Kolsch(ish) brew

[rhys333]

I decided to brew a Kolsch for the first time last weekend, just to get something different going in the pipeline for summer. Due to an unexpected Spring heatwave warming up my usually cool basement, it's fermenting at 68 rather than 62. Also, I'm subbing in a pound of Maris Otter because I ran out of pale 2 Row. Anyway, here's my kinda-Kolsch beer:

KOLSCH (1.050/29 IBU)
80% 2 Row
15% MO
5% Vienna
Hallertau @ 60 & 15
WY 2565

It's probably going to be a bit more estery that I wanted, but hoping for the best!

 

[didinho]

esters with that yeast are gentle and elegant, like apple or lemon-like. no banana, so it will be ok even at higher temperatures

 

[rhys333]

esters with that yeast are gentle and elegant, like apple or lemon-like. no banana, so it will be ok even at higher temperatures

I like the sound of that. Thanks didinho.

 

[rhys333]

I'm noticing WY 2565 kicks up a huge krausen and sticks around for a long time. I'm at the 12 day mark and its showing no signs of dropping yet. Very healthy fermentation too. I guess I missed the "true top-cropping strain" comment on the Wyeast website. Will have to keep this in mind for the next batch and top-crop this sucker instead of waiting around to collect the trub.

 

[didinho]

yes, is a good yeast: even at low temperature fermentation is strong and long. it's very attenuant. and is perfect for ales! i made an american bitter with a kolsch cake and it turned out great

 

[rhys333]

I'd like to bottle this weekend, but I'm 3 weeks in and the krausen shows no signs of dropping any time soon.

 

[cavman22]

I' go WLP 029 instead. It Flocs much better

 

[rhys333]

At the four week mark now and I still have krausen! I gave the fermentor a gentle turn last night and the majority of it began falling out. Still a thin layer as of this morning, but I think I'm going to go ahead and package this weekend either way. I've never seen krausen stick around this long, even with my other top-cropper strains.

 

[divrguy]

I love this yeast and you're right, it will stick around for a while. Tends to be very big. After a couple weeks I usually jostle the fermenter and then cold crash. That usually takes care of it.

 

[TrojanAnteater]

I decided to brew a Kolsch for the first time last weekend, just to get something different going in the pipeline for summer. Due to an unexpected Spring heatwave warming up my usually cool basement, it's fermenting at 68 rather than 62. Also, I'm subbing in a pound of Maris Otter because I ran out of pale 2 Row. Anyway, here's my kinda-Kolsch beer:

KOLSCH (1.050/29 IBU)
80% 2 Row
15% MO
5% Vienna
Hallertau @ 60 & 15
WY 2565

It's probably going to be a bit more estery that I wanted, but hoping for the best!

Curious to know how it turns out with this grain bill. Just made my first Kolsch w/ WLP029, Pilsner 90%, Wheat 10% and Hallertau. Was freaking amazing.

 

[rhys333]

Curious to know how it turns out with this grain bill. Just made my first Kolsch w/ WLP029, Pilsner 90%, Wheat 10% and Hallertau. Was freaking amazing.

Sure, I'll post my results. The krausen dropped finally, so I'll be bottling this weekend.

 

[rhys333]

I bottled the kolsch over the weekend and the sample tasted very clean with good hop balance. There's a slight white wine note to it but very subtle and more lager-like than anything. Five weeks in primary waiting for the krausen to drop may have cleaned up some of the increased esters I had expected from fermenting warm. A little surprised by the high attenuation. Wyeast says 73-77%, but I went from 1.054 to 1.008, or 84% and 5.8% abv! I mashed at 148F and expected it to drop low, but not that low. I'll post final results in 2-3 weeks after carbing. I'm really happy with this so far.

 

[rhys333]

Final notes on the kolsch. Very clean, crisp, and lager-like with a subtle hop bitterness bite to it. The kolsch esters vary from subtle to neutral, bottle to bottle. It starts off hazy as expected, but drops out clear after 7-10 days chilling as per the pictures below. Its actually just about crystal clear in the first image but condensation on the glass is giving a slightly hazy appearance. I like it a lot as a lawnmower beer and its a great beer to hand to conservative beer drinkers as well (batch is almost gone). I do like it with the subtle german hops, but I think it would be interesting to increase the late addition hops slightly and use American citrusy varieties instead. So... I've gone ahead and brewed another batch with 93% 2Row, 7% Vienna and Centennial hops at 15 & 0. Should have this one ready in about 6 weeks.

View attachment 1467401601598.jpg

View attachment 1467401619451.jpg

 

[rhys333]

Final final notes. After 2 weeks conditioning the kolsch has dropped clear enough to appear filtered. Tried my best to capture this in a pic but condensation works faster than me. The flavor profile is now totally crisp. If I didn't know better I'd swear its a lager. Anyway, really happy and great session brew.

View attachment 1468103831331.jpg

 

[brewbama]

Nice looking pint. Cheers!