Kölsch Bee Cave Brewery Kölsch

[TrubDog]

Third time around with this - still a great spring beer! Had a neighborhood cleanup party over the weekend followed by a great bbq. The Kolsch was the hit of the party!

 

[tellyho]

Just bottled my juniper version. Added the juniper "extract" a couple days before bottling after experimentation with how much I needed to add. At bottling, I could not taste any juniper, only an acrid aftertaste. I'm desperately hoping it ages out, as the beer itself is awesome.

 

[chexjc]

So I'm planning to brew a batch of this tomorrow morning, but I just went to do my hop alpha acid adjustments and I'm a little unsure what to do. My Perle (5.5%) and Tettnang (3.5%) only give me an estimated 26.4 IBUs if I follow the recipe schedule. I could move the 60 minute addition back to 90 to sneak a couple more in, but it's not very significant. I'm afraid to move the late additions back because I don't want to miss out on their flavor/aroma. Any suggestions on what I should do? Maybe I could grab an ounce of a bittering hop from the shop near me (they have very limited hop selection, so I doubt they have either of these). Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Thought I'd update -- thanks for the help . No hard feelings. I decided to swing by the LHBS and grabbed some Saaz (it was the most applicable they had, I felt) to bring the IBUs up ~10 IBUs and into the recipe's vacinity. Looking forward to trying this one. Planning to keg on the 26th!

 

[jmill]

Brewing this on Saturday morning. Looking forward to having something other than a Belgian in the kegerator. Second attempt at a kolsch.

 

[kangabrew]

Because this it fermented at 18°C, should I use the ale fermentation type in mrmalty even though its not technically an ale? The hybrid is for cooler temp kölsch, right?

 

[rossi46]

I use the hybrid calculator.

 

[Tcl1999]

I brewed this yesterday and nailed my brew day except for one small problem...if you could call it that. I finally got my mash efficiency up, which means compensating for poor efficiency with extra grain is not necessary. Problem is, you don't really know that you had good efficiency until you have your beer in the fermenter. I ended up at 1.061 😃 I guess I will just have to wait and see how my imperial kolsch comes out. Stupid efficiency!

 

[lewandowski46]

Made this recently in the Grainfather, 1.055 OG, 1.010 FG. Fined with gelatin. Tasted it tonight, delicious. Crisp, clean. Good summer beer.

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[jmill]

Cracked this keg open a little more than a month after brewing. Very good stuff...a lot more crisp than my last kolsch. Noticing a little more fruit flavor from the WLP029 when fermented at low/mid 60s. Not very clear, even with gelatin, but overall a keeper. I'll keep this one in my rotation. Got the Bee Cave Oktoberfest fermenting now.

 

[jmill]

Here is a shot of the finished product.

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[Tcl1999]

Here is a shot of the finished product.

I am about two weeks out from the finished product...just kegged today. Tasted it coming out of the fermenter and I am really looking forward to the final product! Now comes the hard part...waiting for the keg to carb up. Patience is not my strength.

 

[JayInAmes]

Tried this last night, 3 weeks in the primary, 3 in the bottle.

My new favorite beer, batch #8, #3 all-grain. This is a fine beer.

 

[Toppers15]

My perle came in at only 4.5%. Suggestions? I'm up to 20 IBU - will this suffice?

 

[kylelp]

Hey Folks,

I just bottled my 1st batch of this (2nd all grain). My final gravity was 1.004, my original gravity was 1.042. I calculated this as 90% attenuation, is this correct? I left it in the primary for 17 days before bottling, would it be less if i bottled it sooner? Also, this is my 2nd all grain with BIAB so i mashed for around 90 minutes, could this also cause a problem?

 

[rossi46]

If you mashed low and long, it can certainly increase attenuation, that and good healthy yeast. But if you bottled before it was done, you would have had gushers or bombs.

 

[Toppers15]

Well I'm only 19 days from when this beer used to be water, hops, grain and yeast and I can already see this beer being one of my best. For the people who keg - when does this beer peek? I'm hoping to serve it on March 19. That's only 30 days from brew day and just under 2 weeks in the keg.

 

[rossi46]

It will be better to wait longer, but I've drank it plenty of time at 30 days. Cold crash and geltin. If you used kolsch yeast, it is very fine and takes a while to drop clear.

 

[Toppers15]

It will be better to wait longer, but I've drank it plenty of time at 30 days. Cold crash and geltin. If you used kolsch yeast, it is very fine and takes a while to drop clear.

I did cold crash before I kegged and used gelatin as well. It's remarkably clear already.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Brewing this right now exactly as originally published. I went to my LHBS and bought perle and tettnanger in the spirit of authenticity instead of rolling the dice with what I had on hand. 30 minutes till the next hop addition. During the mash it smelled amazing, like a giant bowl of Malt-O-Meal.

While it's still technically thanksgiving weekend, I'm grateful to have recipes like this to learn from and thankful for all those who came before me and selflessly shared their wisdom that I might not fail alone in frustration. HBT is truly a blessing to the homebrewing community. Wishing there was a turkey emoji right now.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I made a few tweaks to my setup for better efficiency and overshot the target OG 1.045 ending up with 1.055 into the fermenter. Wyeast 2565 is a monster, despite the addition of Fermcap S, the kraeusen blew out the airlock decorating the wall and floor with yeast. I swapped the double bubble airlock for a makeshift blowoff tube into a jug of starsan, seems to be under control now. Smells delicious already, I can't wait to try this one.

 

[jlinz]

Just curious if this recipe would work if I swap the Pilsner for 2-row?

 

[Jayjay1976]

i think 2-row is a little darker than pilsner, you could cut back on some of the vienna to compensate.

 

[jlinz]

Is there Vienna in the original recipe? I thought he just has Pilsner and Wheat Malt listed.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Oh sorry, I used 50/50 pils and vienna for the barley portion. Guess I didn't follow the original recipe after all!

 

[Home_alone1]

I want to try this this weekend but I already have 1.5 pounds of hallertau hops. I plan on doubling this recipie and am wondering how much of the hallertau hops I should use as a substitute?

 

[DonGavlar]

Hi guys,

Thinking about brewing this soon.

Quick question, I know a lot of people lager their kolsch’s. Does this recipe call for a lagering period? My ferm chamber only has room for one FV so I dont really want it taken up for a month or so whilst its lagering (I like to have a new brew in it every week or 2!).
I was planning on fermenting this at 66 day 1 and bringing it up to 70 over the course of a week. Then I was going to leave it in the primary at room temp for another 2 weeks (68-70F), cold crash for a few days with gelatin and then bottle and condition for 3 weeks at room temp as normal. Will this be fine or does this beer really benefit from a lagering phase?

 

[madscientist451]

If you are using the Kolsch yeast, lagering helps to clear it. It doesn't clear out by just cold crashing. I think the lagering helps the taste as well, but your taste may be different and your method might be OK for you.

 

[rossi46]

Hi guys,

Thinking about brewing this soon.

Quick question, I know a lot of people lager their kolsch’s. Does this recipe call for a lagering period? My ferm chamber only has room for one FV so I dont really want it taken up for a month or so whilst its lagering (I like to have a new brew in it every week or 2!).
I was planning on fermenting this at 66 day 1 and bringing it up to 70 over the course of a week. Then I was going to leave it in the primary at room temp for another 2 weeks (68-70F), cold crash for a few days with gelatin and then bottle and condition for 3 weeks at room temp as normal. Will this be fine or does this beer really benefit from a lagering phase?

What yeast are you planing on using ? If using Wyeast 2565, I would ferment at 60-62, then ramp to 68.

 

[DonGavlar]

What yeast are you planing on using ? If using Wyeast 2565, I would ferment at 60-62, then ramp to 68.

Would probably be using WLP029 the kolsch yeast, i think its that anyway. I wont be using any though if it requires lagering? Cant afford to have my ferm chamber taken up for a few months.

 

[rossi46]

I've drank it 2 weeks after kegging and its fine, it just gets better the longer it lagers. i usually try to wait 30 days, but sometimes I get thirsty.
Do you have the room to refrigerate you bottles after conditioning ?