blonde ale help

I am looking to change my blonde recipe. I want to make it a bit more like a pilsner, cleaner and more crisp. Would it make more difference to use pilsner grain instead of two row as the base malt or change the yeast from 1099 witbread to 2565 kolsch. Please give any advice, Thanks

GHB

 

Interesting choice for changing yeast. Wyeast calls 2565 "similar to Alt strains. Produces slightly more fruity/winey characteristics. Fruitiness increases with temperature increase."

Don't know about you, but that doesn't cleaner or crisper. Have you thought about 1056 - which is a really clean yeast that will allow your malt profile to shine through?

 

Assuming you can ferment at the high 50's or low 60's, I would go for the kolsch yeast or maybe even the California lager yeast 2112. Both should produce a crisp beer if fermented in the right temperature range. If you look at EdWort's Bee Cave Kolsch recipe, he mentions it tastes more like a pilsner than a kolsch.

 

I brew a very light, "lager-like" ale with pilsner malt, some flaked rice and US-05. I feed it to the BMC drinkers and don't mind an occasional pint or two, myself.

Kegging a big batch of it Wednesday, in fact.

With little character coming from the malt or yeast, your hops choice is pretty important. I like to use nobles, like Saaz, Tet or Hallertau.