Kölsch Bee Cave Brewery Kölsch

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EdWort

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
Messages
11,896
Reaction score
471
Location
Bee Cave, Texas
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WL029
Yeast Starter
Yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.052
Final Gravity
1.009
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
36
Color
2 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
10 Days at 68 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
Crash cool to 39 for 4 days then keg
this tastes more like a pilsner than a Kölsch, though I'm using kölsch yeast. It ferments out dry so is it very crisp and with 36 ibu's, it's not sweet like a German Ale. This end up just over the edge on the style numbers for ibu, abv, og. etc, but since I'm using kölsch yeast, it's a kölsch in my book.

Darn tasty and another staple brew in my kitchen.

All Grain

7# 2 row Pils Malt
2.5 # Wheat Malt

Single infusion mash for 60 minutes at 151 degrees.

Boil for 90 minutes to reduce DMS from the Pils malt.

1 oz Perle 7.8% AA for 60 minutes
1/2 oz. Tettnanger 4.4% AA for 15 min.
1/2 oz. Tettnanger 4.4% AA for 5 mi.

WLP029 with a starter.

Ferment for 10 days at 68 degrees, crash cool to 39 for 4 days or longer, then rack to keg.

BCB-Kolsch.jpg
 
This was the second of two bottles of beer that I swapped with EdWort...the first being his Stone IPA Clone.

The family got together tonight for a quick dinner of some lemon grilled chicken breast and some flashed fried whole wheat pasta with garlic and basil.

So we get the chicken in off the grill and everyting is sliced and ready to serve and that's bout the time I decide it's time to crack open this Kolsch from Ed.

I reach into the fridge and pull out my favorite 16 Oz chilled pilsner glass. Time to pop the top and no surprise...there's a nice solid fsssst of CO2 from the bottle.

The beer poured very nicely with a swirl of fine CO2 bubbles running from the bottom of the glass to the top. Within about 12 seconds, the CO2 selttled to a nice 1 inch head...very white and very frothy. The beer was a bright yellow and clear with just a slight hint of chill haze...typical of a Kolsch yeast beer. CO2 was effervesing very aggressively from the side and bottom of the glass.

I take a whiff and...nice. Very mellow. No real hops "attack" and a slight malt undertone. Without even taking a drink I can tell this is going to have "crisp pilsner" written all over it.

First sip was just after a sample of my grilled chicken so I was thirsty and WOW...very refreshing. Very "bright" in flavor. The mellow tone of the hops was perfectly balanced by the crisp cold carbonation.

I gave my SWMBO a small galss to sample and in typical SWMBO fashion she remarked..."this is better than yours...did you get the recipe???".

I recon that about sums up the overall review of this great beer. When the SWMBO has a Kolsch named after her "Colleen's Kolsch" and she declares another's Kolsch is better...that must be a good beer.

Hats off to Ed for another great beer...and for those of you fortunate enough to get some of his brews in the "swap"...consider yourselves lucky.
 
Wow. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I popped a 32 ouncer that I brought with me to Ohio and I'm impressed with the carbonation level from the force kegging . SWMBO loves this one too. It's the closest to a German pilsener for one of my beers. Colleens Kölsch is darn tasty too and the bottle conditioning made for some great carbonation and a lacey head.
 
Reidman said:
Would I omit the crash cooling if I want to bottle this?

I would as I would not want my bottling yeast to go to dormancy. Perhaps a bottling brewer will chime in.
 
I have crashed cooled beers that I bottle, there were enough yeast in suspension to carb.
 
I brewed this about 3 weeks ago for my wife (she only drinks yellow beers). I was a little concerned after my first (uncarbonated) taste test because it tasted really bitter. (Fine for me, not for my wife) Now, four days later, chilled and carbonated, I love it!

I also learned that the"crisp" mouthfeel I wasn't getting with my other Kolsches was due to their lower IBUs. My previous Kolshes actually came out dryer than this one but I think the higher IBU mixed with some high carbonation really gave this one that crisp bite that I've been looking for.

So Edwort, thanks and congrats on a winner recipe! :)
 
Thanks. I think it's more like a German pilsener and I enjoy that. Great German beer without the extra work of lagering.

Wait till a few more weeks from now, it will be even better.
 
Oh, I almost forgot, the lacing on this thing was amazing. I just took this photo, a good 10 minutes after finishing the pint. Did you notice this with yours, Ed?

kolsch.jpg
 
More beer porn :) Here's a shot of the glass full. It's still pretty green and needs another week or two to clear, but look at that head. Good lord!

kolsch2.jpg
 
shlap said:
More beer porn :) Here's a shot of the glass full. It's still pretty green and needs another week or two to clear, but look at that head. Good lord!

kolsch2.jpg

Freeeekin Awesome! Wait till it is a 8 weeks old. It's a mighty fine brew!

Congrats on a job well done!
 
Hey Ed

I am going to do a half batch of this sometime during the week. I am going to get the yeast in a starter tonight. Supplies on hand are the deciding factor of the batch size. I'm a couple pounds short of pils to be able to do the kolsch and the octoberfest. So instead of looking at it in the negitive, I decided it was really win-win. I get about a case of tasty Kolsch while making a nice healthy yeast cake to dump the octoberfest onto.

Any words of advice or things you noticed in the brewing of this beer? Hints help and tricks are all welcome. ;)
 
Robar said:
Hey Ed

Any words of advice or things you noticed in the brewing of this beer? Hints help and tricks are all welcome. ;)

Make a good starter and watch your fermentation temps. After it gets going it likes to ferment at the colder ranges of Ale yeasts. I use my freezer with a controller for it.
 
Excellent! Right now my basement is running in between 64 and 66 depending on how warm it gets outside so a trip downstairs after it gets going will do the trick.
 
Hey Ed

Ended up being only a few miles from the brew store on Tuesday so I picked up a few extra pounds of grain to make a full batch of Kolsch. As we have descussed before I am having an efficiency problem that I believe is water related. But upping the recipe 10% I thought I would hit the mark. Well I after the mashing I had everything in the boil pot I could tell I was so I added a half pound of lite DME to bring it up.

I wanted to stay try to your brewing philosophy and not add honey or any number of things that would have brought up the gravity. This was about my only option at that stage of the game. The other three recipes of your that I have brewed all went short on the OG as well. Would adding some prepared DME to there secondaries work to bring them up? I generally miss by a point, meaning...

Haus ale is suposed to be 1.051 and I ended up with a 1.041 I didn't bump the Haus, Stone, or IPA and generally fell this same point short. Would say 3/4 lb of DME per in the secondary work to bring me up to grade and still keep the beers fairly true to what they are suposed to be?

Thanks for all the help and the recipes Ed.
 
I would not add any DME to the beer, espcially if it has not yet been boiled for some time. Adding it to the secondary will just be introducing new fermentables and I'm not sure how it would turn out.

If you want to add DME to bring up the O.G., the time to do it is in the last 15 minutes of the boil.

Stick with the all grain and work on your technique. Your efficiency will improve.

Describe your mashing technique. That's where you need to focus your efforts.
 
I had figured that the DME would have to be boiled for 10 minutes as if your were making a starter, but if I can improve efficiency through technique that is obviously the better choice.

I crush using a barley crusher. I have read where yourself and others talk about setting it a bit more coarse then factory to the one o'clock position. On the crank side this is actually 11 o'clock as 1 oclock wouls make it a finer setting.

I start with water treated with "five two" to bring my water ph to 5.2, depending on the mash temp needed, I bring the water to 168 to 172. I put about a gallon into the 10 gal. rubbermaid mashtun, then dump in my crushed grain. I then add enough water to bring it to 1.25 -1.5 qts. per pound of grain. (I shoot for 1.25, but sometimes it takes a bit more to hit correct temp.)

I stir at about ten minutes and then at about 20 At 30 minute mark I add 3qts of water that is at mash temp and start recirculating. I usually get it through about 4 gallons of reciculation then run it into my catch pot.

Next I come in with the remander of the water at or slightly above mash temp. Stir and let sit for 10 then stir and let rest another 5-10 minutes then recirculate another 3-4 gallons worth before running off to my catch pot.

Then it's onto the boil. Do see problems with this? Trust me when I say I hope you see a huge glaring error that can be corrected to make my efficiency be where it should.

Thanks again Ed
 
I preheat my 10 gallon cooler with hot tap water. I then add all my mash water to the cooler, then the grain a bit at a time while stirring till it's all added. I check temp then and am usually spot on. I will stir two more times before adding any sparge water. Sparge water is 170 degrees. On the second batch, I add the water, stir, wait ten minutes, stir, then vorlauf. I've never recirculated more than two quarts (I use a plastic beer pitcher from the Wurst Fest), before I open the valve wide open.

Are you getting any flour when your grind?
 
EdWort said:
Are you getting any flour when your grind?

I get some as well as a small portion of grain that gets no crush. I have wondered about the dusty flour and thought that maybe the grain was extra dry. The only problem with that is that the turn over of stock for my LHBS is high. That store does a LOT of business. Lots of the young people from the many collages in town and the surrounding area shop there as well as us older guys. So I can't believe that the grain has a chance to get dry beyound what its shipped at. I have been to your area and I would say our humidity is about the same so that should give you an idea of what the air is like here. It's just hotter in your area!!

I will be brewing on sunday and though I was planing on a red I will brew one of your recipes instead using the method you described to see what happens. The haus pale would be a good choice as I can pitch onto a yeast cake. My brew log says that the Haus will be more then ready to rack over by sunday.

How long do you wait from mash-in until you take your first wort? Is my time frame of stir at 10 then 20 and then volauf at 30 correct? Should I be waiting longer?
 
Robar said:
How long do you wait from mash-in until you take your first wort? Is my time frame of stir at 10 then 20 and then volauf at 30 correct? Should I be waiting longer?

I wait 60 minutes from Mash in before I vorlauf. All my recipies are a 60 minute mash. The Hefe is a 90 minute mash.
 
I'll give it the longer wait and see where I end up. It certainly can't hurt, worse case scenario I'm adding a half hour to my brew time. I'm not sure if it will improve my efficientcy, but am willing to give it an honest try.
 
Pick up some tincture of iodine at your local pharmacy and do an iodine test before you mash out to see if there are any unconverted starches.

I'd also adjust your BC to 1 O'Clock. You don't want uncracked grain hulls. Get them all cracked-crushed. A little flour is a good thing.
 
Will do on the 1 o'clock. I have the iodine and do the test. Not on every brew but maybe half or every third.
 
this was my 4th all grain batch.
the day after thanksgiving we brewed your Haus Pale Ale, and made a starter with two cups of unhopped boiled wort.
on saterday, we brewed your Kolsch and pitched in the starter from the day before. a little less than 5.5gl in a 7gl bucket.
sunday morning we have Krausen bubbling out of the airlock!smells frikin great fermenting at 63
a little late to ask did you use red or white wheat? red is in mine.
 
I really want to make a kolsch, and I figured yours would be a great place to start as I trust your recipes greatly...but I have a problem. I will not be kegging. This will be my first time doing any kind of cold fermenting, and I'm nervous about bottling the beer following a cold secondary. (I think I'm leaning towards 20 days at about 38-40 degrees) Someone please tell me everything is going to be allright.
 
Ed.

In an effort to streamline the bulk grain.. I am looking to get...
Is 2row Pils different from the 2row pale from your haus pale ale?

2nd Question: The wheat in Kolsch the same as you use in your hefe?

See what I am driving at?
 
Ed,
Thanks, this is one fine beer, and a big hit with some of my beer drinkin buddys.
now to get them to pitch in on some grain.
 
tgrier said:
Ed.

In an effort to streamline the bulk grain.. I am looking to get...
Is 2row Pils different from the 2row pale from your haus pale ale?

2nd Question: The wheat in Kolsch the same as you use in your hefe?

See what I am driving at?

The pils & wheat are the same for the Kolsch as well as the Hefe. They are differnent than the Pale.
 
If I wanted to do this as a partial mash, could I mash 2.5# of wheat with 2# of 2-row and make up the rest of the 2-row with LME or DME? Or is there an issue with the balance of wheat/2-row in the mash?
 
so there's no known rule, that you need to have so much 2-row in there? i could technically mash the wheat on its own?

as you say, only one way to find out, trouble is, i'm still new to this and wanted to know if i was falling into a known trap. otherwise... well, it always comes out as beer...

edit: found this page about grains, seems that it would be no problem in the mash: http://www.realbeer.com/spencer/FAQ/grain.html
 
Genius. I just tasted the first of this batch, brewed January 7th.
Now it's another brew that I have to keep making, but can't claim for my own....
 
My most recent batch of beer has a severe case of DMS. Since this recipe is mostly pilsner malt, would it benefit from a 90 min boil or is it ok with a 60 min boil?
 
drunkatuw said:
My most recent batch of beer has a severe case of DMS. Since this recipe is mostly pilsner malt, would it benefit from a 90 min boil or is it ok with a 60 min boil?
A...HA

Caught'ya over here perusing another recipe did I? :D

Heh..heh...

Definitley want to boil a pils malt hard for 90 minutes.

Never cover.

Cool as quickly a possible to below 140 (the DMS safe zone).
 
BierMuncher said:
I gave my SWMBO a small galss to sample and in typical SWMBO fashion she remarked..."this is better than yours...did you get the recipe???".

I recon that about sums up the overall review of this great beer. When the SWMBO has a Kolsch named after her "Colleen's Kolsch" and she declares another's Kolsch is better...that must be a good beer.

Well, after your glowing endorsement (and Mrs. BierMuncher), can you blame him? :D
 
TerapinChef said:
Genius. I just tasted the first of this batch, brewed January 7th.
Now it's another brew that I have to keep making, but can't claim for my own....

I feel the same way. My list of beers I'm serving looks like a billboard for the Bee Cave Brewery. But what can you do, the recipes are all awesome.
 
Ah, they're all your beers. You brewed them. The recipe only gave you some guidelines to get pointed in the right direction.
 
I know the Kolsch style is supposed to be very light in color, and crystal clear. Right now I only have the ability to bottle, so will crash cooling for 4 days @ 39F per the recipe kill my yeasties? Would it be better for bottling to use a secondary, and let it clear for another 10 days 55-60F?
 
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