Yeast Suggestion?

[barrooze]

Hey, I'm planning a primarily Germanic recipe, but can't decide what strain to go with. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

5# Pilsner malt
3# Munich malt
3# Vienna malt
.25# Pale Chocolate malt
.25# Special B malt

Mash at 151*F.

Boil 90 minutes.

1 oz Magnum (9.5%AA) - 60 min
1 oz Pearle (6.5%AA) - 10 min
1 oz Tettnang (4.7%AA) - 5 min
1 oz Hersbrucker (3.5%AA) - 0 min

For yeast I was thinking of going along with the German theme and use WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch, but I've never used it.

Is it a bit too hoppy for those malts? I know it's a lot of hops, but I was thinking the late additions will really smell and taste great. I just don't know if they'll be well-balanced with the malts.

What do you all think? Thanks in advance!

 

[GuldTuborg]

With most of your grain bill coming from Munich and Vienna malts, my initial reaction is that the malt presence will be significant and able to stand up to the hop levels. This recipe will give you a beer with a definite hop character, but I doubt it will be overpowering. Looks kinda tasty, really. It's also screaming for a good German alt strain. That would probably tie this all together well. I'd probably start with 1007 as a good yeast strain, but the kölsch strains aren't terribly different, and should work fine as well.

If you do go with a high attenuating strain like the 1007, you might consider mashing a bit higher so it doesn't dry out too much. It all depends upon your tastes.

 

[microbrewswhoo]

+1 on the Kolsch.

I was just typing out how I think that is going to be too much hops and just realized that 3 ounces of it is going in at the end. Still think it's gonna be a bit hoppy compared to the malt, but not nearly as much as I initially thought.

 

[GuldTuborg]

^^^ Exactly. It should have a strong, but pleasant hop flavor and aroma, without an overpowering bitterness. Or, that's how I imagine it will turn out.

 

[barrooze]

Thanks for the replies. I do like a drier beer, and I've had real good results mashing lower with pilsner malts, so I think I'll keep the 151 mash temp (I'm usually +/- a degree).

I think I'm going to brew this recipe this weekend using the WLP029. It looks like it is similar to the 1007, and I've never used either, so it'll be a learning experience. At what temp do you guys ferment Kölschs or German ales?

EDIT: Crap. So I guess I'm trying to decide between WLP029 and WLP036 and after looking through Brewing Classic Styles it looks like for the German Alt beers, JZ uses WLP036 and for the Kölsch he uses WLP029. In what style do you guys think this beer fits? Kölsch to me is very light and wouldn't have the pale chocolate or Special B. I can't say I've had an alt in years, so I can't really speak to it besides what the style guide says.

 

[microbrewswhoo]

The choco malt and the special b might be very interesting with the WLP029. I'm not big on sticking to styles, I just sort of brew what/how I want to and see how it turns out.

I'm currently brewing a Wyeast 2565 Kölsch and it needs to ferment at 58-60 degrees. I would imagine the WLP029 to be the same. If you decide to use this yeast, be sure to soften up your water a bit. I don't know what your local water source is like, but I imagine you can start out with distilled and add from there, or go partial distilled. I personally just had to add some gypsum and some salt to my bottled spring water.


Cologne water profile:

Calcium 104
Magnesium 15
Sodium 52
Sulphate 86
Nitrate 33.27
Chloride 109
Carbonate 152
HCO3 273

It was sort of a shock getting home from the LHBS and ending up with a partial mash kit using Kölsch yeast, being that I'm a fairly noob brewer. Thank goodness for a clear instruction sheet and the internet in guiding me through that.

 

[barrooze]

So I kegged this beer tonight and it's absolutely amazing. A very German pale ale. I've looked over the styles and it fits within Dusseldorf Alt, except for the hops. The late hop additions completely through it out of the style, but let me tell you, it's fantastic.

The LHBS was out of German Pilsner malt, so I used Bohemian pilsner instead. Also, I went with WLP029 and fermented at 62F for about a week, then I raised it to 65F for three days, then 68F for another 1-2 days. I kegged it tonight and it's awesome. If you have the hops, definitely give this one a chance. I will be brewing it again.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Glad to see it turned out well. It does look pretty good, and I may have to try it at some point. Would you do anything different the next time around? What was your mash schedule?

 

[barrooze]

Glad to see it turned out well. It does look pretty good, and I may have to try it at some point. Would you do anything different the next time around? What was your mash schedule?

I did a single infusion mash at 151F and batch sparged. I let conversion occur for an hour. I let my boil get away from me and I boiled off a bit too much water. Instead of the 6 gallons at post boil I ended up with about 5.25 and got 5 into the fermenter. My calves OG was 1.052 but I ended up with 1.058. Fg is 1.010.

 

[barrooze]

Just an FYI, it looks like this is actually a California Common with German hops and malts. It's tasty grainy, toasty, a good bit of hop aroma/flavor/bitterness. This may be the first beer I brew twice!