Kolsch Extract: Secondary Temp. and clearing agent?

[zoomer67]

This is the 3rd batch I've brewed, and I did 10 Gallons (2 6 Gal. PET Carboys) of Kolsch from Northern:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/kolsch-extract-kit-2.html

My questions are the following:

1) Temperature for Secondary Fermentation: the kit instructions don't mention anything, but I would guess it should be cold (40 F?), I have a chestbox freezer with temp. control, so I can put it at whatever temp. I want. Right now it has been at 57 F for 2 weeks.

2) Secondary in separate carboy, or leave in primary? Should I pass the beer to a separate carboy for the secondary, or just leave it in the primary and lower the temperature? The instructions say to put it into a secondary, but I've read a lot of people saying it is not so critical. Any tips?

3)When to start Secondary? Should I wait until the SG stabilizes? I did a yeast starter (used the liquid Kolsch yeast) and had that baby bubbling away within 5 hours, with a massive blowoff within 12 hours. After 8 days I was sure it was finished fermenting and measured a SG of 1.020 which I thought was a bit high (the wort Orginal SG=1.051), I waited 2 days and measured SG=1.017, how much longer should I wait? I don't want to lower the temperature until the fermentation is complete. Am I right on this?

4)Using clearing agent (gelatin)?: Since I have two carboys, I'm tempted to experiment with gelatin to clear one of them up and compare. Any recommendations?

I'd appreciate any feedback!! Since I have two carboys full, I would really like to try something on one and compare the results!!

Thanks!:rockin:

 

[Beernik]

Wait for the gravity to stabilize before racking.

A secondary isn't "necessary" for most beers. But people will argue whether it helps a beer or not.

A colder secondary could be good for clearing the beer faster.

Kolsch is traditionally a very clear beer (filtered). Trying out a fining agent on this beer could be worthwhile.