GF Honey Kolsch/Pale

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argentcorvid

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I pieced this together from several internet sources for my dad's birthday in May. He likes lighter beer, so I figured I'd give something kolsch-y a try.

This went in the Mr. Beer on Saturday. I copied my recipe down wrong on my notes and added 1lb of honey instead of the 1/2lb listed. this pushed my OG up to 1.060, and estimated ABV to ~6% instead of ~5.1 (whoops).

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: Safale S-05
Batch Size (Gallons): 2.5
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU: 24.9
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 4.0
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): ? got three weeks blocked out, fermenter location is 65-72°
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): not planning on it
Tasting Notes: not done yet

0.5 lb Honey (60 min)
1.0 lb Midwest supplies Sorghum extract (60 min)
2.3 lb Midwest supplies Sorghum extract (flameout)
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.5 %] (60 min) Hops 20.2 IBU
0.3 oz Hersbrucker [3.0 %] (15 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
0.3 oz Hersbrucker [3.0 %] (5 min) Hops 1.3 IBU
1 Pkgs Safale S-05
 
I'd love to know how this comes out. I shy away from so much sorghum as it always has that same sorghum taste. I've played with tapioca and other malted "sprouted" GG sources as well as other fruits and veg. If you tell me this ones good I might revisit sorghum again.
 
I pulled a 1/2 shot glass yesterday (1 week in the fermenter), and it's obviously not done yet; tasted a little sweet and lots of yeast floating around still doing their thing. The flavor was oddly citrusy though.
 
I took a taste last week and it tasted like yeasty grapefruit juice! :smack:

I just drew off a sample now to take gravity. I had to keep checking the hydrometer to make sure I read it right, I got 1.006! (no Idea what happened there) It didn't help that the beer was too cloudy to see the reading in the middle of the test jar, and I had to wait for the hydrometer to get close to the edge but it was definitely between the 1.000 and 1.010 marks.

The citrusy taste is almost gone, so that's encouraging.
 
Us-05 is a beast. It attenuates like cazy in gluten free recipes. I always struggle to keep enough sweetness with it. I say wait for it to clear and bottle. Its not going to clean up like a kolsch should but it will still be good.
 
well, I Opened the first bottle today. it isn't very good; or at least is isn't "Right". Overall the flavors are a good bit stronger than what I was shooting for, as is the alcohol content. I wasn't going for a Miller lite, but what I got is not what I was aiming for. I don't think I'm going to give this to my Dad for his birthday in two weeks, as I intended. I Definitely should have researched a little more before jumping into making up a GF recipe. I guess I have something to simmer bratwurst in for the foreseeable future?

I must have been bottling this as you were writing that post, because it's been in for about 4 or 5 weeks now. I ended up with about a 1/4 inch of yeast in the bottom of the bottles. It did eventually drop pretty clear, but it took forever to do so. I also had a large amount of yeast slurry in the fermenter left over, so I just barely got a case out of it.
 
2.5 equals about a case. What did it end up finishing at? Does it have little mouthfeel? The low body with high alcohol isn't a good combo. It will get better in time. However, its going to take awhile. Much longer than a normal pale.
 
my final hydrometer reading put me at around 7%. I could definitely feel it when I finished it. It carbonated up very well with honey as the priming sugar. It did suffer from the usual GF symptom of the head dissipating after about 5 seconds, but there was one. for Body/mouthfeel I'd actually say it wasn't too bad.

It wasn't undrinkable, but it could be better.

I'm gonna put it in the basement and wait. Maybe by September (their anniversary) it will be ok (monthly testing of course).
 
Tried another bottle last night, and I can tell it's starting to come around. the first couple sips still have a "weird" flavor that I can't really describe, but after that it's ok.
 
Looks like a good recipe. Do you think the off flavor was the sorghum syrup (assume it was Briessweet) or the honey? I have brewed a lot with Briessweet sorghum and except for the typical sorghum citrus aftertaste they were fine. My early batches were pretty light before I learned to use Belgium candy syrup and maltodextrin. I believe that is the key to GF extract brewing.
 
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure the flavor was all sorghum. There is NO honey flavor left. I expected this from pre-brewday research, but figured there was nothing to be lost by trying, since I had a costco-sized container that was crystallizing in my pantry.

I've sampled a couple of bottles over the last few weeks and It's actually pretty good now. It bubbles like a champagne though. Of course, I can't find my notes from this particular brew, so I don't remember how much honey I used to carbonate with. This was the main complaint Dad had when we sampled a bottle in September. Apparently he prefers a less-carbonated beverage, which is a good thing to know.

The last couple of bottles have had pretty good head retention, so I'm not sure what went on there (something in the glass or bottle?). The bottles are pretty clear now, and after pouring, it's not quite clear enough to read through, though some of that might be the bubbles or chill haze.
 
argentcorvid said:
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure the flavor was all sorghum. There is NO honey flavor left. I expected this from pre-brewday research, but figured there was nothing to be lost by trying, since I had a costco-sized container that was crystallizing in my pantry.

I've sampled a couple of bottles over the last few weeks and It's actually pretty good now. It bubbles like a champagne though. Of course, I can't find my notes from this particular brew, so I don't remember how much honey I used to carbonate with. This was the main complaint Dad had when we sampled a bottle in September. Apparently he prefers a less-carbonated beverage, which is a good thing to know.

The last couple of bottles have had pretty good head retention, so I'm not sure what went on there (something in the glass or bottle?). The bottles are pretty clear now, and after pouring, it's not quite clear enough to read through, though some of that might be the bubbles or chill haze.
Click to expand...

Have you ever tried to cold crash any of your GF brews to clear them?
 
I actually tried using gelatin and cold crashing with this batch as I did this in the mr beer keg and could fit it in the fridge. It didn't seem to make a difference at all at the time scale I was trying (days). 9 months after brewday it's pretty clear though.
 

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