Kolsch hop help

I am going to be brewing a Kolsch this weekend and would like to use some of the hops I have on hand as part of the recipe and was wondering what and how much I should use. Here is what I have:

NZ Pacifica - 11 oz
NZ Motueka - 8oz
Pacific Jade - 2 oz
Cascade - 6oz
Centennial - 8oz

I was considering the use of the pacific jade as it has a tad bit more "spice" to it (so I have read), where as the rest are more citrusy. I have read the guidelines and it states that most use German noble hops...so Im going outside the guidelines (this not for a competition anyways).

My grainbill will look something like this:

either
Pilsner 2-row (ger) - 8.50#
Wheat Malt (ger) - 1.00#
Honey Malt - .25#

OR

Pale Malt 2 row - 7.00#
Vienna Malt - 2.5#
White Wheat -1.5#

(depending on what my LHBS has in stock at the moment too.)

I started typing that you should go with the second grain bill. But with hops you have on hand that first one with a bit of honey malt sounds really tasty.

I try to get my Kolsch pretty dry so without a bit of Munich or Vienna it comes out a bit thin. You might want to consider a bit of Vienna with either grain bill.

I shoot for about 24 IBU for my Kolsch. If you go with that first grain bill you might be able to use all pasific jade for the hops.

i'm looking forward to hearing how this one turns out!

TurnipGreen said:

I started typing that you should go with the second grain bill. But with hops you have on hand that first one with a bit of honey malt sounds really tasty.

I try to get my Kolsch pretty dry so without a bit of Munich or Vienna it comes out a bit thin. You might want to consider a bit of Vienna with either grain bill.

I shoot for about 24 IBU for my Kolsch. If you go with that first grain bill you might be able to use all pasific jade for the hops.

i'm looking forward to hearing how this one turns out!

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According to this website: https://byo.com/resources/hops It list pacific jade as useful for a kolsch (use the pull down menu), but when I plug that in as my bittering hop on my software, it pushes my IBU up to 51%

On another site, I read that Pacifica is in the hallertau family, and that Motueka comes from saaz family....so I am kind of leaning towards Pacifica for the bittering and Motueka for the flavoring

You have some great hops there, but Kolsch isn't a very hoppy style. I would do something along these lines:

.5oz Motueka @ 60
.25oz Motueka @ 20
.25oz Pacifica @20
.25oz Pacific Jade @ 5

I really like Motueka in light ales. That along with Pacifica and Pacific Jade will give you a nice citrus/herbal character. Beersmith says 22 IBU for that hop combo which is perfect for a Kolsch

edit: I think you should brew a NZ Pale Ale next

saltymirv said:

You have some great hops there, but Kolsch isn't a very hoppy style. I would do something along these lines:

.5oz Motueka @ 60
.25oz Motueka @ 20
.25oz Pacifica @20
.25oz Pacific Jade @ 5

I really like Motueka in light ales. That along with Pacifica and Pacific Jade will give you a nice citrus/herbal character. Beersmith says 22 IBU for that hop combo which is perfect for a Kolsch

edit: I think you should brew a NZ Pale Ale next

Click to expand...

I really like that combo...I think this is what I will run with, thanks!! I'll post how this turns out in a couple months...

I plan to (primary) this for 3 weeks @60 degrees, then secondary it for 4-5 weeks @ about 40 degrees (mostly due to time constraints I have with work over the next few months, but also because I want to allow the yeast to really have lots of time to clean it up with the hope of producing a very clean kolsch in the end

Also, here is what I am picking up for my grain bill to run with the above hop schedule:

8.5# pilsner 2-row
1# wheat
.5# honey
.5# Vienna

ESTIMATES are: (5.5gal batch)

1.050 OG
1.011 FG (using a 1.5L starter of WY2565)
20.5 IBU
5.1 SRM
5.1% abv

gonna mash at 148 single infusion for 60min and batch sparge

Just finished brewing the above. ..og ended up over target at 1.054...so I guess having my own grain mill really helped my efficiency!! Expected at 70% was 1.050. Hmmm...should be quite tasty!! I just hope it's clean and crisp like the kolsch beer I've had in the past

Redtab78 said:

Just finished brewing the above. ..og ended up over target at 1.054...so I guess having my own grain mill really helped my efficiency!! Expected at 70% was 1.050. Hmmm...should be quite tasty!! I just hope it's clean and crisp like the kolsch beer I've had in the past

Click to expand...

Are you using BeerSmith?

Biermacht phone app, but I have beer smith

So what ever happened with this? I'm tasting a 'Red Kolsch' that was inspired by this thread.

1oz Motueka @90
0.4 Pac Jade @5min
0.6 Pc Jade whirlpool for a bit (it's a kolsch but wtf)

It's good, but different. I've done this recipe before w/ saaz/sauvin and ended up with something wine-like. But this one definitely rings the 'mojito' bell, which is surprising as the Motueka was used earlier and the Pacific Jade later. Limey-spicy-almost-minty.

Alarmingly drinkable though and tastes as a Red Kolsch should....

headspace said:

So what ever happened with this? I'm tasting a 'Red Kolsch' that was inspired by this thread.

1oz Motueka @90
0.4 Pac Jade @5min
0.6 Pc Jade whirlpool for a bit (it's a kolsch but wtf)

It's good, but different. I've done this recipe before w/ saaz/sauvin and ended up with something wine-like. But this one definitely rings the 'mojito' bell, which is surprising as the Motueka was used earlier and the Pacific Jade later. Limey-spicy-almost-minty.

Alarmingly drinkable though and tastes as a Red Kolsch should....

Click to expand...

I thought the final product was excellent!
I did have a tad bit of the spicey, but I felt like it complimented the motueka hops nicely, not overbearing. In my notes, i brewed it exactly as described above for the hop schedule. ..

.5 motueka at 60
.25 motueka and pacifica at 20
But I did the Pacific jade at flame out not 5