user 338926
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I made a batch of Kolsch a while back. It's my go-to beer that I always try to have on hand. Now, not to place blame on anyone, but on Brew Day my neighbor came over and brought some homemade Spirits we will call it. 158 proof, and of course to be a good host, I am compelled to try it. Not that I'm a great judge but it was certainly not bad. From what I can recall anyway.
So the boil continues and the late additions are completely eliminated. No yeast nutrient, no whirlflock, no kick carrageenan tablets, no (edit DAP, not dms), but by a happy coincidence I didn't forget the late hop addition, as this recipe has none. I did somehow manage to turn the gas off. I never pumped oxygen in which is a every batch process for me. The ended up in the fermenter and the lid ended up on it. It also got an airlock. Success!
The beer worked okay but it certainly didn't attenuate as the recipe calls for. My intent was to make a all day beer anyway so being 3.8% didn't bother me a bit. It did have very nice aroma. It was certainly not clear though it was mostly a chillhaze. Quite frankly it's a recipe simple enough that it's hard to screw it up to where you wouldn't want to drink it. It was still pretty good.
So the next weekend I decided to correct any potential problems and brew at a more reasonable blood alcohol level. I wasn't sure how the first batch would turn out but I wasn't interested in waiting two additional weeks for the next batch if it did not. When everything was complete, batch number two was clear, attenuated properly, had maybe a little less head retention but not much and still beautiful lacing. It was closer to 5% with a mash temp within a half a degree of the previous batch. The first was 148.5F and the second was 149.
So a number of people had tried the first batch and it got rather rave reviews. Once the second batch was done I made it a point to have those same people try the new batch and even a few I had try it side by side. Now both beers were very good, but to a man, every single person including myself liked the first beer better. Most of the people tried it a week apart or so. I'm going to say there were eight different people who tried both.
I did not cold crash either of these beers. But I suspect if I did I could have cleared the first one pretty nice. It never did clear and there wasn't any appreciable gunk on the bottom of the kegs. So it didn't have a lot of suspended solids, it just had chill haze pretty bad. I'm not positive but I don't think this style is supposed to be cloudy at all. If it tastes good I don't generally care but I do sort of like my beers too have the proper characteristics for the style. They often do affect the flavor.
So has anybody else ever had a beer they were contemplating not doing their best to give the yeast it's best environment in order to produce something like I did here by mistake?
So the boil continues and the late additions are completely eliminated. No yeast nutrient, no whirlflock, no kick carrageenan tablets, no (edit DAP, not dms), but by a happy coincidence I didn't forget the late hop addition, as this recipe has none. I did somehow manage to turn the gas off. I never pumped oxygen in which is a every batch process for me. The ended up in the fermenter and the lid ended up on it. It also got an airlock. Success!
The beer worked okay but it certainly didn't attenuate as the recipe calls for. My intent was to make a all day beer anyway so being 3.8% didn't bother me a bit. It did have very nice aroma. It was certainly not clear though it was mostly a chillhaze. Quite frankly it's a recipe simple enough that it's hard to screw it up to where you wouldn't want to drink it. It was still pretty good.
So the next weekend I decided to correct any potential problems and brew at a more reasonable blood alcohol level. I wasn't sure how the first batch would turn out but I wasn't interested in waiting two additional weeks for the next batch if it did not. When everything was complete, batch number two was clear, attenuated properly, had maybe a little less head retention but not much and still beautiful lacing. It was closer to 5% with a mash temp within a half a degree of the previous batch. The first was 148.5F and the second was 149.
So a number of people had tried the first batch and it got rather rave reviews. Once the second batch was done I made it a point to have those same people try the new batch and even a few I had try it side by side. Now both beers were very good, but to a man, every single person including myself liked the first beer better. Most of the people tried it a week apart or so. I'm going to say there were eight different people who tried both.
I did not cold crash either of these beers. But I suspect if I did I could have cleared the first one pretty nice. It never did clear and there wasn't any appreciable gunk on the bottom of the kegs. So it didn't have a lot of suspended solids, it just had chill haze pretty bad. I'm not positive but I don't think this style is supposed to be cloudy at all. If it tastes good I don't generally care but I do sort of like my beers too have the proper characteristics for the style. They often do affect the flavor.
So has anybody else ever had a beer they were contemplating not doing their best to give the yeast it's best environment in order to produce something like I did here by mistake?
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