Kolsch Yeast?
 

A couple of months ago I brewed a Kolsch Ale using extracts. I thought The Kolsch Wyeast activator pack might be dead since it did not expand the way it should. Anyway, I pitched the yeast in the activator pack and for good luck I pitched in a pack of dry yeast as well. I had a taste test of several homebrews with some friends and they all thought this was the best beer I had made.

Since then I switched to all grain and I am in the process of brewing a Kolsch. This time the Wyeast activator pack expanded the way it should and I pitched the yeast. Anyway, the brew is acting like the energizer bunny and has been formenting for 11 days now. The kreusen has not dropped and the airlock is bubbling away.Will it ever stop so I can put it in A secondary?

Does Kolsch yeast act different than other yeast? Is something wrong here?

I have a Kolsch in the secondary right now and it did the exact same thing. I can't remember if I used the WL or WY because i used one on my Kolsch and the other on my Alt, but the Kolsch continued to ferment for over ten days and the krausen never fell--I had to rack out under it. It also gave off more sulpher than i have ever noticed from another yeast, but that is totally gone in the secondary now and it tastes pretty good.

So don't worry.

i fermented with the whitelabs kolsh ale yeast at the codler end of the spectrum... it took two weeks for the foam to drop.

Part of the reason it is fermenting so long and hard (he he) could be high temperatures. The Kolsch yeast likes to be under 68 or so to give it the clean taste you are looking for (or at least what I was). If you are higher than that it will ferment longer and harder (again, he he) but I believe will put off more sulphury flavors, etc. Of course, if you cold condition it for a while and possibly even filter after this cold conditioning (what I did) then you don't really have to worry.

I'm fermenting in the basement where the temp is 62F and ii's on the floor where it's probably a little coole. I pitched my first Kolsch with both kolsch yeast and regular dry yeast . The dry yeast probably was the one that did most of the fermenting and that's why it stopped fermenting in a in 3 0r 4 days and behaved like an ordinary ale.

It smells more like it is emitting intestinal gas rather than CO2

Thanks for the help I've gotanother brew on hold and I'm just waiting to freeup my 61/2 gal corboy.

I'll quit worrying and drink a homebrew

Oh yeah Kolsch yeast kicks out alot of sulfur smelling odors. Won't hurt the beer any but man did my wife bitch the last one I did

Why did you do that? Were there problems with the Koelsh yeast.

Kai

Kai,

In asnswer to your question I thought there was a problem with the Wyeast Kolsch activator pack, after I smacked it, it didn't puff up the way it't supposed to. I then pitched both the Kolsch yeast and to be on the safe side I pitched a packet ofn dry yeast In retrospect I'm not sure I ruptured the inner pack that's inside the activator pack

ahh... the girly-man pack smack is no good... gotta use the manly-man smack next time....
:D

I brewed a batch of kolsch last September and have one in my secondary now. Both times the fermentation was extremely messy, with lots of scummy stuff on top and tons and tons of trub in the bottom. When I bottled the first batch I got a bit too much trub in the bottling bucket and the beer was milky and tasted yeasty at first. I started drinking it anyway, and about 2 bottles into the second case it suddenly started to taste good. I saved about a six-pack until about 2 or 3 weeks ago and when I got around to drinking those it just about knocked my socks off. All the milkiness and yeasty taste was gone. The clarity was amazing and it was the best tasting batch I have done so far. I think the trick with kolsch is to let it age for lager-like times (if you can wait that long)!