want to brew a Kolsch BUT...

I really dont have a way to make sure the fermentation tempertures will be low.

Can I brew a kolsch if I can keep to fermentation temps at around 65-70 but not much lower?????

I brewed a really nice kolsch about a month ago, all I had to do was wrap a wet towel around the fermenter to keep the temp in the 60 to 65 range and the wyeast kolsch strain I used made a very clean almost lager like beer.

+1 for the wet towel and a fan. By my reckoning, it'll knock a solid 10 degrees F off of the fermenting temperature. You'll need to re-wet the towel twice a day or so, but it'll get the job done.

Agreed. If you want it to come out as clean as possible you really need to try to keep the temp low and under control.

Its worth the extra effort to keep the temps low. The Kolsch yeast is very sensitive. Last year I brewed 10 gal. batch that was fermented around 68-70 and it has an awful sulfur taste. Almost undrinkable

elkdog said:

..You'll need to re-wet the towel twice a day or so, but it'll get the job done.

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Actually, if you can drop the carboy into a large plastic tube and fill the tub 1/2 way with water, a wet t-shirt draped around the carboy and partially submerged in the water will continuously wick water around the carboy and keep it cool.

good info. If I can ferment it at 60 or so for 5 days, can the temp go up on it a little after primary fermentation?????

ethangray19 said:

good info. If I can ferment it at 60 or so for 5 days, can the temp go up on it a little after primary fermentation?????

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After it's done fermenting you should be fine with slightly higher temps. Personally, I've found that cooler temps after fermentation help clear the beer a little faster, but if you plan on aging for a while you should be fine. And yes, the tub full of water works wonders; it has saved my a** many times.

BierMuncher said:

Actually, if you can drop the carboy into a large plastic tube and fill the tub 1/2 way with water, a wet t-shirt draped around the carboy and partially submerged in the water will continuously wick water around the carboy and keep it cool.

Click to expand...

I love it, thanks for the tip.

If you want to keep the water in the tub cold, freeze some bottles of water (like one-liter bottles) and swap them in and out of the water. That'll keep the water cold without adding to the volume of water in the tub as the ice melts. Swap out the melted bottles for frozen ones once a day or so.

This was the only thing keeping me from doing a lager. Thanks for the great advice!

What everybody said! In my house (76F) i was able to get my brew between 52F-58F but using an icebath/switching frozen 2 liters/wet t-shirt/fan combo. Thats a freakin' 25-ish degree differential!!!

awesome , I cant wait to try this !