like something a bit more malty and add about 1-2% melanoidin or munich malt, however this probably throws it out of balance just a little. Next one will just be 90% pils and 10% wheat.

Just looking through this thread and not sure I completely understand what is being suggested above. Is it suggesting that 45min is a "long" maltose rest and to improve efficiency add 10% at 20odd mins or is it saying if you are doing just a single step mash do a long rest say 60-90 min adding 10% at about 30-45min?

 

[beerbrewer76543]

:excl: Thread ressurection for ranting purposes

So many homebrewers post recipes of their "Kolsch" brews that are so far from style it makes me sick!

I'm sure using late hops, crystal and US05 will make a tasty beer but IT WILL NOT BE A KOLSCH

*end rant*

 

[mje1980]

You ressurrected an old thread just to bash it?. I made a simple koelsch style ale ( 90 pils 10 wheat, 2565 not much hops ) and it was delicious. I might make another one closer to summer with BB pale.

 

[beerbrewer76543]

Not bashing Kolsch, I love it

Just annoyed that people have the wrong idea of what a Kolsch tastes like

 

[manticle]

mje was talking about you bashing the thread, not the style.

It does seem a little odd, particularly as it's not clear whose corrupted kolsch recipe you are referring to. Most of the ones on this page seem to be bittering only with german yeasts and those that aren't have been given recommendations to be so.

 

[donburke]

my oh my is this one great style

brewed this one 3 weeks ago, 2 weeks primary, 3 days crash chill and kegged, drinking my first few glasses as i type

the subtle flavours really are unique, delicate ... like an angel fluttering on my tongue

lets see how long the 4 kegs last

Recipe: KOLSCH
Style: Kolsch
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 85.00 L
Boil Size: 92.40 L
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG
Estimated Color: 6.3 EBC
Estimated IBU: 24.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
17.00 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (2.5 EBC) Grain 93.41 %
1.00 kg Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (3.9 EBC) Grain 5.49 %
0.20 kg Melanoiden Malt (70.0 EBC) Grain 1.10 %
150.00 gm Spalter [5.70 %] (60 min) Hops 24.5 IBU
2.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
15.00 gm Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
2 Pkgs Kolsch II Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2575) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 18.20 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
5 min Mash In Add 54.00 L of water at 63.6 C 58.0 C
40 min Step Heat to 63.0 C over 5 min 63.0 C
30 min Step Heat to 65.0 C over 2 min 65.0 C
5 min Step Heat to 78.0 C over 13 min 78.0 C
5 min Mash Out Add 24.00 L of water at 78.0 C 78.0 C


Notes:
------
chill to pitching temperature 17 deg

ferment 40 litres with wy2575 at ambient 15 degrees, 1 pack dated 5/7/12 into 1 litre starter stepped to 2.25 litre starter, 180 sec o2 @ 1l/min
ferment 40 litres with wy2575 at ambient 15 degrees, 1 pack dated 5/7/12 into 1 litre starter stepped to 2.25 litre starter, 180 sec o2 @ 1l/min

 

[Harty]

Kolsch is one of my favourite beers. This recipe looks great, and I'll be sure to try it this weekend!