Kölsch Bee Cave Brewery Kölsch

I'm thinking of making this my first AG beer. Since I am still reading and learning how to do an AG I have one stupid, but important question. With the single infusion mash, how much water do I use???? Do I use as much as I can boil or is there a method I am missing to calulate the mash amount?

Jason_Merritt said:

I'm thinking of making this my first AG beer. Since I am still reading and learning how to do an AG I have one stupid, but important question. With the single infusion mash, how much water do I use???? Do I use as much as I can boil or is there a method I am missing to calulate the mash amount?

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That can vary depending on your system, the recipe and personal experience but about 1.5 quarts per lb of grain is a good starting point.

Thanks. I'm sure I'll have more questions when I start this one in a couple of weeks.

Brewed This and 2 others from you Ed...Excellent Batches my Friend!

well I just ordered the ingredients for this one. It'll be my first kolsch.

Brewed this yesterday and checked my new fermentation chamber this afternoon and the thing is fermenting. I've never had blowoff before, but this thing was spitting yeast. Don't know if this is common for Kolsch yeast. I hope it's not infected... Oh well. i can see why my chest freezer has been keeping the beer at the upper end of the differential (68°). Looking forward to giving it a try.

I do want to ask one thing. I usually let my beers sit for four weeks before kegging. I've never been able to cold crash. Should i let this beer sit for longer than 10 days at 68° and then cold crash or would it be better to go ahead and cold crash for longer? I don't have enough experience to know if this yeast will clean up after it's cold crashed like other batches i've done.

I used Wyeast Kolsch and mine blew out of the airlock as well. This yeast, from my experience, is fairly tough to clear. My keg has been in the kegerator for about a month now and its still a bit hazy. I would cold crash it for sure if you have the capabilities before kegging.

would adding gelatin to the keg help clear a beer like this? I've used it many times before with my other beers. Is there a reason i couldn't use it to help clear this beer if i can't get it to clear via cold crash?

Next time I make this beer, I plan on using gelatin. I don't see why you couldn't. Not sure why I didn't it do it with the current batch I'm drinking either.

I'll be brewing this up this weekend, and I have a question: The last brew I made with a high percentage of pilsner malt recommended a 90 minute boil (for DMS). I got my grain from Brewmasterswarehouse; it's Briess Pilsner. Should I stick with the 60 minute boil or bump it up to 90?

Brewed this up last week. Used a bit less pils malt and a bit more wheat because that's what i had on hand. I also bittered with .6oz Magnum and did .5oz of tettnang every 5min from 20-0. Fermented very quickly and is down to 1.009 as of today. I'm going to leave it at ~65-68 for another few days then cold crash for a week or so since my kegerator is backed up anyways.

how would this recipe turn out if i am unable to crash cool it for 4 days?

i would be leaving it in the primary for 7 - 10 days at around 68, and then secondary for 2 - 3 weeks at around 72, then bottling.

sorefingers23 said:

how would this recipe turn out if i am unable to crash cool it for 4 days?

i would be leaving it in the primary for 7 - 10 days at around 68, and then secondary for 2 - 3 weeks at around 72, then bottling.

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No problem. It just helps the yeast settle out and you are doing a secondary which does just that.

I would leave it 2 weeks in the primary and let the yeasties finish cleaning up.

what is the volume of water used in the mash

what volume of strike and sparging water is used?

Different amounts are used for different systems...Use a program like BS. Or calculate roughly 1.25quarts of water per pound of grain. In my case I use 1.35

Quarts! He means quarts, not gallons!

Thank you...I fixed it, he would of had some watered down beer. I try to keep my initial strike/sparge water somewhat equal. I know if your doin fly sparging theres no need to worry. Iv'e never done a decoction so im not sure how you heat things up and let things rest.

Also account absorption...I always do my initial dough in, collect running's then see how much water is needed to collect final volume. Normally my BS tells me correct, just takes some getting use to and knowing what works and what doesn't.

Just put another batch on tap. After fermentation, I let it sit in the fridge for two weeks before kegging it. It cleared so beautifully.



-Joe

Edwort or someone smarter than I,

What (other than beer) would I have if I brewed these recipe with Wyeast 2112?
Would it be close to a Kolsch? Or closer to a CA steam beer?

Thanks

Allsup said:

Edwort or someone smarter than I,

What (other than beer) would I have if I brewed these recipe with Wyeast 2112?
Would it be close to a Kolsch? Or closer to a CA steam beer?

Thanks

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I'd say steam. Kolsch needs a Kolsch Ale yeast, 2112 is a lager yeast. Are you just a big Rush fan and only want to use 2112? But the flavor profile would be very similar. I've never used 2112, but I have used Wyeast Kolsch and it is very crisp and clean.

Not a big Rush fan. I just have some harvested 2112 yeast of a CA Common I did a couple weeks ago.

I'm going to make this tomorrow for New Years Eve party. I have my 1L starter on a stir plate. Also sipping on Eds Hefe

EDIT:Everything went good and hit mash temp of 152 and got good eff so I added some water at the end of the boil to get down to 1.054. Started with 7g and after water additions I ended up at 6g post boil. Im going to start lower my eff when I do these recipes which will cause me to add water instead of boiling longer. Refractometer and sight glass helps on hitting OG. Its fermenting in my keezer at 60*. Next time I need to add rice hulls

Bulk Grains at 50 cents a pound
8 lbs German pils
2 lbs German malted wheat

So I went to my LHBS to get the bill for this to brew tomorrow night.

I think I might have misspoken when ordering - but I now have 10lbs of pilsen mixed with my 2.5lbs wheat. Not the 8#/2.5# ratio this recipe calls for.

I got 2oz of perle and 2oz. of tetnang to have extra.

Any suggestions on what to do to keep this relatively on target? My efficiency for the only AG I have done is 80%.

Thanks!

AT

EDIT 12-23

I decided to make a second batch and pitch it onto the yeast cake.

8 lbs german pils
1.5 lbs german wheat
.5 lbs vienna

1 oz amarillo 60min

Has anyone had success brewing this recipe using either Nottingham or US-05? I have each of these on hand but not any liquid kolsch style yeast. I would have to order this since there is no LHBS within 75+ miles.

the yeast is the one thing that makes it a kolsch. but to answer your direct question: no, sorry.

Wow, very clear and a great taste after 18 days in the primary. Going to drop the temp for a few days then bottle since I don't have any taps free at the moment.

Just tapped my 2nd. Keg of this, and I gotta say it is a delightful treat. I am enjoying it a lot more then I thought I would. Matter of fact, I just ordered 2 more bags of German Pilsner and 1 more bag of German Light Wheat so that I can have this beer on tap all the time. Easy Grain bill, easy hop schedule, and a tasty beer. It's a winner all around. Thanks Ed!!!

I am going to brew this one for the first time this Friday, from everything I have read here about it, this will be one fantastic beer. Sounds like it may even be one of my house beers!! The other being EdWorts Haus Pale Ale which will be bottled this Friday!

This one has made my list of future brews. I'm still in search of my house brew.

EDIT Since I've never had a Kolsch before, I decided to try one before I decide to make it. The only one I found was Iron Fist Renegade Blonde which is a Kolsch style blonde ale. Not sure if this is what you made but its damn good regardless.

I fancy giving this a try, but I've got a garage full of Maris Otter. Would replacing the pils with maris otter have a 'slight' change on the flavour or make an entirely different beer?!

a_w_taylor said:

entirely different beer

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that's an understatement.

Stick with German Pils & Wheat malt, along with German Hops, and German Yeast for this wonderful German Bier!

Haha ok point taken, I'll put this on the back-burner for a couple of weeks!

What boil time did you guys use for this? The recipe calls for 60 minute boil. I haven't made anything with Pilsner malt but everything I have read said you should boil for 90 min to avoid DMS? If I boil for 90 minutes do I still keep the same hop schedule 60 min, 15 & 5?

Thanks in advance

In the past I've done 90min boils when using Pilsner malt. I did a 60min with this one based on the recipe. I had no issues with DMS. The beer tastes awesome. I had the same question when I first read the recipe, but I've also read that many modern Pilsner malts are modified enough to not require a 90min boil.

Any issues with stuck sparges with this recipe? I plan to make this on Saturday and have never brewed anything with wheat malt. I picked up Rice hulls just in case.

I had zero problems sans rice hulls.

I also did a 60min boil and it turned out great.

I mash in a cooler with a ss braid and batch sparge. I didn't use hulls either and had no issues.