Proper Kolsch?

CornyKegs 728
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Homercidal

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Ok, so I'm going to try to make a nice light beer again. I'm planning on Kolsch. The problem is, I always seem to make it with too much mouthfeel. I'm wanting a light dry beer this time and need some advice to get it done.

I've checked calibration on thermometers and everything seems ok, but I consistently feel as though as though I'm mashing too high or not getting the yeast to finish properly.

Any tips on making a good one would be appreciated (unless they are smart ass comments, then they will be appreciated based on their humour level...)
 
I would aim for about 148 on the mash and build a starter for the yeast. As long as the grain bill is mostly base malt you should be fine.
 
I haven't tried a great variety of Kolsch beer so take this with a grain of salt, but every single one I did try were medium-light to medium on the mouth feel.

Are you maybe expecting it to be lighter than it really is? Or have you actually tried one that was light enough for you but you can't seem to get yours to come out as light?
 
i'm down to my last few bottles of my kolsch. while it's the lightest beer i've ever made, it's still not a pilsner. it has more mouthfeel than that.

but if you want lighter, you could bastardize the recipe an add a little sugar to thin it out.
 
I made one that wasn't truly a Kolsch, but turned out good on the whole. SMaSH brew with Michigan Malt Co. 2-row and Willamette, brewed up with some Bell's yeast I harvested from their Amber. Mashed around 149 and it turned out VERY light colored and relatively dry. A little bit yeasty but not bad once I let it get past a couple days in a bottle. I aimed a little higher on the carbonation... thinking 2.3 vols CO2? I was pleasantly surprised how good it was overall. Might fit the bill for what you have in mind...
 
mendesm said:
I haven't tried a great variety of Kolsch beer so take this with a grain of salt, but every single one I did try were medium-light to medium on the mouth feel.

Are you maybe expecting it to be lighter than it really is? Or have you actually tried one that was light enough for you but you can't seem to get yours to come out as light?
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I've had a few and I don't think I'm expect pilsner. Just my lighter beers are always too full tasting. Thickness in the mouthfeel.

Maybe I'm just mashing too high. I think the last one I tried was just base malt with a touch of flavor grain like vienna or munich. I don't have my beersmith recipe list at work right now to look it up.

I have some willamette I can use. Is this what is considered one of the more common hops for a kolsch? I thought willamette was like an English hop. Fuggles like.
 
Maybe the problem is not getting enough CO2 into solution. I should crank up the gas a bit and see if that helps this time. I feel my process is generally suitable, so I am not sure what else it could be. I've got kolsch yeast from Bells store I can build up for a nice big pitch. Also got to remember to see if I can find some O2 soon. An O2 kit is on my short list for birthday presents.
 
forstmeister said:
I would aim for about 148 on the mash and build a starter for the yeast. As long as the grain bill is mostly base malt you should be fine.
Click to expand...

I agree with this fellow... 148 is a good start...

If not what you are shooting for go lower.

My Kolsch ferments at the low end of the yeasts range for a couple weeks.
A couple days at room temp for the D-Rest.
Laget in the low 40s for a couple more weeks (longer if I don't need it right away.

I last one I did not follow thie recipe because I was on vacation so it fermented at 68 for three weeks, was kegged and rested at 68 for a month... was a bit to hoppy for me...

DPB
 
Do you have a decent amount of Chloride in your water? If so, perhaps you could dilute your water with RO.
 
I've always used RO and added a little bit back into that. My water is highly alkaline and is great for stouts, but for wits, blondes, kolsch, even pale ales, I have to dilute with RO at LEAST by 50%, but usually I just use 100% purified for anything that's not at least amber.
 
Ah, ok. Thats not it, then! Definitely try pitching more yeast/use O2 - perhaps you're not getting the best attenuation you could. Also, I think you might be on to something with your carbonation comment maybe crank it up a bit higher.

Let us know what works!
 
Maybe not O2. I always try to aerate my shaking/pouring, but an O2 is def on the short list (I'm also building a EHERMS system, so that's also trying to fit into my time/money with other things).

I hope I can remember to start the yeast starter at lunch. By the time I get a brew done and the Kolsch lagered I will be out of the IPA.
 
I bet doing a nice big starter will help even without O2. When you decide to get an O2 setup, I'd recommend the one from WilliamsBrewing. Having the stone on the end of a wand really helps.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/WILLIAMS-OXYGEN-AERATION-SYSTEM-P699.aspx

I'll be honest, I often start the starter the night before brewday. Its usually done fermenting by the time the brew is done, I throw it in the fridge to get the yeast to drop out. I pitch the next day. I've not had any troubles with sanitation yet (knock on wood).
 
What are your SG and FG's?

Are you using Kolsh yeast?

I find Kolsh yeast and Dusuldorff Alt yeast both have a distinct flavor profile that is sweet and somewhat full, in that it gives a perception of a less attenuated beer, but it is fairly dry when looking at the FG.
 
Which kolsch are you using? Kolsch is my house beer, usually do 10 gallons a month to keep the natives happy. I ran out of wyeast one time and had to use white labs, it was not even close to the same beer. I only use wyeast and let it lager for 2 months, mash 90 min. at 149 degrees.
 
Pilsner malt, right? In my experience, some pilsner malts could use a protein rest to help it out. Otherwise it turns out a little too "thick"
 
All good points. I'll have to review my recipe to remember what malt I used, but it was probably pilsner, and I've never done a protein rest.

2 months is too long to lager. I only have 1 keg of IPA on tap right now!!
 
If I have everything dialed in, I can turn my Kolsch around in 6 weeks. Besides making sure your CO2 is up a bit, you might add a little more bittering hops. I find with lighter styles, more bitterness seems give the appearance of lighter body compared to a similar beer with lower IBU's

I was very surprised at just how bitter the Kolsch were in Cologne. Very different from the domestic versions I had tried/brewed. All of the ones we tried except for one, had more bitterness than we expected, and a couple were quite bitter, and very German pilsner like, except for the bit of fruitiness.

I'm also an advocate of a protein rest, but I'm obviously in the minority there.
 
Forgot to say that I ferment at 62 for 1 week, then raise it to 67, one degree a day, hold for a week and cold crash.
You don't have to lager for 2 months. You should be able to go grain to glass in 4 weeks.
 
Blah. I had ONE simple thing to remember to do last night: Make a yeast starter.

After taking kid to dance and then running over to the school for band concert, get home and go to bed to watch the Wings lose to Shicago. No thought about sanitizing a flask and pouring in the yeast and wort. The wort was already canned and ready to go too! It would have taken literally 3 minutes!

So now I'm going to set an alarm on my phone...
 
Source German grains, Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast, mash at 148 and use Hallertau hops.
 
Hops. Spalt, Tettnang, Hallertau. Soft mineral water. Lightest German Pils malt. Dough in with cool water, rest 1/2 hour to saturate everything. Lower mash pH 5.1-5.3 using sauer malt. Acid rest at 95F until pH drops to 5.5. At that point pull a decoction, heat to 125F and rest for 15 min.. Then raise to 145F and rest for 20 min, then bring to a rapid boil. Boil 15 min. (During the decoction phase the main mash pH will continue to fall to 5-5.2). Add boiling decoction to mash tun to hit 125F in main mash. Immediately fire mash tun and raise the main mash from 125F to 148F within 20 min.. Rest at 148F for 20 min.. (You can do a decoction, but it will darken the product, slightly. Firing the mash tun keeps the product lighter). Fire mash tun and raise to 150F, rest till conversion. No mash out. Fly sparge until run off hits 5.8 pH. Soon as the boiler kettle bottom is covered with wort add 1/10th oz hops (if doing a 7 gallon boil) and start to boil. The small amount of hops will help the hot break form early. Skim off any gunk and hops that come to the top. Boil past hot break and add the bittering hops. Boil 60-70 minutes. Ferment. Age below 40F for a couple of months. Have patience to age it out.
 
Well, the Kolsch I made isn't too bad. I think it needs a bit more aging, and it could be a bit drier, or maybe a little more carbonation, but not bad.

I think I may try some Simcoe next time. Call it a "Simkolsch"!
 
Here's what I made based on posts in this forum and a German recipe site:

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Heimat Kölsch
Brewer: Sven
Asst Brewer:
Style: Kölsch
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.83 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.02 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 3.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 78.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 72.7 %
2 lbs 12.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2 25.0 %
4.0 oz Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.3 %
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 26.0 IBUs
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) Other 5 -
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 6 -
0.25 oz Saaz [2.90 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 0.8 IBUs
0.25 oz Tettnang [8.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 1.2 IBUs
2.0 pkg German Ale/Kolsch (frozen stock) (White Yeast 9 -


Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Double
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Maltose rest Add 21.77 l of water at 149.2 F 143.0 F 90 min
Dextrinization Decoct 6.89 l of mash and boil it 162.0 F 30 min
Mash Out Decoct 3.00 l of mash and boil it 168.0 F 20 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.65 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
------
Left valve of mash tun open after purging hot water. During mash-in some liquid got lost and I replaced it with 1 gal of 143F water and added 12 oz of Pilsner malt and 4 oz of wheat malt.

Decoction volumes given by Beersmith were way off. Needed to pull grains twice more to reach the dextrinization temperature. Temperature of the decoction most likely increased too quickly since the burner is very powerful.

Did diacetyl rest on 7/4 overnight at 19 C.

Set temp to 16.5 C on 7/16.

Set temp to 15 C on 7/17.

Transfer to secondary on 7/18 and put in fridge (~40-44F).


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...

I only bottled a few days ago but when I tried it it was awesome! I grew up in Cologne and was never too fond of Kölsch but I missed it so much that I had to brew one. I can't wait until it's carbonated; if I remember I'll update with more info. :mug:
 

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