Getting ready to try a Kolsch, water question

[DarrellQ]

I have brewed several IPA's so far from kits and they have turned-out surprisingly well given my lack of experience, and the fact that they are from kits. I have used my well water, which is hard at 12 GPG with a ph of 7.3, for each brew. For the Kolsch, I plan to use 5 gallons of distilled water since, from what I've learned here, the Kolsch may not be happy with my well water. After the boil, I plan to use the immersion chiller to get the ~3 gallons of wort down to about 75 degrees (my maximum), and then top off with 2 gallons of distilled water from my refrigerator before pitching. I plan to ferment at 62 degrees and my goal is to get the wort down to or below 62 before pitching. Is this a good plan? (the kit has both DME and LME to add in the last 15 minutes of the boil) Appreciate your comments!

 

[VikeMan]

I don't see any issues with your plan to use distilled water. It's a good idea for this beer.

I'll just add that a full volume boil (with adequate chilling) would be better than a partial boil. And all DME would be better than part LME if you decide to brew this again (sans kit).

 

[WesBrew]

I just did two Kolsch beers back to back that came out excellent. slightly different hopping for each one but I re-used the yeast. I'm not knowledgeable about water profiles, I only used some acid in my town water to get PH right. I can say that white labs German Ale/Kolsch yeast likes to ferment at the higher end at 69F. My first batch I started off at the low end of 64 and it was sluggish, I had to raise the temp to get it going. The second batch started at 69 and kicked off in four hours. to be fair there was a lot more yeast.

 

[jdauria]

Assuming you are doing extract kits, water is not as important since the minerals were added when the mash was done to create the extract at the factory. As long as your tap water tastes good, you can use it. It's all grain brewing where you need to really worry about your water since you control the mash, mash pH and flavor profile you are targeting.