I'm looking forward to brewing this on Sunday. I'll be doing a single infusion mash at 152F, using WLP029 yeast I got from a local brewery, and I'm thinking about using some 2row in addition to the Pils. A couple questions I have:
1. Will using 60% pils/ 40% 2row make a huge flavor difference vs 100% pils? Any drawback? Also has anyone used vienna in theirs? The local brewery uses both and their kolsch is superb.
2. This will be going from grain to glass in 3.5 weeks. I'm thinking about doing a 1-1.5 week primary, then 2 weeks cold conditioning. Some say it needs 2 months cold storage... Why is this? What kind of off flavors could I expect if it only gets 2 weeks cold before serving?
3. Does the yeast produce a lot of diacetyl? I will be ramping the primary temp up to ~68F after a few days and letting it sit for 3-4 more before racking, hopefully this will be enough to thoroughly reabsorb it.
Thanks in advance, looking forward to this one!
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1 - I posted my changes earlier in the thread and dont have any experience with 2-row and Vienna... a small amount of both seems fine though.
You would lose some of the grainy-ness some look for with this style, IMHO.
2 (and 3) -My schedule, with WLP029 and this recipe.
Pitch a healthy amount into wort at 62, let the beer climb up to 63 in 24 hours. bump to 65 after 48-60 check the beer after 72 hours from pitch..should be around 1.020, if so (or when it is) ramp up the temp to 70 and I keep it there for another 10 days. The cold crash for 2 days then rack to a keg with gelatin, force carb and start drinking.
I have rushed a batch, once, and ended up dumping it because of diacetyl, never again. I pulled out of the primary and off the yeast too soon... bad idea.
Somewhere between 7 and 14 days in the primary the diacetyl will be gone, I always go to the long side (14 days total) to be sure. Guess/taste wrong and move it off the yeast to soon and you will have to dump you batch
Yes the beer is better if it sits in a cold, carbed, keg for a few weeks but it should not be a night and day change.
If you have an event and you need the beer in 3.5 weeks, you should be fine with the schedule I use.
good luck, let us know how it turns out.
Kevin