Brewing a Kolsch: Experiences required

[HiGravShawn]

I have been brewing a while, but I have never brewed a lager because I don't have the cooling equip. I decided to take baby steps with a Kolsch. I did primary around 60F for 24 days and then cold crashed with gelatin for 3 days. I bottle condition so I bottled it and put as much as could fit in a wine cooler and dropped it to 59F (rest is in a ice box with frozen water bottles as it's the best I can do). I am thinking about leaving it for like 10 days or so to help carb and then drop the wine cooler to 38-40F for 4-6 weeks to lager. I can only do so much with the rest in the ice box so I am going to focus on the wine cooler batch and then have a little lagering vs not, taste test.

Does this sound like the best solution based on my equip? Any suggestions?

 

[wonderbread23]

Do your bottle conditioning at room temp. Pop a bottle to make sure they are carbonated, then store as close to freezing as you can. 4-6 weeks is a good lagering time for a kolsch.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

This is what I did for my Kolsch:

Ferment around 62-65F, and secondary at 62-65F too. Put in the keg, hook up CO2 to carbonate, and leave it in the kegerator until it's ready. Took about 2 weeks to clarify nicely.

M_C