WYEAST 2575 - Kolsch II - How to ferment?

[bobbytuck]

Just made a Kolsch with the special edition Wyeast 2575 -- "Kolsch II".

9 pounds of German Pilsner, Tradition + Hallertauer hops.

Mashed @ 151F for 90 mins. Mash-out @ 170 for 10 mins.

90 minute boil. 60 and 30 minute additions.

5.5 gallons post boil. (I was anticipating post-boil OG of 1.049 or so. Not sure what happened, but my post boil OG was 1.062. I mashed with 1.5qt/pound -- so it was thin. Barley crusher default crush. Fly sparged for an hour and half to get 7.5 gallons pre-boil OG @ 1.046 --> post boil: 1.062.)

I pitched @ 63F and then cooled overnight to 56F.

My question: what's the best way to ferment? Leave at 56F for the entire fermentation? Ferment @ 56F for 7-10 days and then let it warm to ambient (64F)? I know I'm looking at 73-77% attenuation, but I want to make sure it does what it needs to do -- even at 56F or so. Not sure if it's best to go 90% at the cooler temp and then gradually ramp up to ambient to finish it out?

I figure this won't be as dry as I'd hoped due to the higher starting gravity. (Imperial Kolsch?)

I've never used this yeast, but should I expect the normal two weeks in the primary -- or do the cool temps mean I might have to leave it another week or so?

 

[RCCOLA]

I usually let cooler fermented beers temp. ramp up when airlock activity slows or hydro readings are ~ 75% of FG. This lets the yeast finish up strong and eliminates any diacytl and lowers risk of a stalled ferment.

As far as primary is concerned: With a lager I rack as soon as the beer drops clear. Since this is an ale, it may benefit from aging on the cake for ~ 1-2weeks after fermentation has finished.

 

[Bensiff]

Its been a while since my last Kolsch...but as I remember, as RCCOLA said, a diacetyl rest is a good idea. Just don't mind the sulfur notes that come off the yeast, that stuff reaks.

Did you have a freak gravity reading or are you still dialing your system in? Be careful about pitching and then cooling the wort...its a good way to get it to go dormant.

 

[bobbytuck]

Did you have a freak gravity reading or are you still dialing your system in? Be careful about pitching and then cooling the wort...its a good way to get it to go dormant.

I'm not sure what happened. It must be a freak reading. I did a refractometer reading before the boil (which seemed right according to my Beersmith printout) and then a reading right after the boil when I turned off my HERMS. I think I must have somehow bungled the refrac sample -- maybe I didn't clean the dropper properly from the previous reading. Never had that happen before -- I was always right on the numbers with 70-75% efficiency.

Pitching:

yeah -- it was a super hot day and my Therminator took it down to 68F with a very, very slow trickle into the fermenter. I let it sit for about 6 hours in my air-conditioned basement. I probably should have let it sit overnight but I was worried about the wort sitting that long without yeast.

We'll see what happens. I've got a couple of packets of Safale-05 ready to go if I flubbed the pitch.

Won't be a Kolsch, but I bet it'll still be pretty good.