Kölsch Bee Cave Brewery Kölsch

Just took a sip of the Kolsch...WOW, very good! This has been kegged for 9 days, and it tastes mighty fine, very similar to Victory's Prima Pils. I might like this one better than your pale ale...

wfd146 said:

Just took a sip of the Kolsch...WOW, very good! This has been kegged for 9 days, and it tastes mighty fine, very similar to Victory's Prima Pils. I might like this one better than your pale ale...

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Yes, it comes across like a Bitburger Pils. Victory Prima is the BEST domestic German style pils I have ever tasted. Thanks.

Prima is one of my faves as well. This fermented in an Ale Pale that was placed in an Igloo "cube" cooler filled with water and 1-2 frozen water bottles. I tried to change the bottles twice a day. The water temp was around 60 degrees.

i racked mine to secondary today and the beer was incredibly foggy coming out out of the primary. has anyone else experienced this? hopefully it will clear up a lot in the secondary. i suppose i should have tried gelatin, but oh well.

smelled damn good and tasted OK for flat and warm. this was my first all grain and the OG was only 1.040 and the FG was about 1.010, not quite the ABV i wanted, but it should be a good session beer.

So what happens if I don't cold crash this and use Isenglass the clear it in secondary? I'm guessing the worst thing is the beer might be cloudier than it would be otherwise.

i finally got around to kegging mine after an extended period in the secondary in my basement. it's been 'crash cooling' in the keg for 2 days and i pumped 30 psi on it for both days, not she's at 10 psi and the first glass is a little undercarbed but tasting very nice!

questions: do you normally get a few cloudy pints at first?

also, what pressure do you serve this at?

thanks for the recipe!

Anyone not use finings or clarifiers in Edwort's Kolsch? I forgot to add my irish moss during the boil. I'm curious if it will clear up like it should after cold conditioning or will I be keeping it cold for extended periods prior to kegging for nothing.

Should be great either way - I hit all the numbers, mashed @ exactly 151 to 150 for 60 minutes, OG 1.052, just over 5.5 gal wort in the fermenter. I'm using the WYeast 2565 strain.

Thanks!

Pangea

Heh, I did that too...totally forgot to use the irish moss in the boil. I ended up adding some gelatin finings to clear it up about a week ago. It's almost totally clear now, but I'm still going to wait for a couple more weeks before I attack that keg in earnest.

On a kind of related note, I've found that Nottingham yeast produces a beer that tastes almost exactly like Lost Coast's Great White beer. It clears quickly, and is a great "grain to glass" in about 2 weeks. Definitely not a "kolsch" without the proper yeast, but a very tasty beer...maybe qualifies as a blonde ale?

TwoHeadsBrewing said:

Heh, I did that too...totally forgot to use the irish moss in the boil. I ended up adding some gelatin finings to clear it up about a week ago. It's almost totally clear now, but I'm still going to wait for a couple more weeks before I attack that keg in earnest.

On a kind of related note, I've found that Nottingham yeast produces a beer that tastes almost exactly like Lost Coast's Great White beer. It clears quickly, and is a great "grain to glass" in about 2 weeks. Definitely not a "kolsch" without the proper yeast, but a very tasty beer...maybe qualifies as a blonde ale?

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This is the second time in a row I forgot to add the moss. But last time it was a weizen so it doesn't really make a big impact. I'd like this one to come out fairly clear, with maybe just a bit of chill haze.

I was also thinking about a new strain for this recipe, wondering about using US-05. Think I may try it next time istead of the kolsch to see what happens - the goal being higher flocculation and clarity without finings, plus perhaps a suitable beverage that is ready to be quaffed sooner.

Just kegged this after ~3 weeks in primary and a couple days @ 38F. It came out crystal clear w/ just a little irish moss and no finings.

The sample I tasted was fantastic even uncarbed! W/ that being said, I just realized a few minutes ago that I had actually mashed at the wrong temp (154F) w/o even knowing it. It finished out at 1.011-1.012ish, which actually ended up making it taste a little sweeter like a "normal" kolsch which is perfectly fine by me! Next time I'll try it a little drier, but this looks like it's going to become one of my favorite beers yet. Thanks for the recipe Ed!

I just kegged this sucker. Tastes fantastic out of the hydrometer tube. It spent 3 weeks at ferm temps then crashed to 34F for a week. OG 1.052 and FG 1.011. I mashed at 151 but used the Wyeast Kolsch. Curious why my FG didn't get lower. Doesn't really matter anyway because the flavor of this one is outstanding so far. I cant wait until carbed!!! This is a winner. Very simple and very tasty.

I used gelatin after forgetting kettle finings. Looks like its not crystal clear but not cloudy like a wheat. We'll see how clarity turns out after a few days settling in the keg.

Bottled this one today. Finished at 1.008. Nice and dry but some maltiness is definitely present. My wife picked out a slight pear note to it and dang if she wasn't right.

Thanks, Ed.

This Kolsch is now officially the fastest drained batch I've made. Everyone loves it. It really is very pilsner like. Probably the best beer I've made - literally everyone who tried it liked it, including the women who dont drink beer! Well Done Ed!!!

The chicks dig Edwort's Kolsch.
SWMBO on left thinks its the best homebrew yet. 5.5 gallons lasted 3 days.

I found 2 bottles in the brew shop on Sunday that I brewed on 5/18/2008. The two kegs are long gone, but I had a little over 10 gallons when I kegged it, so I had a few bottles. Opened one tonight and boy is it still good. I'm going to brew another kolsch soon, this is some good stuff.

quick question. Just had my wife pick up the stuff for this recipe and I want to brew it tonight. I just got the yeast so I have not made a starter. Can I just pitch the vial with no problems.

by the way this will be my first all-grain.

craigbrew said:

quick question. Just had my wife pick up the stuff for this recipe and I want to brew it tonight. I just got the yeast so I have not made a starter. Can I just pitch the vial with no problems.

by the way this will be my first all-grain.

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You can, but it may have a lag time of up to 36 hours.

I had a really low O.G. (1.029). This was my first all-grain. I have a 5 gal round cooler but I haven't got the ball valve for it so I took a 5 gal paint strainer bag and put that in the cooler. I batch sparge.

I mashed with 3 gal of water and my mash temp was 154deg for 60 min

I then sparged with 1 1/2 gal of 170deg water for 10 min.

I got 3 gal of wort and added water to bring it up to 6 gal for my boil.

Any help would be great.
thanks craig

You should have added more hot water to the grains to get your 6 or 7 gallons. You need to run all the water through the grains.

Thanks ed, I will have to do that when I do your Oktoberfest and put it on the Kolsch yeast cake.

craig

I'm building a starter for a 15 gallon batch right now in preparation of 15 gallons of Octoberfest Ale.

BlackNotch said:

Just took a sip of the Kolsch...WOW, very good! This has been kegged for 9 days, and it tastes mighty fine, very similar to Victory's Prima Pils. I might like this one better than your pale ale...

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nice, is this about just as hoppy? ive been wanting to try to make a prima clone but cant really lager

Ed, is there anything you do to your water for lighter beers like this?

I'm in the Austin area too and our water (well) is just so ridiculously hard. It's been fantastic for the higher gravity brews, but I have still yet to make a great lightish beer and I'm starting to wonder if it's just the water.

I have LCRA water and it works fine for me. If I had really hard water I would go half RO water from the Glacier Dispenser at HEB and half well water. Give that a try.

I've made my Kolsch with rain water before and it came out great, but a different beer all together. The soft water affects the hop utilization, so it was not as herb (bitter) as my normal Kolsch.

bkov said:

nice, is this about just as hoppy? ive been wanting to try to make a prima clone but cant really lager

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Pretty close.

has anyone tried to FWH the perle instead of just the 60mins?


im brewing 10gallons this weekend...now to look for a recipe to pitch on the wlp029 cake when its done

bkov said:

im brewing 10gallons this weekend...now to look for a recipe to pitch on the wlp029 cake when its done

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Ed's Oktoberfest!!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/bee-cave-brewery-oktoberfest-ale-38880/

also....is this one that is at its prime young? or once carbed its good but gets better and better with time?

Going to be brewing a slight variation of this this weekend. Looking forward to it but won't be able to keep it that cold (probably ~72 through out the whole process). What affect will that have on the beer? Just cloudier?

I just ordered this recipe from Brewmaster's Warehouse.. There appears to be a typo over there, as it uses 2-row pale malt instead of pilsner. I fixed mine to use Briess pilsner instead.

BierMuncher said:

Definitley want to boil a pils malt hard for 90 minutes.

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This was my understanding also, but both the original recipe and the recipe on BMW explicitly state a 60 minute boil. Is there a reason for that?

Thanks,

-Joe

This was my understanding also, but both the original recipe and the recipe on BMW explicitly state a 60 minute boil. Is there a reason for that?

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I'd go ahead and boil for 90. It can't hurt anything.

Just finished this recipe. Did a 90 minute boil. Efficiency was pretty miserable - 5.25gals into the fermenter at 1.041 for 54%. First runnings were 1.069 and pre-boil 1.029.

I've been told that recipes with a high percentage of wheat malt can require enzymes for proper conversion. Does anyone else use this? I see a few others in this thread with the same problem, so I'm glad it's not just me

I'm expecting it to come out well regardless of the gravity though. I hit my mash temp right on at 151F and had a smooth brewday otherwise.

Thanks for the recipe!

-Joe

excellent brew

if i decide to make this a house recipe, and use 2row instead of pilsner grain, would it taste like a totaly different brew? i would buy in bulk and most of my other recipes use 2row

Friends and I just drank up my Bee Cave last nite.

OUTSTANDING.

The one difference I had with my Kolsch is I rocked better efficiency than I usually do...almost ten percent higher, then boiled for ninety minutes and ended up with a higher gravity 1.O6O. I adjusted the bitterness accordingly.

She's big, but that Kolsch yeast taste is pretty unmistakable...especially if you ferment in the high sixties

Big Kolsch is a great beer.

Thanks ed.

She's big, but that Kolsch yeast taste is pretty unmistakable...especially if you ferment in the high sixties

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Really? I've always fermented a Kolsch on the really cold side, and I always liked how clean and lager-like it turned out. What kind of flavors come out on the higher side?

After 2 weeks at 66-68F I racked to the keg. The beer is crystal clear - I could see all the way through the fermenter! OG was 1.041 but the FG was 1.006 for an ABV of 4.55%.

And it's delicious! Really looking forward to getting this one cold and carbed.

-Joe

Just got into brewing so I don't All-Grain quite yet.

Anyone have any opinion on that extract-based recipe from earlier in the thread?

Link:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/bee-cave-brewery-koelsch-33548/index8.html

It's wonderful, just brew it! Seriously, this brew is one of those you'll find yourself brewing over and over again...people LOVE it. I just brewed another 5g today, and it's probably my 4th batch this year. Total crowd pleaser, plus just a great beer to sit down at night with and catch some TV.

Here's my shot at it. Head retention is amazing. Flavor is delicious. I predict this keg will disappear at my Oktoberfest party this weekend.



It's still a little cloudy, but it's the first pull from the keg. I expect it'll clear a lot in the following pints.

-Joe

nostalgia said:

Here's my shot at it. Head retention is amazing. Flavor is delicious. I predict this keg will disappear at my Oktoberfest party this weekend.

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It was a huge hit at the party! One guest thought I had brought in a keg of commercial beer so people who didn't like homebrew would have something to drink. I'll take that as a compliment!

-Joe