Kolsch

[Gurgeh]

just about to take a mouthful of the meantime cologne style lager and... yeah okay. i'll give that a go

I'm not really a lager drinker but that's rather nice. It'll go down well with the beer-fearing relatives anyway



Matt - what's the schedule from pitching onwards? same as Maltmans?

[maltman]

I noticed a small release of hydrogen sulfide over a few days whilst in it was in primary but this dissipated soon after.

This recipe produced a very smooth, clean and crisp beer with a very subtle fruit flavour.

Was a firm favourite with all my friends as the clean but developed malt flavour was complex enough for the ale drinkers guild while still being light enough for those who usually indulge specifically in lagers. A winner allround.

Give it a go, i am sure you will not be to disapointed.

[Gurgeh]

Fermented on the cool side, 15C primary (white labs say min 18c, but with a bigger starter your fine) and secondary at 6-7c.
Read about the yeast being very dusty but this brew went crystal clear after 4 weeks at secondary for me (no finings).

so was that a week in primary or did you 'drop' at half gravity?

[maltman]

I let it sit in primary until it was at final gravity (~10 days) then transferred it off the yeast cake into glass carby for the remaining 4 weeks at 6-7°C to clear and condition.

[Matt]

Wow, now I am looking forward to trying this brew

Coincidentally I have the parts ordered to construct a fermentation fridge, so hopefully they will arrive this week and allow me to do this properly and secondary as you did Maltman (I was planning to just ferment out and then store in the garage and take my chances).

Matt

[Gurgeh]

i've just sent out a request to a few mates to start sending their little lager bottles my way...

what sort of top pressure do you need to apply to a full corny at 6C in order to achieve the correct carbonation?

[mysterio]

Depends how carbonated you want it, for draught kolsch just a gentle carbonation, more than real ale but less than your standard lager, maybe around 2 vols. So at 6C that would be 8 psi. Bottled kolsch, like the Früh you get here, has quite a bit more carbonation probably at least 2.5 which would be closer to 14 psi at the same temp.

[Gurgeh]

perfect, Thanks myste

[Matt]

Just sampling the Kolsch now, I had left it well alone to see if the DMS cleared up and … bingo! Amazing to find that a slightly disappointing brew in its green state can improve so much. DMS has gone and its a good un. Happy days

[mysterio]

Looks great

[Matt]

[Gurgeh]

Thanks for that original post Matt - you've started something off here!

Kolsch is IT!

[prodigal2]

Looks great Matt.
What a great return from a holiday. a perfect german beer..... nice.
Sorry I could not provide you with more intel, yet I was away from spain at the time. I hope you had a great time.

Out of interest how does the hop flavour read?

Phil

[Matt]

Gurgeh, yeah, its good gear isn't it I'm going to re-brew asap.

Phil, there is a nice delicateness to it on all counts - the malt and hop profile, and also the mouthfeel.

Actually, re-reading this thread, Maltman summed it up when he said "Was a firm favourite with all my friends as the clean but developed malt flavour was complex enough for the ale drinkers guild while still being light enough for those who usually indulge specifically in lagers. A winner all round."

Its good as is but I am thinking about a heretical re-brewing to 30 IBU (was 22) with Challenger instead of Saaz, I think it would suit it. Maybe another all FWH + massive aroma addition experiment

p.s. No worries re Spain. Had a great time, was nice and breezy.

[Gurgeh]

i think FWH would be the way to go, yes. I actually chucked in some bramling x with my mittelfruh when i last did it and it worked really well!

I may try using the WLP029 on some of my golden ales and see what happens...