First batch in the bag, what next?

[Schwimbody]

Greetings friends...first batch of Kolsch is bottle conditioning for 2 weeks and the numbers came out spot on. What should I do next? I have two other helpers so we knocked out our first 5 gal batch in 3:38 and that included clean up. Any suggestions? We thought an IPA? British Ale? Mead? Any suggestions for us noobs who succeeded on batch one?

 

[jrgtr42]

The big question is what do you like to drink?
No style is really harder than any other style (except when you get to sours and other extended aging types)
Personally, though, I would recommend holding off to see how the Kolsch came out before brewing the next.
If you're conditioning by instructions from a sheet, keep in mind it may take longer (or occasionally less) for the beer to be fully conditioned.
Personally I let ales ferment for 3 weeks before packaging, and same with conditioning before drinking. But toss a bottle in the fridge at 2 weeks, see how it is, give it a couple more days, repeat and so on. Keep notes as top what works best for you.

 

[RM-MN]

Greetings friends...first batch of Kolsch is bottle conditioning for 2 weeks and the numbers came out spot on. What should I do next? I have two other helpers so we knocked out our first 5 gal batch in 3:38 and that included clean up. Any suggestions? We thought an IPA? British Ale? Mead? Any suggestions for us noobs who succeeded on batch one?

The first thing I would suggest you do next is extend the bottle conditioning another 2 weeks. During that time you could brew about anything you like but a wheat beer might be a good choice as it might be ready before the kolsch.

I've made a pale ale that I dry hopped at day 7, bottled on day 10, and started drinking a week later. Longer times would have been better but I was low on beer and wanted a fresh batch.

 

[Transamguy77]

I would make whatever you usually drink, and I would make it now to start your pipeline. Are you using extract kits or All Grain? And as far as mead goes they take a bit longer to be able to drink, if done right they can be ready to drink in 6ish weeks and can also age for awhile.

 

[Schwimbody]

Make you for the input. I drink all kinds of beer. Not one beer turns me off so every single style of beer I enjoy to one extent or another. That being said I do want to taste my 1st batch pretty soon so I was only going to age the kolsch for 2 weeks and then refrigerate it for another week. So 3 more weeks left. I think a wheat is a great idea and I will look at that for this Saturdays brew.