Kolsch done after five days?

[coyotlgw]

I had a couple questions on my Kolsch. Specifics on the brew day are listed at http://www.coyotl.net/~ggw/brew/brewday_02.html

The recipe said to rack to secondary after exactly five days, so I racked to secondary in spite of a good two to three inches of thick, dry krausen.

The sample looked, smelled, and tasted a lot more like a hefeweizen than a kolsch.

When I took a hydrometer reading GPGR was 12 at 71°F, so specific gravity is currently 1.013.

That is the odd thing. QBrew calculated my starting gravity at 1.054 and final at 1.013. The actual value for starting was 1.054 on the nose, so should I really be at 1.013 already? Does Kolsch yeast just ferment fast and need to sit in secondary for a week with no changes to specific gravity?

 

[Gabe]

If your hydrometer isn't off then --yeah I'd say it's done. Rack to a secondary then lager for a little while. I left mine in the fridge at 40 deg for 1.5 month. Tastey.

 

[boo boo]

But just don't blindly trust to the recipie to tell you when your brew is done.

Take readings for 3 days in a row and if they show the same than your brew is done.

 

[coyotlgw]

But just don't blindly trust to the recipe to tell you when your brew is done.

Yeah, I know... I called the place too and said "hey, should I really be racking already?"

Take readings for 3 days in a row and if they show the same than your brew is done.

Sounds like a good plan. I dropped it down to 64 degrees for secondary... how much should this affect the time with this Kolsch yeast?

2565 Kölsch Yeast.
Probable origin: Cologne, Germany
Beer Styles: Traditional American use - Kölsch, Fruit beers, Light pseudo lagers
Commercial examples may include: Kess, Paffgen, Muhlen
Unique properties: True top cropping yeast similar to Alt strains. Produces slightly more fruity/winey characteristics. Fruitiness increases with temperature increase. Low or no detectable diacetyl production. Also ferments well at cold 55-60° F range, (13-16° C). Used to produce quick conditioning pseudo lager beers. Poor flocculating yeast requires filtration to produce bright beers or additional settling time. Flocculation - low; apparent attenuation 73-77%. (56-70° F, 13-21° C)