Please take a look at this Kolsch

[cherrob123]

This is a partial mash recipe.


LB OZ
4 0 Light Dry Extract
2 0 Pilsner (2 Row) Ger
0 4 Vienna Malt
0 4 German Light Crystal
0 4 German Wheat

.6 oz Perle @ 60 min
.5 oz Tettnang @ 40 min
.5 oz Tettnang @ 5 min

Wyeast 2565 Kolsch Yeast I built a starter for this two days ago. I used 6 oz or dark extract and a 1/8 tsp of yeast food. I've got a very nice yeast cake going right now.

The only big mystery for me right now is my partial mash. I have acquired a 10 gal. kettle so I can cook the entire recipe at once and never worry about boil overs. So, should I bring 4 gallons to temp for my soak and then sparge with one or two gallons of water?

I am thinking a total of six gallons because of the boil off. In the past, I just added water to my finished wort right before pitching yeast. Usually a gallon. This helped bring the temp down quicker and I was able to control volume. I've always thought that might change the beer flavor. Sort of like thinning out soup.

So, should I partial mash four gallons and sparge with two before boiling or stay with my usual method and use three for the mash, one for the sparge and top off as necessary to get to 5 gallons right before pitching yeast?

Thank in advance

 

[tre9er]

You're just steeping the other grains, right? Not mashing them per se?

Hops utilization is based on liquid volume at the time of hop additions. If the recipe comes from an all-grain brew, you'll want full volume in the kettle if you plan on using the same hop amounts as the previous recipe.

 

[houndsbreath]

You'll want to mash those grains; steeping the Pilsner won't pull out the fermentable sugars you are looking for. 1 to 1.5 qt water / lb grain is typical. So assuming you mash at 1.5 qt /lb you only need a little over a gallon of mash water. I'd sparge a gallon or so then top up to get your desired full boil volume.

 

[cherrob123]

I brewed the Kolsch yesterday. Two other folks at the big boil also told me about the Pilsner malts. Oh well.

Once I was done with the boil, I strained the hell out of the wort. I wanted to do that because I had about an hour drive to get back to home base. Once I got home, I left the wort in the fermenting bucket, put the top on it and let it rest. I did not put it in an ice bath or tried any other form of cooling.

It has now been a full 24 hours and I still have not pitched the yeast. I put the wort in a re-tooled freezer and I am bringing it down to 65 degrees. I then will pitch my yeast.

I made a starter on Wednesday. I put it in a very cold refrigerator yesterday and I will bring it out, decant it, and warm it to room temp before pitching.

So, here's my question. I strained almost all of the hops out of the wort when I transferred. Will letting the wort sit at a high temp for a long period of time cause it to be too bitter?

I used Perle and Tettnang hops.

 

[tre9er]

There are people who do the "no chill" method and have fine results.

 

[cherrob123]

This is my first lager so I really appreciate the advice I'm getting.


I finally pitched my yeast today. My OG was 1.054 at 66 deg. The target gravity was 1.046. I made a great big old starter using DME and a smack pack of Wyeast 2565. I had a huge yeast cake and I'm hoping that makes a difference.

I plan on letting it ferment at 58 deg. for a week, or however long it takes to get there and then lager at 34-36 for another month. Here's my question. I've read articles that recommend fermenting at 48-52. I went with the Wyeast web site that gave good fermenting ranges for my type of yeast. (58-64) I went on the low side of temps though for good measure. Is 48-52 too low?

Once I have lagered for the month, do I continue to let it set at that temp or should I raise the temp while it finishes clarifying? I've had guys tell me that this beer should take a minimum of 90 days if I plan to bottle condition, which I do.

Again....all the info is appreciated.

 

[kh54s10]

I can't do lagers yet so I have no info on that front. But, I think for starters, so that you do not add any unwanted flavors it is better to use a light DME.

I would ferment at the lower end of the range given by the yeast manufacturer. Too low and the yeast will go dormant.

I guess your low OG would be due to the steeping rather than mashing the pilsner base grain.

I have done some and ended up low on the OG. These came out different that intended but really good. Almost as if I had tried to do it that way.

 

[cherrob123]

kh....those are some very good points. The next time I build this beer, I'm not using the Pilsner malts.

I decanted the starter so I didn't put any off flavors into the beer....just yeast.

And....I'll probably go ahead and finish my mash tun and give an all grain batch a whirl. It's summer time here in Houston about 10 months a year so I have plenty of time to make and drink this beer.

Thanks for your input.