Greetings from the home of Kölsch

[Ricard0]

Hello everyone,

I'm Ricardo, living in Cologne (Germany). You maybe know Cologne (called Köln in german) from our Kölsch, only allowed to name it Kölsch when brewed inside the city walls (there is just one exception).

I brew my own beer since one and a half year. A few days ago my brewing-mate and me brewed our 31. batch.

Our housebeer is some interpretation of Kölsch, but of course not filtered (what breaks the law of Kölsch, see 'Kölschkonvention').

But to be honest: I don't like Kölsch that much. The style I really love is the belgian. Last year I visited Belgium three times and this year I was there already, too.
By the way: There is a remarkable beerfestival in Belgium on 7th of march. Anybody is heading this event?

Some other styles I really like: IPAs, Barley Wines and Stouts; and of course our bavarian Weizen!

Summarizing I'm here to get some more information, recipes and tips. Also I hope to be able to help with my knowledge and experience, too.

With best regards
Ricardo

 

[masonsjax]

Welcome! The wife and I got to spend a few days in Köln this past summer. We really liked Päffgen, great food and the best Kölsch in town. It's not my favorite style either, but I enjoyed it very much. I wish I lived closer to Belgium!

 

[Traveler733]

Hi! I would like to go to Germany some day and try a real Kolsch. I make a lot of it, in my version of it.
I would like to try a real Belgean some day too.

 

[brewbama]

Welcome aboard. I was stationed in Mannheim back when the wall fell. I like Kölsch as well but prefer Alt or Munich Dunkel and even Weizen more.

Some chatter here earlier about Home Brew Shops in Germany. Where are the good ones?

 

[Ricard0]

...We really liked Päffgen, great food and the best Kölsch in town...

Hi Mason,
did you try Mühlenkölsch? It's the best one in my opinion.

...Some chatter here earlier about Home Brew Shops in Germany. Where are the good ones?

As far as I know there is just one real Shop in Berlin (far away from Cologne). But there are plenty onlineshops. And they have everything I want to buy so far.

We even got a american guy, selling american (and international) hops (www.amihopfen.com).
Also we can buy nearly everything you need for belgian style brewing (candis syrup, spices, belgian malts and so on).
Also I get all the WhiteLabs an Wyeast products here in germany.
There is a Onlineshop located at Duisburg. There you can order and pick it up at the warehouse. Also one of my favorite shops with lot of brewing equipment (www.candirect.de).



Let me german guy ask you american brewers a question: Why are so many american hombrewer using class carboys? From my point of view cleaning is a problem (caused by the small hole on the top) and furthermore you get UV light in your wort.
Only pro is the material which does not take over the smell from it's content.

 

[brewbama]

Thanks for the HBS website info.

I use food grade plastic primaries.

 

[unionrdr]

Welcome to the best site on the net for the latest info/thoughts on home brewing! Some like the glass carboys because they're more inert. I have a 6 gallon Better Bottle (PET plastic carboy) for the occasional secondary. You might be interested in our ongoing thread where a few of us are brewing the extinct E German kottbusser? I brew a dampfbier that's pretty close myself. I have to say, I like the White Labs 029 kolsch yeast for that lager-like balance & crispness on the back & it's fermentation range of 65-69F. I use it in my light & dark hybrid lagers as well as the kottbusser in primary now. Lots of recipes on here for All kinds of beers from here to Belgium, Germany, etc. Enjoy!

 

[solbes]

I remember visiting Germany and Belgium together on multiple business trips. Best of both worlds from a beer point of view, yum.

I am jealous of being able to try all of the actual Kolsch beers. I think I've bought 3 here stateside in bottles. And its one of my favorite styles to homebrew as well. Something about that yeast flavor that is most excellent, its by far my favorite lighter beer style.

As to why glass carboys, its because they are super easy to clean (oxiclean, no brushes needed). And they allow no oxygen through, so its a good vessel to use during a long secondary for aging. Not needed for most beer styles, but when it is I prefer glass carboys. And I cover them with a blanket to keep the UV rays out. Cheers!

 

[masonsjax]

I would never use glass since a friend lost part of his hand to one exploding. I only use PET plastic carboys which are very easy to clean (hot water or oxiclean, no brushes). They don't allow oxygen through so they're great for long term aging and it's easy to throw an old tee shirt on them to keep out the light. They're also very inexpensive, cheap shipping and they won't try to kill you.

I don't remember all the spots we went in Köln, we visited several one night with some locals that were showing us around. We had a lot of good Kölsch that week. Bamberg was my favorite city in Deutschland though, those rauchbiers are amazing!