Please critique: Honey Bear Kolsch AG

[MikeRoBrew1]

Hi there I am new to making recipes so I am looking for some feedback and suggestions.

I am trying to make a Kolsch with a touch of honey (honey malt, not actual honey) and biscuit flavors.

I am basing the recipe on my favorite kolsch, Kayak Kolsch from Lake Superior brewing. They say they use about 10% wheat, and I'm going to follow that. I have found some recipes around here that use more but I am sticking to only 1lb (10lb total grist).

Then I am sampling from some HBT recipes and the Midwest kit recipe and adding my own touch. Please help me improve or evolve this recipe before I give it a brew. Let me know if my base malt composition seems off, or if I am using too wide of a variety of adjuncts.

I have added my thoughts on changes and will edit this post with peoples comments. Thanks brew crew!


Honey Bear Kolsch
5 gal batch, 10lbs total grist
----------------------
-5lbs Kolsch Malt german (light, sweet, 'biscuit')
-2lbs Pilsner german (complex flavor)
-.75lb Vienna (for dry, slightly toasted flavor. Was thinking maybe Munich 10L but the lovibond rating was lower for vienna so that sounded better to me. Amount to add is also flexible.)
-1lb Honey Malt (intense honey like sweetness, no bitter roast flavor, does not add significantly to color)
-.75lb Pale Wheat german (flavor)
-.25lb Flaked Wheat (body and head retention)
-.25lb Caramel 10L (not sure if this one should be included at all or not)
-----------------------------
Hops
1oz Chinook @ 60min
1oz Saaz @ 0mins
-----------------------------
Yeast
WLP028 German Ale/Kolsch

 

[hadabar]

everything looks ok to me...

execpt...I've heard the honey malt needs to be used in moderation. it adds alot of flavor. and honey character. kinda going against the the whole clean kolsch thing. I'd look into that.

there was an episode on the brewing network where tasty and the brewer from downtown joes were brewing a pale ale. they took it out of the grist. so imagine in a kolsch? that's my only concern.

ohhh and chinook? idk....I'd stay with the noble hops. maybe german northern brewer if your looking for higher alpha. not at all the same, but more fitting IMO.

id give you the link but on my phone...best of luck.

 

[ghpeel]

.75 lb of Vienna is unnecessary and will be indetectable. I use Vienna as the base malt for a lot of beers and its not all that different from pale malt. So for simplicities sake, take it out.

Also, 1lb of honey malt is a lot, but diff people have diff levels of taste for it. Some people hate it at low levels and some like it. Tell ya the truth, it doesn't much taste like honey to me, but it does to a lot of other folks, so ymmv.

Also, since honey malt is a crystal malt, you definitely don't need any extra crystal, so drop that caramel 10.

Finally, I agree with hadabar. Drop the chinook and replace with something more noble.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Thank you very much for your replies. Still looking for a little more recommendation on the hops. I will remove the Chinook.

To replace it, could I use 1oz Czech Saaz @ 60 and 1oz Czech Saaz @ 0? Does that sound ok? I have a fresh pound of Saaz on hand and would love to use them. For now I will leave in Hallertau or Tettnang.

Would it be out of style to dry hop a kolsch even a little? lol. .5oz saaz for a week? Just curious here.

Your input is appreciated! Thumbs up.

Kolsch Style guidelines: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php#1c

Honey Malt Descriptions:

Honey malt: Honey malt is the company's best description for the unique European malt known as brumalt. Its intense malt sweetness makes it perfect for any specialty beer. It has a color profile of 20-30 °L and is devoid of astringent roast flavors.

From Paddock Wood Brewing:
"Malt sweetness and honey like flavour and aroma make it perfect for any specialty beer. The closest comparison is a light caramel, but Honey Malt has a flavour of its own: sweet and a little bit nutty. Made by restricting the oxygen flow during the sprouting process, Honey Malt is essentially self-stewed. When the oxygen is cut off, the grain bed heats up, developing sugars and rich malt flavours. The malt is lightly kilned for a color color profile of 25 SRM and is devoid of astringent roast flavors. Honey malt has a diastatic power of 50, and can convert itself but not additional adjuncts. It is best mashed with a base malt. Use up to 25% in specialty beers for a unique flavour."

Reworked recipe:
Honey Bear Kolsch
5 gal batch, 10lbs total grist
----------------------
-6lbs Kolsch Malt German (light, sweet, 'biscuit')
-2.5lbs Weyermanns German Pilsner (complex flavor)
-.5lb Honey Malt Canada (intense honey like sweetness, no bitter roast flavor, does not add significantly to color)
-.75lb Pale Wheat German (flavor)
-.25lb Flaked Wheat USA (body and head retention)

-----------------------------
Hops
1oz Saaz @ 60min
1oz Saaz @ 0mins
-----------------------------
Yeast
WLP028 German Ale/Kolsch

 

[hadabar]

looks good...I think you'd be ok with saaz...go with what yah got...

as far as dry hopping it...idk...the kolsch is a subtle delicate beer... it'd be over kill for the rest of the flavors.

I know where your coming from, but from experience, and in my opinion, I'd just go old school with it. plus you really only want to mess with one thing at a time. try the honey malt. if that works... stick with it. then if you want, try the dry hop. id attack one idea at a time.

hope that helps.

let us know how it goes!

 

[markg388]

I'd do some IBU math to make sure it's legit, 1oz bittering may leave you with some sweet beer if the AA is pretty low, you want the IBU's somewhere like 16-24.

1oz of late addition hops is right around the high-end for kolsch, so as long as you like your kolsch on the hoppier side of things you'll be a happy camper.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Ok I ended up buying BeerSmith today! So I ran my recipe through and found it was not only too dark for the style, but also too high of OG and not enough IBUs.

Sooo... Reworked the recipe to have slightly less overall grist and lower the OG. Lowered the amount of Kolsch just a bit to barely hit style at 5.0srm. Then I upped the hops just a little to bring the IBUs in range.

New recipe version:

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.50 lb Pilsner (2 Row) UK (1.0 SRM) Grain 61.11 %
2.00 lb Kolsch Malt (4.5 SRM) Grain 22.22 %
0.75 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
0.50 lb Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5.56 %
0.25 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 2.78 %
1.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 22.2 IBU
1.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (2 min) Hops 1.9 IBU
1 Pkgs German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029) [StYeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 9.00 lb

Should I have bothered to make these changes? Do they sound good? Am I worrying too much? Thanks all.

 

[ghpeel]

Be sure to post the results back here when you've tasted the final beer. Final recipe looks tasty to me.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Thanks for following! I haven't gotten to brew it yet lol. But its on my list, next time I visit the LHBS it will be a grain-o-rama! I will be sure to post results.

 

[hadabar]

Be sure to post the results back here when you've tasted the final beer. Final recipe looks tasty to me.

I second this...