Help with Kolsch clone

[Trails_n_Ales]

I'm working on my summer tap lineup and I want to clone Cali Coast Kolsch by Calicraft brewery. I did some research and was unable to find any attempts or reviews on a clone recipe. Here is what i got off of their website:

4.8% ABV, 15 IBUs

STYLE: Kolsch

YEAST: House Kolsch

Coast is the taste of California. It's a brew for the bracing waves of NorCal or the sunny summers of SoCal. Mt. Shasta-grown malt adds body, while Noble and Crystal hops give it a bright, crisp, refreshing finish. Like the Golden State, this sessionable Kolsch is laid-back but complex. It's going from slopes to shore in just a few hours. Drink what you love about Cali.

What i know:
Use Crystal hops and noble hops.
This beer is unbelievably light, almost clear. So I would assume a pilsner base malt.
Kolsch yeast
15 IBUs

What i need:
Hop schedule
Grain bill
mash temp

Ive never brewed a Kolsch before so any help would be appreciated with the info provided to get close to this clone.

 

[z-bob]

For 5 gallons if you can't find a real recipe, maybe something like 7 lbs pilsner malt, 1 lb Vienna, and a single addition of Crystal, Liberty, Sterling, or Mt Hood hops at about 30 minutes? I've brewed a few beers very similar to that but with Munich malt instead of Vienna. I switched it to Vienna here just to lighten the color.

I don't know if it's Kolsch or not, but it's pretty close and very guzzle-able. HTH

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

Sounds good...yeah i was tinkering around with it and thought 7lbs pilsner, 1lb white wheat, 1lb vienna. This gets me at the right abv while staying pretty light in color. So you think just one hop addition at 30mins? So definitely Crystal, but what noble hop would work well?

 

[z-bob]

I think Crystal is an American noble hop. (yeah, I know technically it's not Saaz, Spalt, Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, or Tettnanger, but it's related) I use Mt Hood like a noble hop.

I've never tried wheat malt. But your grain bill should be fine.

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

Gotcha, makes sense...They listed crystal as a hop they use and didnt list the exact noble hop...I'll give Mt. hood a shot. Thanks.

 

[Paulaner]

For a traditional Kolsch do 85% Pilsner Malt and 15% Vienna, or 95% Pilsner and 5% Carahell, or if you want wheat in there do 90% Pilsner/5% Carahell and 5% Wheat. Or of course design your own recipe and tweak it over time to what you like or not. Personally I do a first wort hop addition and a 15 min addition to target around 24 IBU's, I always use the same hop variety for both, but try different ones each time to perfect it. As for the mash depending on your system do a single infusion no higher than 149 or do a hochkurz with 60 min at 146, 60 min at 162 and a 10 min mash-out at 172. I also like a light hand on water additions so I target the Pseudo Bohemian Pils.

 

[MSK_Chess]

My last two brews were both Kolsch. One used European hops exclusively (Spalt and Tettnang) and the other used European hops (Northern Brewer) and two additions of Crystal. Both very simple beers but super tasty. They taste almost like a European Pilsner. I love the WLP0029 German ale/Kolsch yeast, its truly awesome. One also used simple Carapils and the other used Wheat and Munich and to tell you the truth I prefer the simple one with just Carapils.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=628655

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

My last two brews were both Kolsch. One used European hops exclusively (Spalt and Tettnang) and the other used European hops (Northern Brewer) and two additions of Crystal. Both very simple beers but super tasty. They taste almost like a European Pilsner. I love the WLP0029 German ale/Kolsch yeast, its truly awesome. One also used simple Carapils and the other used Wheat and Munich and to tell you the truth I prefer the simple one with just Carapils.



I was experimenting with putting this together on a recipe builder. I want to keep it super light and refreshing. After some tweaking, this is what I have:

Mash at 148
8.5lb pilsner
.5 carapils

WLP0029 German ale/Kolsch yeast

I want to go with Tettnang and Crystal for the hops. Any advice on a hop schedule while hitting 15 IBUs?

 

[z-bob]

It depends how bitter your hops are. I used an ounce of Mt Hood at 30 minutes and a half ounce at 5 minutes, and I liked the effect. That probably gave me about 18 IBU. There's no rule that you have to add hops at 60 minutes.

So maybe add however much Crystal it takes to get 15 IBU at 30 minutes (about an ounce) and .5 to 1 ounce of Tettnang at 5 minutes? Depends how pronounced you want the Tettnang to be.

You're getting out of the science realm and into the art part, and I'm not good at art

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

Ok, here's my final answer:

Mash at 148

7.5lb Pilsner
.5lb carapils

1oz Crystal 30
.5oz Tettnanger 5

German Ale/Kolsch WLP029

This should give me a nice summer sipper.

 

[MSK_Chess]

My last two brews were both Kolsch. One used European hops exclusively (Spalt and Tettnang) and the other used European hops (Northern Brewer) and two additions of Crystal. Both very simple beers but super tasty. They taste almost like a European Pilsner. I love the WLP0029 German ale/Kolsch yeast, its truly awesome. One also used simple Carapils and the other used Wheat and Munich and to tell you the truth I prefer the simple one with just Carapils.



I was experimenting with putting this together on a recipe builder. I want to keep it super light and refreshing. After some tweaking, this is what I have:

Mash at 148
8.5lb pilsner
.5 carapils

WLP0029 German ale/Kolsch yeast

I want to go with Tettnang and Crystal for the hops. Any advice on a hop schedule while hitting 15 IBUs?

yes that sounds about right although 15 IBU's I feel is personally a little low, 18 - 20 IBU's I think would be fine. If I was using Tettnang and Crystal I would use Tettnang for bittering and Crystal for flavour and aroma. Edit. I see you have your schedule, yes it will be awesome - happy brewing you will not be disappointed, the amazing thing is you will think one day its like a lager, another its like a pilsner and another its like a super clean light ale.

 

[mattdee1]

I've tinkered around with this style a bit using WLP029 yeast, with the goal being to come up with a nice inoffensive beer that I can enjoy but that can also be served to non-adventurous BMC drinkers. I'm not interested in old tricks like rice and corn to achieve that goal, I can't be bothered with brewing lagers, so I thought a Kolsch-inspired approach would be a good strategy. Most of what I'm about to say is just personal taste, so take it for what it's worth...

I like pilsner malt and use it fairly often, but for me I can only take so much; if it is more than ~%60 of the grain bill then its strong malty/sweet flavor starts to get on my nerves, especially in a basic low-hop, easy-drinking beer. So, I cut it to around 50% in my last Kolsch and made up the rest with something like 35% 2-row and 15% wheat. Worked great for what I was trying to do--light color and a basic/approachable flavor profile (but not watery, like BMC).

Regarding hops, I see a lot of Kolsch recipes calling for 15ish IBU and maybe that is true to style but I think it sucks, personally; especially if you've got a lot of pilsner malt in the grain bill. I was so put off by the overpowering malty/sweetness of my first Kolsch (which was under 20 IBU and heavy on pilsner) that I tried again with a target of low 30s IBU (all early additions of noble hops -- forget which). I was kind of afraid that I had gone too far with the IBU for such a light beer and it would taste like gym socks, but not at all--it actually was quite awesome. Bitterness was not objectionable at all, and BMC-loving family guzzled it down with glee. The extra bump in bitterness, I think, added to the perception of crispness, which was sorely lacking in my previous attempt that was below 20 IBU and used more pilsner. I should also add that I think it's important to get those IBUs from early additions--I didn't really care for the aroma/flavor of later additions of noble hops.

Lastly, I'd say to watch your carbonation--you'll probably find that low to moderate is better. I don't use calculators for priming sugar, I just measure corn sugar by volume. I used about 1.25 cups of sugar into 5gal on the first batch and that was a mistake--way too gassy. On the improved version I used .75 cups into 5gal and it was about perfect.

 

[MSK_Chess]

Yes very sound advice. I use 100% Pilsner (having tried both Weyermann and Best Malz) malt but aim for the mid twenties with my IBU's.

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

Now with a follow up question about lagering a Kolsch. Never lagered before so unsure as to what to do and when?

Do i transfer from primary into secondary after I hit FG and lager in secondary immediately?
Do I do the typical 1wk primary 2wk secondary then lager in secondary?
...or transfer to keg after fermentation and lager in the keg?

 

[mattdee1]

I bottle my beers and I can say that I bottled my Kolsch batches about 10 days after brew day, and just lagered them in the bottle. They were pouring crystal clear in a few weeks. I don't see why the same wouldn't work in a keg.

I like to get my beers packaged sooner rather than later to free up my fermentors and chamber.

 

[MSK_Chess]

Now with a follow up question about lagering a Kolsch. Never lagered before so unsure as to what to do and when?

Do i transfer from primary into secondary after I hit FG and lager in secondary immediately?
Do I do the typical 1wk primary 2wk secondary then lager in secondary?
...or transfer to keg after fermentation and lager in the keg?

I think all three would be fine. I tend to try to keep everything out of my kegs though, that includes fining and yeast, i therefore lager in a secondary, however i have lagered in the keg and it was fine also, just had to purge the yeast a few times. What i can say is that the beer does get better the longer that its lagered, undoubtedly and if you are like me your beer will just becoming exceptional when its almost finished!

 

[Upthewazzu]

Currently lagering a kolsch right not. Grain bill was something along the lines of 90% 2-row, 5% white wheat, 5% munich (mash at 149°). 60min Perle and 10 min tettenger additions put me right about 28 ibu's. Fermented for 2 weeks at 62° in temp controlled ferm chamber, transferred to keg where it's been sitting at ~40° for the last 2 weeks.

Took a quick sample at 1 week, and it tasted like total butt! Really hoping this thing transforms over the next couple weeks.

 

[mattdee1]

Currently lagering a kolsch right not. Grain bill was something along the lines of 90% 2-row, 5% white wheat, 5% munich (mash at 149°). 60min Perle and 10 min tettenger additions put me right about 28 ibu's. Fermented for 2 weeks at 62° in temp controlled ferm chamber, transferred to keg where it's been sitting at ~40° for the last 2 weeks.

Took a quick sample at 1 week, and it tasted like total butt! Really hoping this thing transforms over the next couple weeks.

What was it that you didn't like about it? What yeast?

In looking at your recipe I can tell I probably wouldn't be crazy about it because I don't like Tett as a late hop, but I can't see why it would taste like "butt."

 

[Upthewazzu]

What was it that you didn't like about it? What yeast?

In looking at your recipe I can tell I probably wouldn't be crazy about it because I don't like Tett as a late hop, but I can't see why it would taste like "butt."

Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast.

I'm guessing it was the fact that the yeast was still in suspension and it just needs more time.

 

[MSK_Chess]

I'm working on my summer tap lineup and I want to clone Cali Coast Kolsch by Calicraft brewery. I did some research and was unable to find any attempts or reviews on a clone recipe. Here is what i got off of their website:

4.8% ABV, 15 IBUs

STYLE: Kolsch

YEAST: House Kolsch

Coast is the taste of California. It's a brew for the bracing waves of NorCal or the sunny summers of SoCal. Mt. Shasta-grown malt adds body, while Noble and Crystal hops give it a bright, crisp, refreshing finish. Like the Golden State, this sessionable Kolsch is laid-back but complex. It's going from slopes to shore in just a few hours. Drink what you love about Cali.

What i know:
Use Crystal hops and noble hops.
This beer is unbelievably light, almost clear. So I would assume a pilsner base malt.
Kolsch yeast
15 IBUs

What i need:
Hop schedule
Grain bill
mash temp

Ive never brewed a Kolsch before so any help would be appreciated with the info provided to get close to this clone.

how did your Kolsch turn out?

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

I'm currently lagering it, but from sampling it from the fermenter its pretty tasty. I went with a different hop schedule:

tettnang 55
tettnang 35
Crystal 20
Crystal 5

I also used too much sparge water and let it all run through...ended up with 7gal in my kettle and a little under 6.5 gal in the fermenter. Lower than intended OG at 1.034, but hit 1.008 FG so abv isnt tooo crazy low. will be a nice summer beer for a hot day.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Currently lagering a kolsch right not. Grain bill was something along the lines of 90% 2-row, 5% white wheat, 5% munich (mash at 149°). 60min Perle and 10 min tettenger additions put me right about 28 ibu's. Fermented for 2 weeks at 62° in temp controlled ferm chamber, transferred to keg where it's been sitting at ~40° for the last 2 weeks.

Took a quick sample at 1 week, and it tasted like total butt! Really hoping this thing transforms over the next couple weeks.

I wanted to follow up on this after it's been lagering for the last 3 weeks (I moved the keg to my ferm chamber where I held it at ~1°C = 33°F). It's effing fantastic! Still a tad bit yeasty, but overall flavor is very authentic with the Kolsch fruitiness and bite. Very happy with how this has turned out and I expect it to get better over the coming weeks.

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

Nice! I fermented for 10 days in primary and was getting pretty clear on its own...transferred to secondary and lagering at 34F. Will let it sit there for a couple weeks. So far pretty tasty and im sure it will finish nicely.

 

[MSK_Chess]

Yeah there is nothing quite like the malty goodness of a Kolsch on a scorching hot summers day.

 

[Trails_n_Ales]

how did your Kolsch turn out?

Late reply. Turned out awesome. I served it at a cookout and got excellent reviews!