Kölsch Bee Cave Brewery Kölsch

[Pangea]

I just kegged this sucker. Tastes fantastic out of the hydrometer tube. It spent 3 weeks at ferm temps then crashed to 34F for a week. OG 1.052 and FG 1.011. I mashed at 151 but used the Wyeast Kolsch. Curious why my FG didn't get lower. Doesn't really matter anyway because the flavor of this one is outstanding so far. I cant wait until carbed!!! This is a winner. Very simple and very tasty.

I used gelatin after forgetting kettle finings. Looks like its not crystal clear but not cloudy like a wheat. We'll see how clarity turns out after a few days settling in the keg.

 

[shecky]

Bottled this one today. Finished at 1.008. Nice and dry but some maltiness is definitely present. My wife picked out a slight pear note to it and dang if she wasn't right.

Thanks, Ed.

 

[Pangea]

This Kolsch is now officially the fastest drained batch I've made. Everyone loves it. It really is very pilsner like. Probably the best beer I've made - literally everyone who tried it liked it, including the women who dont drink beer! Well Done Ed!!!

 

[Pangea]

The chicks dig Edwort's Kolsch.
SWMBO on left thinks its the best homebrew yet. 5.5 gallons lasted 3 days.

 

[drunkatuw]

I found 2 bottles in the brew shop on Sunday that I brewed on 5/18/2008. The two kegs are long gone, but I had a little over 10 gallons when I kegged it, so I had a few bottles. Opened one tonight and boy is it still good. I'm going to brew another kolsch soon, this is some good stuff.

 

[craigbrew]

quick question. Just had my wife pick up the stuff for this recipe and I want to brew it tonight. I just got the yeast so I have not made a starter. Can I just pitch the vial with no problems.

by the way this will be my first all-grain.

 

[EdWort]

quick question. Just had my wife pick up the stuff for this recipe and I want to brew it tonight. I just got the yeast so I have not made a starter. Can I just pitch the vial with no problems.

by the way this will be my first all-grain.

You can, but it may have a lag time of up to 36 hours.

 

[craigbrew]

I had a really low O.G. (1.029). This was my first all-grain. I have a 5 gal round cooler but I haven't got the ball valve for it so I took a 5 gal paint strainer bag and put that in the cooler. I batch sparge.

I mashed with 3 gal of water and my mash temp was 154deg for 60 min

I then sparged with 1 1/2 gal of 170deg water for 10 min.

I got 3 gal of wort and added water to bring it up to 6 gal for my boil.

Any help would be great.
thanks craig

 

[EdWort]

You should have added more hot water to the grains to get your 6 or 7 gallons. You need to run all the water through the grains.

 

[craigbrew]

Thanks ed, I will have to do that when I do your Oktoberfest and put it on the Kolsch yeast cake.

craig

 

[EdWort]

I'm building a starter for a 15 gallon batch right now in preparation of 15 gallons of Octoberfest Ale.

 

[bkov]

Just took a sip of the Kolsch...WOW, very good! This has been kegged for 9 days, and it tastes mighty fine, very similar to Victory's Prima Pils. I might like this one better than your pale ale...

nice, is this about just as hoppy? ive been wanting to try to make a prima clone but cant really lager

 

[CharlosCarlies]

Ed, is there anything you do to your water for lighter beers like this?

I'm in the Austin area too and our water (well) is just so ridiculously hard. It's been fantastic for the higher gravity brews, but I have still yet to make a great lightish beer and I'm starting to wonder if it's just the water.

 

[EdWort]

I have LCRA water and it works fine for me. If I had really hard water I would go half RO water from the Glacier Dispenser at HEB and half well water. Give that a try.

I've made my Kolsch with rain water before and it came out great, but a different beer all together. The soft water affects the hop utilization, so it was not as herb (bitter) as my normal Kolsch.

 

[EdWort]

nice, is this about just as hoppy? ive been wanting to try to make a prima clone but cant really lager

Pretty close.

 

[bkov]

has anyone tried to FWH the perle instead of just the 60mins?


im brewing 10gallons this weekend...now to look for a recipe to pitch on the wlp029 cake when its done

 

[midfielder5]

im brewing 10gallons this weekend...now to look for a recipe to pitch on the wlp029 cake when its done

Ed's Oktoberfest!!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/bee-cave-brewery-oktoberfest-ale-38880/

 

[bkov]

also....is this one that is at its prime young? or once carbed its good but gets better and better with time?

 

[aeonderdonk]

Going to be brewing a slight variation of this this weekend. Looking forward to it but won't be able to keep it that cold (probably ~72 through out the whole process). What affect will that have on the beer? Just cloudier?

 

[nostalgia]

I just ordered this recipe from Brewmaster's Warehouse.. There appears to be a typo over there, as it uses 2-row pale malt instead of pilsner. I fixed mine to use Briess pilsner instead.

Definitley want to boil a pils malt hard for 90 minutes.

This was my understanding also, but both the original recipe and the recipe on BMW explicitly state a 60 minute boil. Is there a reason for that?

Thanks,

-Joe

 

[CharlosCarlies]

This was my understanding also, but both the original recipe and the recipe on BMW explicitly state a 60 minute boil. Is there a reason for that?

I'd go ahead and boil for 90. It can't hurt anything.

 

[nostalgia]

Just finished this recipe. Did a 90 minute boil. Efficiency was pretty miserable - 5.25gals into the fermenter at 1.041 for 54%. First runnings were 1.069 and pre-boil 1.029.

I've been told that recipes with a high percentage of wheat malt can require enzymes for proper conversion. Does anyone else use this? I see a few others in this thread with the same problem, so I'm glad it's not just me

I'm expecting it to come out well regardless of the gravity though. I hit my mash temp right on at 151F and had a smooth brewday otherwise.

Thanks for the recipe!

-Joe

 

[bkov]

excellent brew

if i decide to make this a house recipe, and use 2row instead of pilsner grain, would it taste like a totaly different brew? i would buy in bulk and most of my other recipes use 2row

 

[ReverbbqBrew]

Friends and I just drank up my Bee Cave last nite.

OUTSTANDING.

The one difference I had with my Kolsch is I rocked better efficiency than I usually do...almost ten percent higher, then boiled for ninety minutes and ended up with a higher gravity 1.O6O. I adjusted the bitterness accordingly.

She's big, but that Kolsch yeast taste is pretty unmistakable...especially if you ferment in the high sixties

Big Kolsch is a great beer.

Thanks ed.

 

[CharlosCarlies]

She's big, but that Kolsch yeast taste is pretty unmistakable...especially if you ferment in the high sixties

Really? I've always fermented a Kolsch on the really cold side, and I always liked how clean and lager-like it turned out. What kind of flavors come out on the higher side?

 

[nostalgia]

After 2 weeks at 66-68F I racked to the keg. The beer is crystal clear - I could see all the way through the fermenter! OG was 1.041 but the FG was 1.006 for an ABV of 4.55%.

And it's delicious! Really looking forward to getting this one cold and carbed.

-Joe

 

[markcubed]

Just got into brewing so I don't All-Grain quite yet.

Anyone have any opinion on that extract-based recipe from earlier in the thread?

Link:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/bee-cave-brewery-koelsch-33548/index8.html

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

It's wonderful, just brew it! Seriously, this brew is one of those you'll find yourself brewing over and over again...people LOVE it. I just brewed another 5g today, and it's probably my 4th batch this year. Total crowd pleaser, plus just a great beer to sit down at night with and catch some TV.

 

[nostalgia]

Here's my shot at it. Head retention is amazing. Flavor is delicious. I predict this keg will disappear at my Oktoberfest party this weekend.

It's still a little cloudy, but it's the first pull from the keg. I expect it'll clear a lot in the following pints.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Here's my shot at it. Head retention is amazing. Flavor is delicious. I predict this keg will disappear at my Oktoberfest party this weekend.

It was a huge hit at the party! One guest thought I had brought in a keg of commercial beer so people who didn't like homebrew would have something to drink. I'll take that as a compliment!

-Joe