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Batch 3 is in the fermentor. After going to the Great Taste of the Midwest Saturday (out of 1000+ beers, no Kotty), I was inspired to brew my third batch yesterday. That, and I kicked the small, 2 gallons I had. I made a starter last week and had moved it to the fridge. I decanted the DME wort...

I am a bit late on this, but my second run at the Kottbusser was interesting. As I mentioned before, I split my wort into two 5 gallon fermentors rather than a single 6 gallon after having some aggressive fermentation clean up with the WLP029 yeast last time. I also had forgotten to add the...

I am nearing the end of my lagering phase of my second batch. It will be interesting to note the difference in adding the honey and molasses to the fermentor vs. the flameout addition I did last time. I will check back in with my results.

Should have read your recipe first! Personally, I would skip the 5 and 2 minute additions and add them to your whirlpool additions. Definitely moving into DIPA territory. You have me curious now about playing with El Dorado...

If you are just doing a bittering addition and the rest of your hops as steep/whirlpool with dry hopping, then buying a 6 pack of Miller Lite and do the hop experiment and measure the volume of your blends. Do 3 bottles as single hop additions for blending and the other 3 as dry hop blends. It...

A question for the gycol pump users from someone considering this option: What is the thought process behind switching back and forth from municipal (well water in my case) to glycol? Nevermind. Thinking about it a bit, I would guess the issue relates to the inability to re-cool the glycol...

I echo fellow Wisconsinite JonM on using acidulated malt. I have adopted Gordon Strong's practice of only mashing my base malts and those that need help (flaked oats, barley, etc.) and steeping my dark grains and specialties separately. It means that all my mashes are light grains. It is an...

Honey and molasses added this morning and I am starting my 5 day ramp up to 70. I did decide to add it to just one carboy. Given that the batch was split between two carboys, I am thinking about what I would like to do with the yeast. I will probably do another Kotty. This may be the time to...

I agree on the mouthfeel. With such a simple recipe, every ingredient really contributes something to the final product. The oats in particular with the mouthfeel. On a related note, I have started replacing carapils with either flaked barley, oats, or rye, recipe dependent, in all my beers...

When are you looking at the hop additions? Late hopping? Dry hopping? I just brewed a session beer with a 50/50 blend of 2oz Citra and 2oz Chinook as a hop stand. Only other addition was my FWH Magnum bittering. Citra and Chinook in even pairing is a nice combo on their own. How much do you want...

So, my plans to brew the Kottbusser on Sunday exactly as I did in early November hit a few road bumps. First, I found much lower extraction efficiency combined with a higher volume of pre-boil wort. I removed 1.5-2 gallons from my brew pot and boiled it separately on the gas stove indoors while...

I have gotten into the habit where, if I have concerns of blow off, I just split my batch between two Better Bottle carboys and be done with it. For me, I would rather prep an extra carboy and clean it after than to lose beer and have a mess to clean in my fermentation fridge or freezer. I just...

Great point and something I have been thinking about in reading Michael T's book. I love the low ABV Berliner and Goze. It sounds like one can really go a lot of different directions with the BIAC.

Starter with the WL 029 is on the stir plate. Shaping up for a weekend brew. Given that I have had 3 kegs kick in the last 40 days, pretty poor planning on my part. Tempted to do a double batch with the Kotty and something a bit quicker.

Great! The oats are probably contributing some as well. I am on deck for my Kotty rebrew this weekend. Need to build up my yeast starter this week in anticipation.

My apologies if this has been asked and answered in the thread already. Are those of you with armed and operational Brewha systems using the element for the "hot side" of the temperature control during fermentation with the water/glycol jacket for the cool side? I thought I recall seeing mention...

Alas, my Kotty keg kicked. The last glass. Hopefully, the end to this Wisconsin winter as well.

I would throw it in. Then again, mine was in at flameout. The WL029 is fine at that temp, though at this point, you may want to ramp it up to 68-70 if you have the capability via a heating pad, etc. Should be fine either way.

Many of us have already in the past few pages. Bottom line for me is it is quite an excellent beer that is highly drinkable but not boring. It is not dominated by one element and all the ingredients bring something important to the table. Good balance. Should be an excellent summer quencher and...

My friend and owner of an excellent Belgian Gastropub said this is a beer he would put on tap. We have a serious regular house tap on our hands with this beer. Love the Kotty.