"Kolsch" Variant

[monkeybox]

I don't know properly what style this would be, but I wanted to design a recipe that had the crispness of a kolsch but with a bit more biscuit / maltiness without a lot of hoppiness.

I had a crisp, clean jamaican lager without much bitterness a few years back that I really want to recreate, but since I don't have temperature control other than a very cold cellar, I can't actually lager.

Here's the recipe I'm thinking about trying for a 15 gallon batch:

25lb (80%) Pilsner 2-Row
3lb (10%) Wheat Malt
2lb (7%) Munich Malt
1lb (3%) Biscuit Malt

1oz Spalter - 60min/FWH
2oz Tettnang - 60min/FWH

Beersmith estimates OG 1.051, 16.3IBU's, 5.5% ABV.

Any thoughts?

 

[3toes]

I think it looks pretty good. I'm not a fan of wheat in a Kölsch but I'm not a big fan of wheat in general, so if that's what you like, go for it!

I love biscuit malt, but I think you might need to bump up your IBU's to 20 or so to offset it. In my experience, a little bit of biscuit goes a long way, and that 20+ bitterness is what makes a Kölsch so refreshing.

 

[solbes]

Hmm, sounds pretty good. I like wheat in a Kolsch, though usually only add 5% or so. The biscuit and
Munich look about right to add what you are looking for. Also agree to up your hops to 20. I usually target 21 or 22.

 

[monkeybox]

Thanks. I appreciate the input. I'll likely drop the wheat down and it sounds like the bitterness should go up a notch. I was considering a small 30 minute or 15 minute addition to maybe get a tiny bit of hop flavor/aroma.

 

[solbes]

I do a 25 minute Hersbrucker addition to mine (1 oz in 6 gallons). I've taken it out a couple of times and like it better in, even though a little out of style.

 

[mikeasu]

You could try subbing some pale ale malt for some of your pilsner malt, give a bit more biscuit to it. I'm about through a batch of kolsch, and think I was 40-45% pilsner, 40-45% pale. Next time, think I'd go 60/20 pilsner/pale, lighten up the flavor a bit. Still, it was very tasty.

 

[monkeybox]

I ended up raising the hop addition to achieve about 21 IBU's, and then when I bought the ingredients, found the AA's on the hops to be a bit lower than beersmith estimated. Using what I had on-hand, I added 1oz of Cluster, to bring it back up to 21-22 IBUs. And I delayed 1oz of the spaltzer/tettnang mix to a 30 minute addition. I left the wheat addition at 10%.

Given that it's a 15 gallon batch that I split in 3, I used 3 different yeasts. I pitched 5 gallons with White Labs Kolsch, 5 gallons with US-05, and, for something completely different, I pitched Wyeast Forbidden Fruit into the last batch.

They're currently bubbling away. Since I don't have temperature control, I left the US-05 and Kolsch blends on the hard cement floor to seep away any residual heat which will keep those at a low 60's temp, while putting the Forbidden Fruit on a shelf to hopefully get a bit more yeast character out of that one. I'd like to do the FF warmer, but I have cats to worry about.