Kolsch yeast and a question

[BigB]

I'm suprised you guys are having slow fermentation with the Wyeast. I fermented mine at 55-57 and it fully fermented in about a week.

 

[petep1980]

I even made a stir plate starter and re-used yeast. I think my issue was the starter krausen got so big I brewed a day early to avoid a mess. I usually have my starter @ 36 hours on the stir plate, this one was under 24.

 

[Obelisk]

I brew Kolsch more than any other ale. I no longer use the Wyeast German or Kolsch yeasts. They are rated as "Low Flocculation", and they just make a mess in the head space of the carboy. Kolsch needs to be clear, so it takes a long time for things to settle out. The White Labs yeast is rated as "Medium Flocculation" and it clears up quickly and handles the lower fermentation temperature without any under attenuation. If you want some of the fruitiness (yes, I know it's not to type), use more Spalt hops at flavoring and aroma times instead of increasing the ferm temp.

 

[thesink]

This was very informational for me, since I just bought the Wyeast Kolsch today. My house is usually kept around 64-65, but I'm going to ferment in my crawl space in the basement on the concrete, so I should be okay? I don't think it's going to get anywhere near 55-58 degrees, probably more like 60-63.

Also, I guess I should run out and buy a blowoff hose?

 

[BrianTheBrewer]

This was very informational for me, since I just bought the Wyeast Kolsch today. My house is usually kept around 64-65, but I'm going to ferment in my crawl space in the basement on the concrete, so I should be okay? I don't think it's going to get anywhere near 55-58 degrees, probably more like 60-63.

Also, I guess I should run out and buy a blowoff hose?

Fermenting a Kolsch at 60-63 should be fine. Move to a secondary after and drop temp down into the 40's to cold crash and it should come out fine.

 

[permo]

I brew Kolsch more than any other ale. I no longer use the Wyeast German or Kolsch yeasts. They are rated as "Low Flocculation", and they just make a mess in the head space of the carboy. Kolsch needs to be clear, so it takes a long time for things to settle out. The White Labs yeast is rated as "Medium Flocculation" and it clears up quickly and handles the lower fermentation temperature without any under attenuation. If you want some of the fruitiness (yes, I know it's not to type), use more Spalt hops at flavoring and aroma times instead of increasing the ferm temp.

I agree with you on this %100. Although WLP029 isn't documented by white labs to ferment well cool, I definetly thing 60-63 is the sweet spot for this yeast. 65+ can give excessive fruitiness.

I also enjoy brewing and drinking kolsch, I keep tweeking my recipe but now I think I am going to go with %100 pilsen malt and tweek my flavors with the hops. I am planning one with argentine cascades and willamete.....we'll see how that ends up.

 

[thesink]

Fermenting a Kolsch at 60-63 should be fine. Move to a secondary after and drop temp down into the 40's to cold crash and it should come out fine.

Good to know, thanks! I'll probably run a fan into the crawl space just to try and cool it down.

Cold crashing....I'm not familiar with that. Time to read up! Not sure how I'll do that, but it is getting into the 30s - 40s here, so maybe just set it in the garage?

 

[humann_brewing]

Doing my first Kolsch, the starter is going right now with the real wort from yesterday's brewday. I was confused about this too since they say 65-68 for this yeast but I have read that the low 60s is good.

I will be shooting for 61 I think.

 

[permo]

I will be shooting for 61 I think.

You are a smart man. Make a big starter and ferment cool, after the bulk of the fermentation has completed it may be a good idea to warm it up slightly to encourage further attenuation if you like.

 

[humann_brewing]

You are a smart man. Make a big starter and ferment cool, after the bulk of the fermentation has completed it may be a good idea to warm it up slightly to encourage further attenuation if you like.

yep, I just hope the yeast is still good, I was getting close to the "best before" date, "fingers crossed"

 

[PSmurf78]

Well this could be interesting...
I made up a typical Kolsch yesterday for the first time. I had a starter going before, and had a good amount of yeast because people suggested to ferment cold.

When I looked in on it this morning (~16 hours since pitching the starter), it was showing pretty decent signs of activity. Outside temps of the pail read 57 degrees. I thought it was getting close to the point that maybe a blow off tube may be needed.

After reading through and hearing that Wyeast can be a bit mean, I'm expecting that I'll be cleaning up a mess when I get home. Especially since I misjudged my water amounts and probably got close to 5.75G into the pail.

Oh well, should be interesting. I'm hoping this cold streak continues for a few weeks.

 

[g-brewer]

I put a Kolsch in Primary yesterday with a Wyeast 2565 2L starter. 10 hours later the airlock is literally whistling.

I made it last spring too, and my biggest regret afterwards was that I only did one batch before it warmed up too much to do it again. As soon as it's out of primary this time I'm doing it again immediately.

I just checked my notes from last year and it turns out I pitched at the same temp this time (a coincidence) and this one is now following almost exactly the same profile as it cools down. Last time the wort dropped to 61/62F by the third day and stayed there. I kegged it after 22 days and left it pretty much alone in the keezer (after an obligatory sampling). It fell clear on its own after about 4 weeks.

It came out great - an awesome summertime thirst quencher!

 

[CrAzYmOuSe]

I bottled this brew today after taking hydro readings and this thing turned out great! The reading was 1.010, right on, and crystal clear , tasted fantastic! I can't wait to drink this in a few weeks. The high ferment temps did not harm the flavor as far as I can tell. Since I have had other brews with starters need the blow off tube. Not like this but still a issue. I will continue to go blow off tube for a few days before a air lock. I'll posts back when drinking.

 

[petep1980]

Mine halted at 1.020 @ 57degrees btw. I moved it into 68+ and it finally finished at 1.014. The OG I believe was 1.058/1.060 so that's pretty good.

At each racking or gravity the winey smell of the yeast worried me. I cold crashed at 32 for like a week with gelatin and finally bottled. I was still quite concerned. Well the cold crashing did the trick. The yeast fell out soooooo much and into the bottles it smelled like a malty heavenly oktoberfest. I know with the cold crashing, and gelatin it's going to take FOREVER to carbonate, but I really think this one will turn out.

I used 2 mason jars in a 1250mL starter btw with ~300g DME.

Lesson learned - don't think your beer is going to smell like it does in the fermentation process.

 

[g-brewer]

My notes from last year's batch say it smelled a bit off near the end of fermentation, I even wrote it reminded me little of Wyeast 2112 Cali. Lager, which can smell funky while it does its magic. I never got my temp below 61F. But like yours it turned out great, with zero unpleasant notes in the aroma or flavor. I kegged and force carbonated, so I can't comment on my bottling experience with it.

The current batch is still bubbling away and has now dropped to 64F.

I'm wondering now if I should build a starter for my second batch (which will be back to back with this one), pitch onto the yeast cake directly, or maybe harvest and wash some of the yeast cake to pitch. Thoughts?

 

[petep1980]

Well mine hasn't turned out yet, but I think it'll be good enough I don't plan to make another o-fest this year.

 

[Brocster]

My notes from last year's batch say it smelled a bit off near the end of fermentation, I even wrote it reminded me little of Wyeast 2112 Cali. Lager, which can smell funky while it does its magic. I never got my temp below 61F. But like yours it turned out great, with zero unpleasant notes in the aroma or flavor. I kegged and force carbonated, so I can't comment on my bottling experience with it.

The current batch is still bubbling away and has now dropped to 64F.

I'm wondering now if I should build a starter for my second batch (which will be back to back with this one), pitch onto the yeast cake directly, or maybe harvest and wash some of the yeast cake to pitch. Thoughts?

My two cents would be to wash yeast and build a starter with that. I would avoid pitching on the yeast cake. "Normal" rates for Kolsch starter is about 1 liter based on 1.050 SG (roughly). See Mr. Malty for more info.

good luck!

 

[humann_brewing]

Mine is cranking along at 61 now. I had it at 63 to get started and took a while to get visual confirmation even with a huge starter then I dropped it to 61.

 

[g-brewer]

My two cents would be to wash yeast and build a starter with that. I would avoid pitching on the yeast cake. "Normal" rates for Kolsch starter is about 1 liter based on 1.050 SG (roughly). See Mr. Malty for more info.

good luck!

I think you're right - I'll either wash or try my first frozen yeast-bank revival, but I won't put the new wort directly on the old cake.

I've been to the Mr Malty site before but haven't used the calculator. It's very interesting how much the stir plate changes things. Since I used a stir plate to build my 2l starter from a Propagator pack, it looks like I over-pitched. Last year I used a single Activator pack which the calculator says is a serious under-pitch.

I'll do a 1l starter for Batch #2 later this month while keeping everything else as close to the same as possible, and use the opportunity to see what differences I may find between the two. I'm committing myself, with all of you as witnesses, to doing some serious study of the matter this summer.

 

[PSmurf78]

So it turned out I needed a blow off tube with this beer. Got home last night and even with the batch at 52-54 degrees, it popped the top last night. Got the tube rigged up last night, checked in this morning and the tube was filled, and a good 1/2 of sediment/yeast in the blow off tank.

Very curious yeast.

 

[humann_brewing]

no blow off here yet but a nice white beatiful krauzen going though. I was worried with how slow it started but seems to be moving now.

 

[g-brewer]

Last weekend I put my first batch of Kolsch into secondary, and harvested a big slug 'o yeast cake from the conical. It was 1.012 and I was hoping for 1.011 or 1.010 which was a bit disappointing but not really enough to pour it down the drain, you know? Anyway, a couple of hours later I noticed the transfer had roused the yeast and they were back at work. Just barely bubbling for a couple of days, but I'll be interested to see where it is when I keg it next week. It's been sitting around 61F the whole time in the basement.

I brewed the second of my two planned 2010 batches today, and it's getting some washed yeast cake from the first batch thanks to the Yeast Washing Wiki, Mr. Malty, and other helpful forum members!

I'm not going to do a d-rest on either batch, I skipped it last year and didn't notice any off-notes. Maybe I'll taste before kegging to be sure - would it be too late then?

 

[daveooph131]

I use kolsch yeast a lot....No need for a d-rest. Especially if you are fermenting at 61 like you said.

 

[g-brewer]

It's been a while, but long story short this came out really good. I left both batches longer than I'd wanted in secondary, but kegged, carbonated and tapped - they came out great!