Thor said:
Peetreek, others...are there any commercially available examples of a Koelsch? I never heard of that variety before.
Thanks!
I don't have any suggestions other than the ones already posted; unfortunately I missed the Shiner Koelsch when I was in Texas, but I've never had a good one at any American micros. It's all I drink when I'm in Koeln, though
And to address your original question, getting a lager-like beer with an ale process, I think this is the way to go. I just racked my Koelsch to secondary, and took a small taste as I was measuring the gravity; it's GOOD. I used Czech pilsner ingredients (Vienna malt, only Saaz hops) and it actually tastes incredibly like a Czech pilsner. I'm actually pleasantly surprised, and I'm picky about that style. It's a little too bitter than I usually like in a lager; I used about 30 IBU of saaz, which is probably over the top. Anyway, here's a summary of my recipe with some suggested changes; it does use a partial mash, but you can just leave out the carapils if that's too much of a hassle for you. PM or post a reply if you want any more detail.
Grain Bill:
* 3.3 lbs, Muntons extra-light liquid extract
* 2 lbs, Muntons light English dry extract (2 x 1 lb. packet)
* 1 lb. Pilsner malt (grain)
* 1/2 lb. Vienna malt (grain; 2.2-2.9 Lovibond)
* 1/2 lb. Carapils (grain; a/k/a dextrin malt, carafoam)
* 2 oz Munich (grain; 9.9-13 Lovibond)
Things I might do differently with the grain next time: leave out the Munich or reduce it to 1 oz. I complained earlier that the wort was "orange", but once the haze settled, it's only a bit too dark for a Pils. Way lighter than an Amber ale or anything like that.
Hops: 28-30 IBU
* 1 oz Saaz pellets, 3.7 α
* 4 oz Saaz whole leaves, 2.6 α
I only used 2 different kinds of Saaz because the store had 4-oz packets of whole flowers, but let you measure your own pellets. In retrospect, this is a bit much as I suggested earlier, 20 IBU is probably plenty and you could live with only 4 oz of hops.
Yeast:
* "German Koelsch" (Whitelabs product #WLP029)
Misc: 1 Tbsp Irish Moss
Mini-mash:
Take all grains (approx. 2.1 lbs), heat 2 qt water to 125F. Strike grains, rest at 120 for 20 minutes (protein rest). Add 1/2 or 1 qt boiling water to raise temp to 140F for a 25-minute beta rest. Add a full qt boiling water to raise the temp to 155 or 160 for a 30-minute alpha rest. Sparge with at least 3 qt water at 170F.
Boil:
Remove grains & add extracts to boil pot, bring to rolling boil. At minute 0, add 2 oz leaf plus 1 oz pellet Saaz (bittering). At time 40, add 1 oz leaf Saaz (flavor). At time 45, add Irish Moss (fining). At time 58, add 1 oz leaf Saaz (aroma). Time 60, stop boiling and start cooling. I left my aroma hops in the primary.
Fermenting: I pitched the yeast at 70F, and left my fermenter in a cool room with the window open a crack so it would stay around 65F for the duration of primary. The ferment was slow to start (shake the bucket, don't open and stir, if it still hasn't started in 24 hr) and smelled of sulphur a LOT, but the beer seems to be turning out great. I just racked to secondary after about 16 days of primary; I'll keep you posted when I bottle.