Texas Kolsche Brew from hell ... Advice needed

[jph2275]

Hey HBT!

I am a little concerned about my 3rd and first by myself brew I just finished.

I picked a texas golden kolsche from Austin homebrew supply. I had 3 1/2 lbs of grain and 5 lbs of malt AND 2 lbs of DME wheat to add. Well ... First my floating thermo busted in my cooker and spilled some of its glass/innards in my brew. No prob, thought I'd strain it good. Then...

I got through the whole process, pitched my liquid yeast, airlocked it, and realized I had 2 lbs of DME sitting in my bag still

I quickly boiled it in as little water possible nearly having it boil over 5 times for about 10 minutes and added it carefully.

Have I screwed my brew up? I have it fermenting in the closet now with less than 1 hour of fermenting time on its clock.

Any advice/words of wisdom are appreciated.

Pat

P.S. - I have a great update/addition to my English honey ale thread soon

 

[DanH]

Is there mercury in the thermometer that you probably don't want in your beer?

 

[jph2275]

Pretty sure it's a food grade thermo with no mercury in it ... Just the standard one from AHS. Not 100% though

 

[jph2275]

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_67_65&products_id=997

No mercury ... Now I know not to use it in boils, though

 

[jph2275]

I also got a funnel with a fine mesh screen/filter that caught all of the broken thermo pieces during the time I was pouring wort into carboy. Seemed to catch a lot of stuff.

I'm mostly worried about adding DME after pitching yeast (DME was heated, boiled, and cooled before adding).

 

[DanH]

It can't be ideal but I bet it won't hurt it.

 

[FlyDoctor]

DME is usually base malt - so failing to put that in will get you a lower gravity of your wort, but also the balance will be substantially off since there will be proportionally more specialty grains (or whatever the other grains were).
Now, Kolsch is usually mostly pilsner (or 2-row) with some wheat or munich malt (or both), so not sure what the 3# of grains included. Posting the recipe would help predict the outcome better. It might just be a case where the OG will be lower, but that may not kill it depending on what other grains were

 

[jph2275]

Ok, here is a photo copy of the instructions I used. It is the 2lb wheat DME that I forgot to add.

I woke up this morning and checked on my carboy, there was no Krausen and the airlock may bubble once a minute. There are *some* bubbles coming up the side of the carboy but negligible by comparison to the first two brews I did (Irish red ale, English ale w/ an additional pound of honey). Both of my first brews took off in the first 12 hours pretty strong.

I also realized that I forgot to get my liquid yeast up to room temperature before I added it

So:

1. I broke my thermometer in there (when funneling into carboy I had a fine mesh like filter that got all of that out)

2. I forgot the DME and added it after I pitched yeast by boiling 10 minutes, cooling, and adding.

3. I forgot to get my liquid yeast to 70 degrees or so before pitching .

4. Unsure if fermentation has begun ...

Is my batch totally screwed ? This will teach me to start paying better attention for sure. Will the late addition of the DME be detrimental to my batch?


Thanks for helping out guys, ya'll rock

 

[Darwin18]

1. I broke my thermometer in there (when funneling into carboy I had a fine mesh like filter that got all of that out)

Not a huge deal. It will settle out during fermentation. Just be careful when siphoning to the keg or bottling bucket.

2. I forgot the DME and added it after I pitched yeast by boiling 10 minutes, cooling, and adding.

Likely not a big deal unless you added hot DME to the inoculated wort. Sounds like you didn't.

3. I forgot to get my liquid yeast to 70 degrees or so before pitching.

Probably a good thing. I can't see the strain of yeast that you utilized, but most Kolsch yeasts ferment well from 56 - 70. Ideally, you would want to be in the low 60's.

4. Unsure if fermentation has begun ...

Is my batch totally screwed ? This will teach me to start paying better attention for sure. Will the late addition of the DME be detrimental to my batch?

I always advocate making a starter especially with liquid yeast. That way you know you're pitching healthy and active yeast. Fermentation will likely start for you regardless in the next day or so. If you're feeling nervous, you can always buy another pack and pitch it. I'd let it ride.

 

[jph2275]

Thanks for all of the advice guys

I feel a little better now. I just noticed that the recipe is pretty unreadable, so i'll type out the pertinent parts.

Grains: 1/4 red wheat, 1/2 lb cara pils malt, 2 1/2 lb 2 row malt

Malts: 3 lbs extra pale extract, 2 lbs wheat DME

Bittering and flavor hops: 3 oz crystal

 

[jph2275]

Not a huge deal. It will settle out during fermentation. Just be careful when siphoning to the keg or bottling bucket.



Likely not a big deal unless you added hot DME to the inoculated wort. Sounds like you didn't.



Probably a good thing. I can't see the strain of yeast that you utilized, but most Kolsch yeasts ferment well from 56 - 70. Ideally, you would want to be in the low 60's.



I always advocate making a starter especially with liquid yeast. That way you know you're pitching healthy and active yeast. Fermentation will likely start for you regardless in the next day or so. If you're feeling nervous, you can always buy another pack and pitch it. I'd let it ride.

About #3 and #4

#3 - It was getting late and I was tired and unsure of what to do. Being thermometer-less at that point I was unsure how hot my DME was. I boiled it 4-5 times almost to the point of it rolling over the side, then put the saucepan containing the DME in a big bucket full of ice and water to cool it. I must have let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Probably around 7 .... hopefully it wasnt too hot

Hope that didn't kill the yeast or mess it up ...


#4 - I do not know what starters are. Guess I should research. The last batch I did with yeast called for double liquid yeast and it took off like a rocket ship (irish red ale).


Thanks for everyones help

 

[jph2275]

**UPDATE**

Well I went by my house on my lunch break and found that there is a 1/4-1/2" layer of krausen forming on top of my wort and the bubbling and airlock activity have picked up significantly


I wont start partying yet, as I am afraid some of my mis-steps and maybe adding the DME to the wort late may have adverse effects on my final product. But for now, outlook is better.

Thoughts?

 

[DanH]

My thought is that it's fine.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Adding the DME really shouldn't have hurt since you cooled it first. In hindsight, not adding the wheat extract till sometime after pitching your yeast may have been a good thing. Since you didn't do a starter, pitching your yeast in a lower gravity wort gave them a chance to get a head start and may have reduced off flavors that could have developed during the reproduction phase.

As long as there was no mercury in the thermometer and you filter out all the glass, it should be safe to drink.

 

[jph2275]

Adding the DME really shouldn't have hurt since you cooled it first. In hindsight, not adding the wheat extract till sometime after pitching your yeast may have been a good thing. Since you didn't do a starter, pitching your yeast in a lower gravity wort gave them a chance to get a head start and may have reduced off flavors that could have developed during the reproduction phase.

As long as there was no mercury in the thermometer and you filter out all the glass, it should be safe to drink.

Thanks guys. So far the carboy looks good, normal fermentation by comparison to the others. Not as big a head of krausen but that's the only difference. I will post as this beer develops and definitely be mindful of my straining

Pat

 

[jph2275]

I hope that's right bamsdealer, fingers crossed your assessment is true