Kolsch is a success!

My second batch of kolsch has been in bottles about a week or a week and a half. I tried one last night with some trepidation and man, was I pleasantly surprised! It was already good.

My first batch was another story. It didn't get good until it was about 6 weeks old. Then, when I had about a six-pack left and it was about 5 months old it REALLY got good.

Although this is really old news to most people here, I have really seen better results after getting a secondary carboy. I try to follow the 1-2-3 rule, but I find that I tend to be a bit slow on getting the beer bottled, so it tends to stay in the secondary a little longer than 2 weeks (ok, sometimes a LOT longer). My last two batches were drinkable in the bottles very quickly. They were actually a bit carbonated coming out of the secondary. The other thing that has really improved is clarity. My single carboy brews would get really clear, but only after they got to be 4-5 months old. Now with a secondary they are just as clear after about two weeks in bottles.

My kolsch blew. I used way too little priming sugar and it never carbonated more than just the tiniest bit.

I'll try again some day.

You should try another one. I think it's become one of my favorite styles of beer-- possibly because it doesn't really seem to be very available commercially in the U.S. Also, if you like a flavorful lager-style beer, but don't want to lager, kolsch's are a good way to go since it ferments well at the cooler end of ale fermenting temps.

The yeast tends to make a messy ferment with lots of milky trub, but the end result is worth it.

I have a 6er left from the first Kolsch I did 4 months back. Boy is it good. I did another Kolsch from a diferent recipie this morning and used wy1007 instead of the nottingham I used one the first one. It did seem to go fast for some reason.
I'll try to hold on to a few more the next time.

boo boo said:

I have a 6er left from the first Kolsch I did 4 months back. Boy is it good. I did another Kolsch from a diferent recipie this morning and used wy1007 instead of the nottingham I used one the first one. It did seem to go fast for some reason.
I'll try to hold on to a few more the next time.

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The WY1007 is a much better yeast for a kolsch. You could go back and rebrew the first one with the 1007 and I bet it would turn out even better.

The problem with the first brew was 1. I didn't have the right yeast, 2. I used saaz instead of spalt. I don't think I mucked up my brew as it turned out great, but it might not have been a "true" Kolsch type brew.
Now I'll try it with both spalt hops and WY1007 yeast, in fact it is bubbling away in the primary now.
I'm still expermenting with malt/hop/temperture differences to get a "feel" for the way different ingredients effect the final brew using the same yeast.