First 12 gallon batch - Kolsch

I had a brew day on Tuesday. I did a 12 gallon batch of Ed Worts Kolsch. I used a big starter... my sparge stuck a bit as well. If I repeat I may add some rice hulls as insurance with my MLT set up. The big batch proved that I need a better wort chiller than my 3/8 in , 25 ft copper set up ( definate ). Also a better burner than my 55k turkey is a definate on any future batches above 6 gallons.

Big problem with the pellet hops and what a mess they left in the boil kettle. I lost at 2 gallons !! No more pellets for me.

I did get to use my new Oxygenator and wow what a difference. My OG was a bit low at 1.050 but my LHBS did the crush so I guess that isnt so bad. The results:


My Starters & Batch:

those yeasties are ROCKING!!!

:rockin:

Yep! Glad I took it when I did. The primary fermentation is already coming to an end.

In the fermenter with the smaller volume the kraeusen is already falling to the bottom. This is my best ferment ever. Before getting the oxygenator and pitching a starter it took much longer to start and finish.

Cant wait to get my plate chiller and big burner.

Just bottled 1/2 of the 12 gallons. This is awesome ! I could actually drink it without carbonation or further conditioning ( but I will of course wait 3 weeks because it should be amazing ). EdWort thanks for the great recipe.

Hey Doc,

New to the forum - nice to meet ya...

I just bottled my first Kolsch and I almost drank a glass (pre-bottled) too - I couldn't believe the nice mellow flavor it had. Yeah, flat it was, but still pretty tasty...I can't wait for aging.

I put together a brew tonight with the leftover hops from my Kolsch brew, it's liable to be interesting - basically the same recipe, bumped the hop levels to use up the leftovers and pitched an Ale yeast. We'll see what we get....

I've been out of the hobby for a while, dove in head first a few years back and I don't think I went two weekends without brewing something - I ran out of storage room for my beer so I quit brewing. Just picking it up again now after almost 2 years and I'm kicking myself for ever stopping. I did a couple of PG brews and was just about ready to graduate to AG, but now I'm having to retrain myself.

Anyway...look forward to hearing how your Kolsch turns out - have a good one.

BJ

Great to see you are brewing again! This forum is awesome. Let us know how your second Kolsch turns out.