Orange Kolsch (AG/EX)
 

I promised myself that I would not post this recipe until it had been kegged, carb’d, chilled and served to my “audience”. I tapped it last night, sampled and served to my friends & family (mostly female) and it got a unanimous thumbs-up.

I love the overall light taste of Kolsch but I hate dealing with Kolsch yeast (takes forever to drop and really needs long, cold conditioning). I love the crisp citrus and coriander of Belgian Wits, but wanted a variation that didn’t rely on a 50% flaked wheat grain bill.

I used a typical Kolsch grain bill with some flaked wheat for a nice lacy white head and a normal Kolsch hops bill, tamed down a bit to compensate for the spiciness that the orange peel and coriander would add. I then went with a simple dry american ale yeast for a bit crisper finish than the Belgian wit offers.

The taste is fantastic. Crisp, mild and a definite orange undertone. The coriander is subtle enough that it simply lends some “snap” to the beer. Between 4.5% and 5%, this makes a great (fast) summer time ale.

If you’re looking for something the gals will enjoy, I highly recommend this recipe. For me, it’s going to be a house staple.

Notice the higher malt profile...this is offset by the coriander and orange peel.

Attachment 1812

Attachment 1918

10 – GALLONS AG (5 Gallon AG & Extract Recipes Below)

Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 13.54 gal
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG
Estimated Color: 4.9 SRM
Attachment 1811
Estimated IBU: 13.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.0 %
Boil Time: 70 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
16.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM
2.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
1.00 oz Hallertauer [3.00%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.10%] (20 min)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50%] (10 min)
0.75 oz Dried Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 10.0 min)
0.75 oz Dried Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 10.0 min)
1.00 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 10.0 min)
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-56)


5 – GALLONS AG

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.047 SG
Estimated Color: 5.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 13.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Hallertauer [3.00%] (60 min)
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.10%] (20 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50%] (10 min)
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 10.0 min)
0.50 oz Dried Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 10.0 min)
0.50 oz Dried Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 10.0 min)
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-56) Yeast-Ale

5 – GALLONS EXTRACT

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 5.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 12.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item
6.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Hallertauer [3.00%] (60 min)
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.10%] (20 min)
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50%] (10 min)
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 10.0 min)
0.50 oz Dried Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 10.0 min)
0.50 oz Dried Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 10.0 min)
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-56) Yeast-Ale

So...you only added orange peel and coriander to the boil?

I need to fix an orange blossom Cream ale (not enough orange) and I was thinking of adding some orange peel and coriander into the keg, kind of like a "dry spicing" to get more orange into it. You think that would work?

Definitley. I did that with a Belgian Wit batch and it really helped. I actually brought the dry ingredients to a boil in about a cup of water, let cool slightly and the added the mixture. Adding everything dry and I'm afraid it would take forever for the spices to hydrate and have any effect.

Awesome. Thanks!

EDIT: nevermind

Hey Thanks BM. I might have to give this a try soon, it sounds and looks great.

I'm also trying to learn what makes one type of beer different than another. Could someone please explain why this is considered a Kolsch? Is it the use of the noble hops, the color and possibly the use of a little bit of wheat grains?

I took a swing at this about a month ago and I tasted it as I transfered to secondary today and it tasted really good. It was a little dryer than I expected though. I mashed at 152. Looking back, I probably should have mashed closer to 154. What do you typically mash this at BierMuncher?

I also under-sparged and ended up closer to 4.5 gallons which caused my OG to be slightly higher (1.051), but mine finished quite a bit lower too (1.009). Do you think this could have been because I mashed at 152?

Thanks for the recipe!

Two things come to mind:

I typically mash at around 155. The half gallon short along with a lower mash would have dried it out some. I'd imagine it tastes pretty good though.

I brewed some of this in the summer when my ferment temps were around 69-72. That might be a bit higher than you came up with and given me some slight esters.

The most important thing it to remember that the primary-to-secondary taste will certainly improve.

Any thoughts on using fresh Orange peel on this? If so, how much would you use? I live in Florida and have great access to some unbelievable fresh fruit. I was even thinking on trying to replace the bitter orange peels with grapefruit peel.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

The good thing about this recipe, is that you can continually adjust up the orange flavor by incremental additions to the secondary.

For the recipe listed, I'd be tempted to add 2 whole ounces of grated orange peel. The freshness of your oranges will offset the fact that they weigh more because of the water content.

Add two ounces and taste the wort about 10 days into fermentation. If it's light on taste. Boil up another ounce in a cup of water, cool and add.