Kolsch Yeast?

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davidkrau

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A couple of months ago I brewed a Kolsch Ale using extracts. I thought The Kolsch Wyeast activator pack might be dead since it did not expand the way it should. Anyway, I pitched the yeast in the activator pack and for good luck I pitched in a pack of dry yeast as well. I had a taste test of several homebrews with some friends and they all thought this was the best beer I had made.

Since then I switched to all grain and I am in the process of brewing a Kolsch. This time the Wyeast activator pack expanded the way it should and I pitched the yeast. Anyway, the brew is acting like the energizer bunny and has been formenting for 11 days now. The kreusen has not dropped and the airlock is bubbling away.Will it ever stop so I can put it in A secondary?

Does Kolsch yeast act different than other yeast? Is something wrong here?
 
I have a Kolsch in the secondary right now and it did the exact same thing. I can't remember if I used the WL or WY because i used one on my Kolsch and the other on my Alt, but the Kolsch continued to ferment for over ten days and the krausen never fell--I had to rack out under it. It also gave off more sulpher than i have ever noticed from another yeast, but that is totally gone in the secondary now and it tastes pretty good.

So don't worry.
 
i fermented with the whitelabs kolsh ale yeast at the codler end of the spectrum... it took two weeks for the foam to drop.
 
Part of the reason it is fermenting so long and hard (he he) could be high temperatures. The Kolsch yeast likes to be under 68 or so to give it the clean taste you are looking for (or at least what I was). If you are higher than that it will ferment longer and harder (again, he he) but I believe will put off more sulphury flavors, etc. Of course, if you cold condition it for a while and possibly even filter after this cold conditioning (what I did) then you don't really have to worry.
 
I'm fermenting in the basement where the temp is 62F and ii's on the floor where it's probably a little coole. I pitched my first Kolsch with both kolsch yeast and regular dry yeast . The dry yeast probably was the one that did most of the fermenting and that's why it stopped fermenting in a in 3 0r 4 days and behaved like an ordinary ale.

It smells more like it is emitting intestinal gas rather than CO2

Thanks for the help I've gotanother brew on hold and I'm just waiting to freeup my 61/2 gal corboy.

I'll quit worrying and drink a homebrew
 
Kai,

In asnswer to your question I thought there was a problem with the Wyeast Kolsch activator pack, after I smacked it, it didn't puff up the way it't supposed to. I then pitched both the Kolsch yeast and to be on the safe side I pitched a packet ofn dry yeast In retrospect I'm not sure I ruptured the inner pack that's inside the activator pack
 
davidkrau said:
Kai,

In asnswer to your question I thought there was a problem with the Wyeast Kolsch activator pack, after I smacked it, it didn't puff up the way it't supposed to. I then pitched both the Kolsch yeast and to be on the safe side I pitched a packet ofn dry yeast In retrospect I'm not sure I ruptured the inner pack that's inside the activator pack
ahh... the girly-man pack smack is no good... gotta use the manly-man smack next time....
:D
 
I brewed a batch of kolsch last September and have one in my secondary now. Both times the fermentation was extremely messy, with lots of scummy stuff on top and tons and tons of trub in the bottom. When I bottled the first batch I got a bit too much trub in the bottling bucket and the beer was milky and tasted yeasty at first. I started drinking it anyway, and about 2 bottles into the second case it suddenly started to taste good. I saved about a six-pack until about 2 or 3 weeks ago and when I got around to drinking those it just about knocked my socks off. All the milkiness and yeasty taste was gone. The clarity was amazing and it was the best tasting batch I have done so far. I think the trick with kolsch is to let it age for lager-like times (if you can wait that long)!
 
I recently did a Kolsh ale brew. I am fermenting at the same temperature as all my other ales I have brewed the past few months. (68F) I too observed that the fermentation and the foam lasts longer than my other brews. I went ahead and racked it to 2ndary after 7 days anyway. Its been 6 days in 2ndary and the foam is just now clearing. I am using White Labs German Ale Yeast (Smack Pack).

Tasted good goign into 2ndary. I can't wait to taste teh final product. 2 more weeks.
 
Lou said:
ahh... the girly-man pack smack is no good... gotta use the manly-man smack next time....
:D

Don't know about you guys, but sometimes I have to put the smackpack on the floor and give it a good stomp with my foot- and I'm over 200 lbs!

Maybe they use extra strong inner packages for the Canadians?
 
Hell, I gave up on smacking those things. I always make a starter so I just cut open the bag and dump the yeast into it after fishing out the little package from inside.
 
Mikey said:
Don't know about you guys, but sometimes I have to put the smackpack on the floor and give it a good stomp with my foot- and I'm over 200 lbs!

Maybe they use extra strong inner packages for the Canadians?

I never have a problem with the smack pack. I just feel for the nutrient pack inside and move it to where i can rap it with my knuckles. Bursts everytime.
 
To the guy stomping on his yeast pack: watch out you don't pop it! This should be done in your hand and not take that much effort.

To the Original Poster: Keep in mind that yeast is a living organism and will behave differently in every beer and every temperature, etc.. Sounds like you have a healthy, normal fermentation.
 
I second the fact that Koelsch yeasts are messy and stink like hell.

To date the only time I've ever had a blowout was using Koelsch yeast. Granted that back then I was fermenting in my kitchen pantry...but still :cross:

But they sho' do make some good beer.

Cheers,
Matt
 
I know this is an older post, but if anyone else is looking this up, let me chime in and say I've had the same experience with the Wyeast 2565 and 2575 within one week of each other. I made two all-grain batches with ~7.5 pounds of grain and a pound of honey. Airlock didn't bubble first day (but it was definitely fermenting as my nose can attest); it then had a "yeast event" and I had to put on a blowoff hose. After that, I kept it in a cooler spot and it slowed to a crawl and developed a sulfur odor. It also dried out to 1.004 (holy crap!). Second batch had similar behavior without the "yeast event." For those of you waiting to take it out of primary, I would recommend taking it off primary after a week to at least get it off the residue from the hops.

I'm hoping this will be okay after secondary and conditioning, as I made it for my sister's wedding.
 
Im doing 18 gal of kolsch now and thought some stray yeast had taken over till reading this thread, I definitely have the sulfer and foam, now I feel better about it.
 
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