German Ale/Kolsch yeast

I'm planning on using White Labs German Ale/Kolsch yeast to make a light beer for a weekend long drinking fest at a buddies house. My question is that in the description of the yeast, it produces slight sulfur during fermentation and dissipates with time. The question is how long does it need to age? I plan on fermenting 7-10 days in primary and moving to secondary for 14 days and kegging.

Next question, I am planning on making 10 gallons of said beer, My plan is to make a large starter and pitch half of the starter into each fermenter. Question is how big should the starter be and would one tube of yeast be sufficient to make a large starter. I've played with Mr. Malty and it says to use 2 tubes of yeast, although I'm not sure what I'm doing with the app.

I had thought of making a single smaller starter and then pitching it into two separate starters and then pitch each individually into each batch. Or simply just divide a single large starter into each fermenter?

And finally the best by date is June 12 or something like that, I'm planning on brewing in the next week or so. Is the yeast okay? I know the answer probably is "make a starter and find out" or "if your that worried buy another tube." It's one of those things you know the answer to but would like to hear what others think.

Thanks

I kept my Kolsh in the fermenter for 3 weeks and I had no sulfur in the resulting beer.

What is the OG of the beer?

Most Kolsch yeast are slow to clear, even with a lager period. If you don't mind a cloudy beer in 3-4 weeks, then go for it. However it is usually a much clearer and cleaner beer after 6-8 weeks. You may want to consider another, faster flocculating yeast if you pinched for time.

Estimated O.G. is 1.042.

I'm not pinched for time, don't really want to wait 6-8 weeks either. What yeast would you suggest? Also I'm not planning on lagering, don't have the equipment.

Thanks again.

If you want something clear in 3 weeks I would suggest s05,1056 or wlp001.

I got a Blonde that I did with a Kolsch yeast in the keg for 2 weeks and its still cloudy.

If you do use a Kolsch yeast if you are using a simple starter, you would need a 4L starter for a 10 gal batch of 1.042 ale.

You can make a pretty clean beer with WY1056 or WY1099 or it's equivalent. 1099 may taste a bit more fruity, but is a fast bugger. Really depends on what you are looking for.

Another option would be to make an american wheat and embrace the cloudiness

You could always "lager" in the keg for a couple weeks to cold crash the yeast, and jump the beer to serving kegs for the trip.

I'm looking for a fairly clean clean yeast in as short a time as possible, I hadn't thought of cold crashing in the fridge, sounds like a good idea.

I know what I'm about to say may be blasphemy but I'm trying to create a better Bud Light Lime (gasp!!!) I know that trying to create something as clean tasting as Bud Light is close to the impossible zip code, so I'll settle for something better.

I like the idea of using WY 1056 especially when fermented cooler it has citrus notes, but the problem is I already have the German Ale/Kolsch yeast. Although I'll probably jump on the American Ale yeast grenade and chock up the German Ale/Kolsch yeast purchase as a learning experience, its close to its best by date.

Additionally, I planning on brewing a Belgian Wit to bring along for the few who like beer with a little more flavor.

Put the Kolsch yeast in the fridge and brew a proper Kolschy with it soon. It's a great beer for summer. If you brew in the next couple weeks, it can be ready for the dog days of summer.

Sounds good, point me in the right direction toward a good recipe?

If your looking for a BMC type beer try this one: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/
Simple cheap and you can use a dry yeast too.

There's a few tried and true recipes in the HBT recipe section under Light Hybrid Ales. I just brewed one a couple weekends ago, and went basic with just Pilsner and a bit of light Munich for color and a little bit of flavor. Only hop addition was for bittering, as it's all about the yeast in this one!

Yeah, a proper Kolsch recipe is pretty much 100% German pilsner, 1.048 OG and 17 IBU's of noble hop bittering addition... and that's it. The more I've played around with the recipes the worse results I get... just pitch plenty of yeast, ferment it cool and give it at least twice as much time at each stage as you would regular ale yeast and you'll have great success.

+1 on the kolsch yeast.

I actually made a hoppy wheat (simcoe/amarillo) with a kolsch yeast that turned out fantastic. It was about 35IBU and 5%. It was fermented around 60F and came out really clean. Big wheat aroma and taste with an excellent hop kick that was like chewing on fresh grapefruit rind. I primaried 8 days and dry hopped 14. Opened a bottle 2 weeks after and there was no sulfur character at all.

markg388 said:

The more I've played around with the recipes the worse results I get... just pitch plenty of yeast

Click to expand...

If you consider a true German mindset, this makes the most sense. Consider their view of form vs function. If it's not necessary, it's not there.

Many Kolsch recipes are too complex for their own good. I started with the Black Widow recipe, and over the years have trimmed the excess. Last batch was close with just pilsner, wheat and munich. My currently fermenting batch is without wheat, as it's rather uncommon according to the BJCP guidelines.

The main flaw in my recipes to date have been too much fruitiness from the yeast. The WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast tamed that last batch, but it still wasn't as clean as it should be. The wheat affects the clarity, as well as the taste.

I used the Wyeast Kolsch yeast and after 4 weeks in primary at 59F it was clear ( I did use whirfloc in the boil). It bottled nice and clear, but there is chill haze which starts to drop after a week ( following 3 weeks at 70F to carb). If I had the room I would have cold crashed before bottling.