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4Mesh said:
Both beers look fantastic. Kolsch is one of my very favorites. I'm drinking one now.

I see you've got a glass from two roads. I have a buddy that lives in Stratford that stops here frequently and he always makes it a point to bring me a truck load. Usually about six cases or so of various stuff. I may have a few in the fridge in the garage right now.
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Thank you for the kind words! Two Roads is still super popular and one of my favorite CT breweries. With the current boom its hard to keep up and since the HB is good I don't buy much commercial anymore.
 
20230509_142233.jpg

Dry stout. Great. 4.7 abv
 
4Mesh said:
Ok, I'll play. Kölsch, 4.8 percent. 2row n Vienna w/Liberty. US04
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VikeMan said:
Good looking beer! But I gotta say, those ingredients don't sound like "Kölsch" to me. Sounds like a nice (American) blonde ale.
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Let me guess...it's a Kolsch style yeast and you conditioned it cold like a lager? The most important part of a Kolsch, which is a very strict style, is that it's top-fermented.
 
VikeMan said:
Good looking beer! But I gotta say, those ingredients don't sound like "Kölsch" to me. Sounds like a nice (American) blonde ale.
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My niece and her husband went to Canada and brought back some cans of Kölsch they picked up there. I tried it and said well I have to find a recipe for that. Got online, the very first recipe I found was just what I said and I thought okay I've got the stuff here, that's this week's Brew. I made it and it was spot on to what I tried made commercially. I figure if it works, don't fix it. There's a fair bit of debate as to what constitutes kolsch. Just go to the thread in the recipe section and look at how many different ways people make it. Or make what they call it. I don't think I can understate it enough to say there's a lot of different grain bills.
 
BeerSniffer said:
Let me guess...it's a Kolsch style yeast and you conditioned it cold like a lager? The most important part of a Kolsch, which is a very strict style, is that it's top-fermented.
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It is an ale yeast and I did condition it cold, yes. I also brewed it at the very low end of the temperature range.

(Edit)
Here's what I make it with.
IMG_20230509_172237_01.jpg
 
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4Mesh said:
My niece and her husband went to Canada and brought back some cans of Kölsch they picked up there. I tried it and said well I have to find a recipe for that. Got online, the very first recipe I found was just what I said and I thought okay I've got the stuff here, that's this week's Brew. I made it and it was spot on to what I tried made commercially. I figure if it works, don't fix it. There's a fair bit of debate as to what constitutes kolsch. Just go to the thread in the recipe section and look at how many different ways people make it. Or make what they call it. I don't think I can understate it enough to say there's a lot of different grain bills.
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Of course there is some wiggle room for interpretation. But Kölsch is a traditional beer from a very specific place, Köln. I don't know what was used in the beer your niece brought back from Canada. Maybe they used exactly what you used. I doubt it, but it's possible. But if so, the beer they made would be more accurately called a blonde ale. Why take a beer that appears to be a perfect match for one style and call it a different style?

From the BJCP:

Kölsch:
Characteristic Ingredients: Traditional German hops. German Pils, Pale, or Vienna malt. Attenuative, clean German ale yeast. Occasional small use of wheat malt.

Blonde Ale:
Characteristic Ingredients: Generally all-malt, but can include wheat malt or sugar adjuncts. Any hop variety can be used. Clean American, lightly fruity English, or Kölsch yeast. May also be made with lager yeast, or cold-conditioned.

Of course, it's your beer and you can call it what you want. But if you ever decide to compete or go pro, you'll find labeling "to style" to be pretty important.
 
Well, Liberty is basically Hallertau rebranded. It's the same plants grown here instead of over there. The two row is pale malt and Vienna is clearly listed. A top fermenting ale yeast was used. Precisely what more am I supposed to change?

Ps. Without chemicals or filtering, it's as crystal clear as commercially filtered versions. Though I will admit, it rarely lasts long enough to get that clear.

(Edit)
I've been to that page before and even looked it up last night. I was a little confused that it's not only 5b, but also 6c. Though I cannot find 6c in the 2021 guidelines. I've considered changing the recipe, so if I'm forced to use different ingredients, I'm willing to at least try it once. By all means tell me what I am supposed to change. Is the 1.7L not pure enough? Just, in the meantime, I'm going to continue to call it kolsch because I don't see where it breaks any of the rules.

I'm afraid even if you do give me recommendations, I can't get the stuff in time for this weekend's batch because I would like to make another batch of it, but this time possibly change up the Hops since I have all four of the recommended varieties in stock, and I want to do a decoction mash. I didn't see that mentioned in the 5b section though I seem to recall it written somewhere that it isn't unacceptable.

https://www.bjcp.org/beer-styles/6c-kolsch/
 
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4Mesh said:
Well, Liberty is basically Hallertau rebranded. It's the same plants grown here instead of over there.
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It's not. It's a triploid hybrid, where one of its parents was Hallertau Mitt. And its character isn't quite like any of the noble hops. A noble hop would be more authentic.

4Mesh said:
The two row is pale malt and Vienna is clearly listed.
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Two-row is a pale malt. It's not a German Pale Malt. And it won't make the same beer.

4Mesh said:
A top fermenting ale yeast was used.
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But not a German yeast. Neither S-04 nor US-05 ("US04" is not a thing) make the same beer as a german ale yeast. There are actually a few German ale strains labelled as "Kolsch" strains. They are good choices.

4Mesh said:
Precisely what more am I supposed to change?
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Nothing, unless you want to. I'm simply saying that Blonde Ale is a more accurate description.
 
Addressing the added/edited part...

4Mesh said:
(Edit)
I've been to that page before and even looked it up last night. I was a little confused that it's not only 5b, but also 6c. Though I cannot find 6c in the 2021 guidelines.
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The numbers change between editions of the guidelines, because some styles are added/deleted/combined/moved. In the most current guideline (2021) it's 5B. Here's the .pdf:
https://www.bjcp.org/download/2021_Guidelines_Beer.pdf
4Mesh said:
By all means tell me what I am supposed to change. Is the 1.7L not pure enough?
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It's not a question of purity. But there's more to malt character than the color. Personally, for a Kolsch, I use a German Pilsner Malt (Weyermann) as the base.
 
4Mesh said:
Ok, so what's this Barke stuff people are talking about?
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Weyermann Barke Pilsner is made from Barke barley. It's kilned to the same color as their standard Pilsner. I've never used it, but I know there are people who swear by it.

(Spec-wise (proteins, modification, etc.) it's virtually identical.)
 
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Awesome brewskis getting posted.

I like the discussion on beer styles. And as we post pints with titles, it's fitting. Competition sounds fun, and brewing a beer to style presents a new challenge to many. I went to look at the most recent beer I brewed with the Kolsch yeast WY2565. It's lagering now and I'll bottle it today. It has Weyermann Munich and Weyermann Pilsner. OK...so far so good. But for the hops, it's American. This beer might be delicious, but would probably be another beer in the other category.
 
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day_trippr said:
Lovely evening for a beer! Raspberry Hibiscus Wheat...

View attachment 819724
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Do you use an extract in that or how do you get your raspberry in there? I seem to remember trying a raspberry extract in a Stout once and it made it awful. It had a really harsh artificial flavoring type flavor. If that makes sense. Nothing like the incredible fruit flavor you would get in a Lambic or something like that. I've seen people use real fruit and get real fruit flavor. Seen other people use extract and get real fruit flavor. I'm just not one of them.

It does look beautiful.:mug:
 

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