Questions about a Kolsch. Am I doing this right.

[BarLee]

Hey guys and gals. I made a simple kolsch using WLP029 yeast. Fermented it 3 weeks in primary at room temp which is around 75 degrees. Cold crashed and racked it into a keg. I was under the impression that this needs to lager in my keezer for 4 weeks. When I took the FG i tried the sample.....it was amazing. Like I could drink it flat good.
So I guess my question is do I need to Lager it? Or am I waiting unnecessarily? Does this yeast strain require these steps?
Pilsen Malt 98%
Vienna 2%
Hallertau 1.5oz @ 60min.
Thanks ahead of time.

 

[cmac62]

BarLee, if it tastes good drink it. I think only 4 weeks at lager temps will only help to clear the beer mostly.

 

[mongoose33]

If something tastes very good to you, you should never, ever drink it. Wait....that's the point of brewing, to brew things we like to drink.

It's kegged. Carbonate and see how it is.

I have a sorta-Kolsch recipe (I add a little munich, replace have the Pils malt with 2-row) in that a dyed-in-the-wool German who I had taste it say it has too much flavor for a Kolsch. It's darned tasty.

Anyway, my son put me onto this. I asked him how the Kolsch tasted after he'd lagered it for a while. His answer: "I don't know, it's never lasted that long."

So drink it.

*********

Interesting that you fermented at 75 degrees. We do ours at 60 degrees. White Labs suggests an optimal fermentation temp of 65-69, but a lot of Kolsch recipes have it fermenting lower.

 

[Brew_Dude41]

If you tasted it and you like it now, go for it!

I typically have a kolsch on tap or in the pipeline, and I may give it a week or 2 before serving. To be fair, it is on gas and getting carbed up during that period so take that as you will.

It will change a bit over the next few weeks, but you can absolutely drink now if you like it.

 

[Immocles]

I agree. If it tastes good, go for it. I just opened the first couple bottles of my recent kolsch using 100% pilsner and 029 yeast as well. Given my lack of a chamber and the fact that its middle of the summer, I decided to just completely skip the lager period and it tastes pretty damn good 3 weeks after bottle conditioning at 72F.

I also an interested with the higher fermentation temperature. I had a hell of a creative time keeping my bmb at 67F for that ferment, but I somehow managed it. I wonder if I could have been a bit more lax in my efforts haha

 

[OnePlate]

When I took the FG i tried the sample.....it was amazing. Like I could drink it flat good.
...
Pilsen Malt 98%
Vienna 2%
Hallertau 1.5oz @ 60min.

Jamil's recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, am I right? I just bottled that recipe and I had half a bottle left over that I drank and I couldn't stop exclaiming how GOOD that tasted to my ever-supportive wife. At one point she said "holy crap, that smells good!"

 

[BarLee]

Thanks for all the responses! I put it on gas and will start enjoying it in a couple days. Will report back. I actually got the recipe from my LHBS. I had never used pilsen malt on anything and he gave me the recipe stating that it was a good start. Super simple always seems like the best way to start.
Cheers!

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

It will taste quite different once carbonated. Every beer I've ever made (going back to the mid 1980's) tasted great pre carbonation, and a number of those were not very good at all post carbonation.

75 degrees seems way off the mark high for WLP-029. 63-64 degrees is more like it.

 

[Smellyglove]

If you like it then drink it if you want it, it you want to wait, just wait. Almost all beers should taste good at the time of bottling/kegging imo, if they don't something went wrong. But does it taste like a Kölsch? Lot's of people say that 029 gives some fruit-thing, a Kölsch should at maximum taste close to no fruitiness. It would be regarded as a flaw if it has anything more than closer to nothing, than anything of that fruit. Many people report "no fruitiness" when sampling one of the better ones.

 

[wepeeler]

Like everyone before me said, if it tastes good, drink it! Lagering will clear it out more but most likely won't change the flavor all that much.

I made a Kolsch a few months ago, and it turned out being one of my favorites. And I'm more of an IPA/NEIPA guy. I would highly recommend Imperial Dieter yeast. Three thumbs up.

 

[snarf7]

i find many of the suggestions on lagering times to be way overblown...i think a lot of it is people thinking somehow they have to mimic the old style of how they did it where they'd store it cool dark places for long periods of time as a preservative method and discovered that it only got better with age. But with modern technology, special yeasts, etc you can produce an excellent lager in a much shorter time period.

That all said, it just takes time to drop crystal clear, even with the use of a clarifier so while I'm sure it's delicious now its appearance and taste will improve over the coming weeks if you can not drink it all

 

[brewbama]

I have a sorta-Kolsch recipe (I add a little munich, replace have the Pils malt with 2-row) in that a dyed-in-the-wool German who I had taste it say it has too much flavor for a Kolsch. It's darned tasty.

Sounds like my ‘Ameri-Kölsch’:

95% 2-row
5% Cara-pils
Mosaic 60, 30, 10, 20 min whirlpool
Kölsch yeast

 

[madscientist451]

Many brewers have done room temperature lagers with no lagering and reported great beer.
It would probably be even better with some cold lagering, but why wait?
Maybe brew up another batch and let that one lager while you drink this one.