Fixing an overly sweet kolsch?

[bestcoast]

So I have a work retreat coming up next week, and about a month ago, I brewed a few gallons of kolsch to bring with me. I made the mistake of telling people this plan, which of course means I've run into issues. Looking for help on how to fix this, if it's even possible.

I brewed the same recipe I have used and loved for years. But I couldn't get the yeast I usually use from white labs, so I used Omega Kolsch II. I did an over built starter, and it took off pretty quickly. Unfortunately, it stalled out at 1.022. I swirled, I warmed it up, I waited. Nothing worked. So I built another starter and dumped that in at high krausen. The yeast woke up a bit, dropped the gravity to 1.018, and stopped again.

I waited another week, and then just decided to keg and see if maybe it would be close enough. It's carbed now. I just tried it. It's not good. Sweet with none of the kolsch fruit kick or hop bite I usually get.

Is there any way to save this? What if I dry hopped in the keg with some noble hop? Or even went a bit crazy and tried galaxy or something? Would that help balance out the sweetness? At this point, it's too sweet to serve, and I'm not going to bring it if I can't save it. So I'm down to experiment and see what happens, but would love some advice on which direction to take it.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Make a hop tea, to add some concentrated bitterness. Would fix the "too sweet" part, but can't replace the "kolsch fruit kick you usually get".
BrewersFriend IBU calculator makes it pretty simple (I've done it myself).

 

[Indian_villager]

How are you measuring the gravity?

If your gravity is actually real, you could use a bit of amylase enzyme.

 

[dmtaylor]

Warm it up, pitch a couple packs of US-05, and hope for the best? It might not work, but at least you tried. US-05 is reasonably clean, and has exceptionally high attenuation compared to most standard yeasts.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Used K-II a couple times and didn't have an issue with it, but...... As stated, dump some us-05 & warm it up. If that doesn't work, must have been another issue in the brew day. I screw something up every brew it just a matter of identifying & finding where I did it. Good luck, hate the it happened on an event with folks expecting your usual good beer.

Kolsch is on my list for next couple of brews. Ordered some wyeast 2565. Haven't used that in quite a few versions. Maybe I'll split a batch and see if I can get some K-II to compare. Had good result with the K-II the few times I used it.

 

[beren]

Are you using a refractometer for the final gravity?

 

[dmtaylor]

Are you using a refractometer for the final gravity?

I know what you are thinking, but that's not the problem here if SG=1.018 unless the beer is contaminated, otherwise true SG would be 1.000.

To those who have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry about it, you don't want to know.

 

[bestcoast]

Always good to ask about refractometers, but no, I've done the conversions to get the true gravity.

The US-05 is probably the best advice, but wouldn't I need to uncarbonate it first? Am I right to assume that tossing in some dried yeast right now would cause a foam geyser? It's gonna be very annoying (slash probably not possible in the time I have left) to uncarbonate it in time. So I guess I need to pick between hop tea and try to salvage for next week, or take some time to get this one right and see if I can improve it for drinking at home.

I brewed up an IPA this past weekend to see if I could rush something as a backup. And now that seems to be slowing a bit and threatening to stall in the mid 1.020s. I wonder if the thermometer I'm using for my mash needs to be recalibrated because I usually never have problems with final gravity. I'll check that when I get home. Perhaps I should pick up some amylase, as well. Sigh.

 

[wdavis2003]

Buy some of your favorite local craft Kolsch. Peel off the labels and claim it's yours.. Not that I would ever do that

 

[bestcoast]

Buy some of your favorite local craft Kolsch. Peel off the labels and claim it's yours.. Not that I would ever do that

That's what my wife suggested this morning! Smart folks...

 

[Snuffy]

I would fall back, punt, and pick up a couple cases of something you enjoy.

 

[MaxStout]

Like others suggested, re-pitch some US-05. Nottingham would work too, and might attenuate a little further. Let it ride a few weeks and check the gravity then. It may not taste like a Kolsch, but it'll be beer.

 

[fluketamer]

hop tea as stated above will work. i have done this

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, my very first wheat beer started life as a rather insipid brew due to lack of IBUs. I made up a quart of hop tea on the stove, cooled it down and added it to the base beer, and it was totally transformative...

Cheers!

 

[Beermeister32]

I’ve used amylase enzyme before in the fermenter to bring the FG down. It helps to dry out an excessively cloying condition in your beer. I had a mash gauge off once and was mashing too high.

Also could be added to your keg, blend it with a few ounces of distilled water first to avoid issues adding powder to carbonated beer.

Not the greatest thing but it can help!

 

[mac_1103]

blend it with a few ounces of distilled water first to avoid issues adding powder to carbonated beer

Same thing will work for adding yeast - rehydrate per manufacturers instructions before adding. It'll probably still foam, but not nearly as much.

 

[bestcoast]

As an update, I've gone the hop tea route for the kolsch. It's a bit better after the first dose. I'm going to let it settle for a day and then probably add another dose to really get it to the right IBUs.

For the IPA that was languishing in my fermentation chamber, I dumped in the spare bag of US-05 I keep around in case of emergencies, and it seems to have done the trick.

Still not sure I plan to serve any of this at my retreat later this week, but the beer is certainly better already. Thanks for everyone's ideas!

 

[Snuffy]

Still not sure I plan to serve any of this at my retreat later this week, but the beer is certainly better already. Thanks for everyone's ideas!

That's kind of where I was coming from. If you are going to take homebrew somewhere and share it, you want your best effort showcased. Any batch that gets kinds sideways would give me pause. Fine for normal consumption, but not what you want to be judged on by co-workers.