Old brewer, new member, on a Kölsch pilgrimage

StubsO · May 23, 2025

Hello! Bonjour! ɬax̣ayam!
I'm a longtime home brewer from Oregon who had to put brewing on the back-burner after having my first kid, but now papa's parched and ready to sparge. Although I've been brewing for over 20 years, the vast majority of it has been limited to Porter, Stout, Tripel and Saison because I'm a creature of habit, so I still consider my experience as a brewer to be pretty limited, so this is why I'm here!

The one style that I really love but I haven't been successful with yet is Kölsch. About a decade ago I was fortunate enough to stumble around Köln for a few days with my wife while visiting friends and family. Before this trip, I only remember having one "Kölsch" from some US brewery since forgotten to me and it was... pretty bad. So I was totally unprepared for how spoiled we would be in Köln! Ever since, my wife and I have been craving good Kölsch.

So here I am, starting on my Kölsch pilgrimage. During my hiatus I've been slowly working on my brew setup in preparation. I switched from a traditional 3 vessel propane system to a 65L Brewzilla (Gen 3.1.1) with my former MT (a converted cooler) serving as my new HLT. I also expanded my cooler space so that I can keep my fermentation temps controlled.

Now I'm trying to sort out my first batch. My first and main goal is to brew something very close to Mühlen Kölsch, which was our favorite encountered during our trip. Another one that stood out was Dom, though it wasn't my favorite. It seemed unique to me because of how subtle it was and it made me really appreciate the brewer's skill, so if I ever get a solid grasp of making a Mühlen-like Kölsch, I'd like to try to make a Dom-esque Kölsch too just for the sake of learning and becoming a better brewer.

Anywho, now I'm all ears- I'd love to hear about anyone's experience or tips with Kölsch or Brewzilla setups!

madscientist451 · May 23, 2025

It’s all about the malt and the right yeast. The grain bill should be super simple, there are all kinds of complicated recipes out there, but I think the German brewers just use a very minimal variety of grains. We used to be able to get German Schill Kolsch malt, but Weyermann bought out Schill malting a while back. Some people say use Weyermann Barke Pilsner, but I would try to get the Weyermann kolsch malt: https://www.howdybrewer.com/product...HJLM6xIbY8Pknnij96Et1bMPvzEmuiHMaAh9cEALw_wcB

Bramling Cross · May 23, 2025

Yar, matey!

Be sure to check out this thread, if KoΣlsch is your thing. Check out this thread about the correct way to spell KoΣlsch.

StubsO · May 23, 2025

Thanks folks, that thread will be my home for the next few months! But I think I'll leave the spelling to the Germans and the linguists... maybe the ghost of Franz Boas can mediate before shots are fired!

JohnDBrewer · May 24, 2025

Keep us updated either here or in the other thread(s). There's a lot of us who are on this "pilgrimage", and love to hear other people's experiences on the way.

OakIslandBrewery · May 24, 2025

madscientist451 said:
It’s all about the malt and the right yeast. The grain bill should be super simple, there are all kinds of complicated recipes out there, but I think the German brewers just use a very minimal variety of grains. We used to be able to get German Schill Kolsch malt, but Weyermann bought out Schill malting a while back. Some people say use Weyermann Barke Pilsner, but I would try to get the Weyermann kolsch malt: https://www.howdybrewer.com/products/weyermann-cologne-kolsch-55lb?currency=USD&variant=43731438698712&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&stkn=2e325e8a11f6&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20336301307&gbraid=0AAAAAocF7GDFVmh2-3BYLjRcc766iifvX&gclid=Cj0KCQjwucDBBhDxARIsANqFdr2ksJ5JGGmgKJ9OYKw3m9EHJLM6xIbY8Pknnij96Et1bMPvzEmuiHMaAh9cEALw_wcB

I brewed Kolsch a lot using Schill malt. Very disappointed when it became unavailable.

Agree in a simple grain bill. I used the Kolsch malt, some German pils and a small addition of Munich. My yeast choice was Wyeast 2575-PC. It's released every three years or so. Going to try Omega Kolsch II next time.