Kolsch ended up as Budweiser?

I just taped a keg of my first attempt at a Kolsch, and while it's a drinkable beer I'm a bit dissapointed that it tastes like Budweiser and is missing that slightly "grainy" Kolsch flavor. It's almost too clean and lacks any character. The only thing I can really pick out as a cause is the yeast. My LHBS was out of Kolsch yeast so I used trusty US-05. Here's the recipe:

Size: 6G (65% efficiency)
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.006
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 27
Mash temp: 150 for 75 min, batch sparge to 6G

11.25 lb German Pilsner
0.75 lb Vienna Malt
2 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 3.4% (60 min)
SafAle US-05 yeast (11g packet, no starter)

I fermented at 62 for 2 weeks and then racked to a Keg to cold condition and carbonate for 4 weeks before tapping. Any suggestions if I re-brew?

 

Use the Kolsch yeast. It's important. This is a very subtle beer and the yeast is a big part of the beer's profile. Also taste your beer again critically. I can't believe a brew made with all German pilsner malt is going to taste like an American mega lager with 60% domestic malt and 40% rice.

 

I doubt it was the yeast's fault. Lots of people use US-05 for an alt and koelsch yeast substitute. Without getting into an argument about the "right" yeast to use for the style, there are differences between an alt yeast and a koelsch yeast, but they're more similar to each other than say, the Budvar lager strain.

US-05 will make a clean, crisp ale when fermented at low temperatures. Koelsches are clean, crisp ales. Without getting a "real" Koelsch strain, you're as close as you're gonna get.

 

Here's the culprit. The FG is too low to give this beer expected flavor. My 1st kolsch was exactly the same (although fermented by WY2565 Kolsch yeast, so the problem is not your yeast), finished @ ~1.005.

I took the lesson and my next kolshes was mashed somewhat sweeter, targeting FG ~1.010. I'd suggest mashing bit higher (i do temperature step mashing so i cann't suggest any temperatures for single infusion mash).

 

It's still not a "Kolsch" without Kolsch yeast. You've basically made a cream ale, as you won't get the fruity notes from the US-05 yeast.

Get yourself some Wyeast 2565 and use Jamil's Kolsch recipe and you won't be disappointed, it's a great beer.

http://www.beerdujour.com/Recipes/Jamil/JamilsKolsch.htm

 

+1 on Jamil's grain bill. I sub willamette and use WLP029 and it is some super beer.

 

Gotta use the Kolsch yeast. I made an extract from 2565, fermented very low, and cold conditioned in the frige for a month. Tasted very much like some of the authentic Kolsch's I had over in Germany. I'm saddened that I only have 10 left, but I've got it returning to the lineup w/ partial mash.

 

You made a blonde ale, not a Koelsch. Koelsch is a very subtle style of beer, and true Koelsch yeast is extremely finicky. But if you treat it right, it'll reward you with the most drinkable of beers!

 

Yeah, Jamil's Kolsch is unbelievably drinkable. After 4 weeks lagering, the beer just slides down your throat.

 

That's a weird pairing of words to compliment a beer. Sounds more like a back-handed insult than a compliment. Like "I can't believe it was drinkable."

I'm going to tell my next waiter that my meal was "miraculously edible."

 

You not making Kolsch if you not using 2565 or 029 strains, you can call it whatever you want but it WILL NOT taste like Kolsch beer, period. I just pulled a sample of my Kolsch from a keg last night, funny how similar our recipes, I made a SMASH Kolsch with 100% Pilsner malt and German Select hops at 60 and 30 min additions. I did used Wyeast 2565 and thats the only yeast I use in my Kolsch beers. It taste and smell nothing like Budwiser. Its amazing! I can't wait for it to fully carb.

 

Huh? Sure.

 

Drinkability is a very appropriate description for a beer. Germans call it "Bekoemmlichkeit", i.e. easy to drink and easy on the stomach. "Edible" isn't a good analogue.

 

IMO Kolsch is only Kolsch with Kolsch yeast. You can turn down the hot alcohol taste with the mashing changes but you still will not get the delicate floral finish that is a part of the Kolsch. Taste a few German produced Kolsch and the difference is very clear.

 

Thanks for the insight everyone. I wanted to use a Kolsch yeast but my LHBS was out of stock so I couldn't. I'll try mashing at a little higher temp next time, 152-154, to keep the FG from finishing so low.

 

Relatives of ours own a brewery in Germany its called Geisler and they make a wicked Kolsch.

I know this is off topic but if you go to Germany ever try it.

 

I actually just came back from Germany, was there for a week (in Cologne) and had a lot of Kolsch I kegged mine a few weeks before going.

 

If you can't find Koelsch yeast, 011 pitched alongside 830 makes a reasonable substitute. I would imagine 036 would produce decent results, too. Not quite the same thing, but much closer than US-05.