Kolsch Help

[brew703]

I need some help with a Kolsch recipe. I've read the guidelines and would like to stay as close as possible. I would like to eliminate wheat malt completely or use very little and use German or Belgian Pilsner Malt and Kolsch Malt. May add a little Vienna or whatever is suggested.

I checked out Tibers and Bee Cave Brewerys Kolsch recipes. Both use wheat malt and one adds Munich. I'm trying to avoid the wheat flavor as my wife doesn't really care for it and is the reason I would like to eliminate it or use very little.

Would a mix of 70% Pilsner and 30% Kolsch Malt be sufficient or would I need to add a little Vienna or Munich and if so what quantity? Or should I adjust the above quantities?

As for hops, Hallertau and Saaz I see are used a lot for Kolsch styles. I'll stick with these two unless someone recommends a better combination.

As for yeast, probably will stick with Wyeast 2565.

90 min mash / 90 min boil is my plan. Mash temp 150-151 with a 10 min mash out @ 168.

OG around 1.048 is the goal.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Grannyknot]

Looks like you are on the right track.
I use 100% pils malt for my kolsch, sometimes I throw in about 5% acid malt.
What is kolsch malt?

Hops selection looks good.

I mash pretty low, like 148*, which is probably against the style guidelines.
But I like how it dries the beer out a lot.

Ferment as low as possible for a few weeks. I go 58* for about 2 weeks, then ramp it up to around 72* for a week. Then I cold crash for a couple of weeks.

 

[brew703]

Looks like you are on the right track.
I use 100% pils malt for my kolsch, sometimes I throw in about 5% acid malt.
What is kolsch malt?

Hops selection looks good.

I mash pretty low, like 148*, which is probably against the style guidelines.
But I like how it dries the beer out a lot.

Ferment as low as possible for a few weeks. I go 58* for about 2 weeks, then ramp it up to around 72* for a week. Then I cold crash for a couple of weeks.

Here's a link to the Kolsch Malt.
http://www.homebrewsupply.com/schill-cologne-kolsch.html

I could drop my mash temps to 148. I got the 151 from Tiber's Kolsch recipe.

As for ferm temps I could do 58 degrees for 10-14 days then up to 68 for a few days then cold crash in the low 40's for 3 weeks.

I don't want to tie up my fermentation chamber for three weeks at lager temps. The temps here in the South don't normally get in the 30's for 3 weeks straight. I guess I could use the ferm chamber at the lager temps and place my other brews in my garage. During the middle of the winter, my garage probably never exceeds 40 degrees.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

The last Kolsch I did I used 50% Kolsch malt. I find that malt is pretty dark. Next batch I do will be ~95% pilsner malt and the remainder will be vienna malt.

 

[solbes]

Here's the Kolsch recipe I've settled into after 6 iterations:

4 lbs Global Kolsch Malt
4 lbs BestMalz Pilsner Malt
6 oz malted white wheat
4 oz carapils
10 oz honey added at flameout

1 oz Tradition 60 min
1 oz Hersbrucker 25 min

1.049 OG, 1.009 FG, 5.2% ABV
25 IBU Est

3 quart starter (decanted) of WY2565. Ferment at 58F for 5-8 days, then diacetyl rest for 2 days at 67F. Lager in secondary with rehydrated gelatin for 3 weeks at 35F. Best when fresh.

I really like this combo of the basemalts. Do a 85-90 minute boil with the Pils malt to remove DMS precursor. The small amount of wheat will make it a tidge tart. I also really like the slight aftertaste of honey from the flameout addition. Have experimented with other 25/30 minute hop additions and like Hersbrucker the best. Cheers

 

[brew703]

Great information. Thanks!