I love Kolsch yeast

[Brocster]

brewed a German Pilsner/Amarillo SMASH yesterday with WLP029, and it just started bubbling away. Mashed low (150F), so I'm hoping for good attenuation based on previous comments about this yeast. I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly fermentation started....I've read a lot about 36+ hour delays.

Anyone have suggestions about good brews to pitch on top of this cake in a few weeks?

One idea that I have been towing with is a Vienna like lager recipe. The last Kolsch I created with WLP029 was awesome. In fact, I could have swore it was a lager - very European like in taste.

I think a very simple Vienna type beer would be great. Also, you could do a Dusseldorf Alt. This is a great beer style, a more malty and amber version of a Kolsch. Regardless of staying to styles, I think the WLP029 works best when there a IBU/OG ratio of 40% - 50%, with the majoirty of hops utilized as bittering versus aroma or flavor.

Broc

 

[permo]

Anyone have suggestions about good brews to pitch on top of this cake in a few weeks?

Schwartzbier!!

 

[Craigvu]

Just uncapped one of my pilsner/amarillo SMASH brews fermented with WLP029...easily the best beer i've made yet. Can't imagine a better summertime beer.

I'm bummed I didn't wash the yeast now. attenuated at 74% without a starter...can't imagine if I wasn't lazy and actually made one. Can't wait to make another brew with this yeast.

 

[daveooph131]

I have been using wlp029 as my house strain...thought I was in the minority. By far the best yeast. I never use a clearing agent and have had crystal clear beers (commercial clear) within 4 weeks of pitching.

I brew APA'S, Browns, Kolsch's, getting ready for an IPA with it this week. I will definitely have to try a stout or Schwartzbier this winter.

2 questions:

1) Anyone do suto lagers with this strain...if so what style?

2) I'm getting consistant attenuation, but by no means have I ever got close to 80 percent. I usually get 72-74 when mashing at 152, and 76 or so when mashing at 149. What is the secret to higher attenuation with this strain?

As far as starters are concerned I tend to go on mrmalty and select "hybrid" then make the appropriate size starter per gravity.

 

[permo]

I have been using wlp029 as my house strain...thought I was in the minority. By far the best yeast. I never use a clearing agent and have had crystal clear beers (commercial clear) within 4 weeks of pitching.

I brew APA'S, Browns, Kolsch's, getting ready for an IPA with it this week. I will definitely have to try a stout or Schwartzbier this winter.

2 questions:

1) Anyone do suto lagers with this strain...if so what style?

2) I'm getting consistant attenuation, but by no means have I ever got close to 80 percent. I usually get 72-74 when mashing at 152, and 76 or so when mashing at 149. What is the secret to higher attenuation with this strain?

As far as starters are concerned I tend to go on mrmalty and select "hybrid" then make the appropriate size starter per gravity.

1) I consider Kolsch a pseudo lager, so yes. White labs data suggests you will get a cleaner ferment at 67 with this strain then you will at 55. Attenuation will be similar but diactyl increases when fermenting to cold.

2) I recently had WLP 029 take a 1.055 OG APA mashed at 154 down to 1.009 fermenting at 67 degrees for four weeks. I think that is pretty good attenuation. I think the secret is letting it go for a very long time and pitching the appropriate amount of healthy yeast. This beer is as Rev woudl say...."gem clear"

 

[Bru]

My Munich Dunkel turned out excellent.

 

[markg388]

i bet pretty much any german lager recipe will taste really good with this yeast. i've done kolsch and a "vienna beer", which was a weyermann vienna and german spalter smash, and both beers came out great. my favorite beer for this yeast though which i'm surprised no one has said yet, is hefeweizen... you know, for those of us who don't like all the clovey-banana shenannegins.

 

[Craigvu]

i hear everyone raving about Pacman, but it seems that this yeast could perform just as well and in as many styles of beers as people (and Rogue) use Pacman for...am I missing anything? Both are high attenuators and produce clean beers...thoughts?

 

[daveooph131]

i hear everyone raving about Pacman, but it seems that this yeast could perform just as well and in as many styles of beers as people (and Rogue) use Pacman for...am I missing anything? Both are high attenuators and produce clean beers...thoughts?

I say absolutely!!! This is my go to yeast.

 

[Brew-boy]

I also love the WLP029 and I want to try and make an IPA with soon. I was going to use it in my Nugget Nectar clone but I have a 2000ml of washed PacMan I am throwing at it.

 

[Brocster]

I also love the WLP029 and I want to try and make an IPA with soon. I was going to use it in my Nugget Nectar clone but I have a 2000ml of washed PacMan I am throwing at it.

Yep, this is a great yeast, especially if you want a crisp profile to your beers. I use this yeast quite often, and here are my thoughts on how to maximize the WLP029 impact.

First, use a nice starter at full krausen. This is not so much about the benefits of a starter, which is very important, but more about the benefits of pitching WLP029 when the starter is at full krausen. I have notice significantly better results when pitching WLP029 this way than with a starter slurry.

Second, stay with the White Labs recommended fermentation temp and do not be tempted to ferment at a lower (sub 58 ambient air) temp. If you can get the wort to ferment at 64 - 68 (temp of the wort), this will allow for the best yeast performance.

Third, do not even THINK of pulling the beer off the yeast until a minimum of 16 days have passed. This yeast is one of those that does work best with a little more time than other ale yeasts. In fact, I just pulled a Kolsch off of a trub after 6 weeks in the primary. The beer was outstanding and the yeast cake so compact that I barely had any sediment pull through the racking cane and tube into the secondary. Clear as a bell.

Fourth, this yeast benefits from secondary conditioning. Even if it is just a week, it does make a difference. WLP029 can have some yeast bite if not careful, so it is good to let the little yeasties really clean up. Secondary conditioning works very well in the 50's for a temp.

Overall, let this yeast work 2 times as long as you would a 'typical' ale yeast you you will be rewarded. Keep grains simple, even for stouts, and if you want to have a highly attenuated beer, mash in the lower end of the conversion range, say 148, and this yeast will take the FG a good ways down.

Recent 1.053 Kolsch SG's have finished out at 1.007 - a high 80's attenuation rate.

Here is a link to a recent Kolsch recipe I had success with.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cricket-mountain-kolsch-180852/


Cheers!

 

[permo]

Yep, this is a great yeast, especially if you want a crisp profile to your beers. I use this yeast quite often, and here are my thoughts on how to maximize the WLP029 impact.

First, use a nice starter at full krausen. This is not so much about the benefits of a starter, which is very important, but more about the benefits of pitching WLP029 when the starter is at full krausen. I have notice significantly better results when pitching WLP029 this way than with a starter slurry.

Second, stay with the White Labs recommended fermentation temp and do not be tempted to ferment at a lower (sub 58 ambient air) temp. If you can get the wort to ferment at 64 - 68 (temp of the wort), this will allow for the best yeast performance.

Third, do not even THINK of pulling the beer off the yeast until a minimum of 16 days have passed. This yeast is one of those that does work best with a little more time than other ale yeasts. In fact, I just pulled a Kolsch off of a trub after 6 weeks in the primary. The beer was outstanding and the yeast cake so compact that I barely had any sediment pull through the racking cane and tube into the secondary. Clear as a bell.

Fourth, this yeast benefits from secondary conditioning. Even if it is just a week, it does make a difference. WLP029 can have some yeast bite if not careful, so it is good to let the little yeasties really clean up. Secondary conditioning works very well in the 50's for a temp.

Overall, let this yeast work 2 times as long as you would a 'typical' ale yeast you you will be rewarded. Keep grains simple, even for stouts, and if you want to have a highly attenuated beer, mash in the lower end of the conversion range, say 148, and this yeast will take the FG a good ways down.

Recent 1.053 Kolsch SG's have finished out at 1.007 - a high 80's attenuation rate.

Here is a link to a recent Kolsch recipe I had success with.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cricket-mountain-kolsch-180852/


Cheers!

I agree %100 with all of your sentiments. Ferment between 64 and 68, and let it sit for at least 4 weeks. Your beer will be crisp, clean, and clear. I always get amazing attenuation from this yeast. Recent 1.055 APA ended at 1.010, mash temp was 154....this yeast just does it's thing....

There is no doubt in my mind that if you fermented between 64-68 degrees for 4 weeks, then lagered the results, you would have a beer that could easily be mistaken for a german style lager.

 

[Craigvu]

just took a hydro reading on an American Wheat I did with WLP029. 86% attenuation in 2 weeks (1.053-1.007). Will take another on sunday when i'm planning on bottling, but i'd say it's done at that point. kept temp between 63-65, with the exception of the 2nd day of ferm when it got up to 68ish. on to an Oktoberfest with the yeast cake.

 

[Enpitsu]

recently used this for a brown ale. 1 week @ ~70 deg F. out of pure laziness i didn't feel like bottling, so it sat in the basement at 60 deg F for 3 months. moved to secondary with a starter of the same strain for 3 days, then bottled.

1. crystal clear. i've never made a beer this clear.
2. delicious. i made this recipe twice before with the white labs trappist ale yeast. all other things equal, this yeast produced the best testing of the three. i usually don't let it sit for that long in the primary so that might've had something to do with it.

i would echo these sentiments:

Third, do not even THINK of pulling the beer off the yeast until a minimum of 16 days have passed. This yeast is one of those that does work best with a little more time than other ale yeasts. In fact, I just pulled a Kolsch off of a trub after 6 weeks in the primary. The beer was outstanding and the yeast cake so compact that I barely had any sediment pull through the racking cane and tube into the secondary. Clear as a bell.

Fourth, this yeast benefits from secondary conditioning. Even if it is just a week, it does make a difference. WLP029 can have some yeast bite if not careful, so it is good to let the little yeasties really clean up. Secondary conditioning works very well in the 50's for a temp.

 

[ghpeel]

This is a great strain. Got a Hoppy German Blonde Ale fermenting right now ith the WLP029. I made a Negra Modela clone with it and it was fantastic. Way better than real Negra actually, but not quite as crisp.

 

[Lou]

moved to secondary with a starter of the same strain for 3 days, then bottled.

Do this mean you added yeast to the secondary? Why?

 

[Enpitsu]

Do this mean you added yeast to the secondary? Why?

The primary sat in my basement/garage for 3 months. most of that time it was probably ~60deg F, but for sure there more than a handful of days it was probably closer to 50. i was worried that all the yeast had settled out and there wouldn't be enough to carbonate the bottles appropriately.

so 4 days before bottling, i got another vial of the same yeast and made a starter for 1day. the next day i moved the beer from the primary (which it had been in for 3 months) into a secondary and added the yeast starter in that. 3 days later i bottled.

not a heck of a lot of science behind it, but i had read a couple times people who cold crash their ales bring them back to room temp and add some more yeast just to make sure. i don't think 50deg is really cold crashing but i didn't want to take any chances.

also, i don't want to turn it into a conversation about primary vs. secondary, but there are no off-flavors in my beer and it sat in a primary for months.