water for kolsch

[sam c]

i dont bother messing around with much for my water but i do add gypsum and CRS. for most my beers i go with 30mg/l CaCO3 and was wondering what alkalinity would be best for this type of beer?

[steve_flack]

The water of Cologne is quite soft so it might be better to use some soft bottled water rather than CRS to reduce alkalinity. Some Calcium is a good idea though. I'd suggest calcium chloride rather than gypsum for that though as Kolsch is more a malt driven beer.

[sam c]

i was hoping to treat the water with what i have to hand which is CRS and gypsum. if using these two what would you suggest?

[mysterio]

10 - 30 mg/L alkalinity will be fine for an all base malt beer.

Ensure around 50 - 100 mg/L calcium too. If gypsum is all you have, fine, go with that.

[steve_flack]

What I said above is the optimum if you are bothered by such things. Personally I'd do what I do for lagers - just use CRS to get the alkalinity below 50ppm. The mash pH comes out fine for me with an all pils malt grist with that level of alkalinity. My water has plenty of calcium so for this beer I wouldn't bother adding more but it depends on what your water is like. I only use salts for bitters and pale ales when a bit more sulfate is often called for.

Alternatively you could try using some acid malt to lower your pH.

[sam c]

in that case i will probably go with my usuall water profile for this.

i plan to use pale malt for this rather than pilsner with about 7% munich and 4% wheat malt.yeast will be WLP029 German Ale/ Kölsch Yeast.
does this sound ok? ive read you can make a kolsch with pale malt as the main thing is the yeast.

[mysterio]

Not really, a Kolsch is very lager like. I would say the main thing is all lager malt or pilsner malt, maybe with a spot of wheat or a very small amount of Munich. Not to say it won't be a good beer though.

[sam c]

hmm not sure what to do now. do i order in some lager malt or go with what i have? would it be a waste of the yeast to brew with pale malt?what to do.....

[steve_flack]

Well, it would still make a nice beer but it would probably be a bit more toasty, grainy than a proper Kolsch would be. If someone gave you a Kolsch and said it was a lager it would be quite hard to spot IMO. IT's quite different to something like a Bitburger but some of the less hopped pils are very similar.

[sam c]

well ive decided that if im gonna do it and use the yeast i will do it properly so have ordered some lager malt.

i gather that these are fermented at ale temps, but are they meant to be conditioned/ lagered at cooler temps?

thanks for the advice chaps.

[mysterio]

I agree with Steve, I drank something like 20 different kolsches when I was in cologne and if no-one had told me I would have guessed they were all lagers. Especially when you get them in the bottle and they're that bit more carbonated.

Yes you can ferment them around 18C (check the yeast instructions for recommended temps). Conditioning at cold temps basically clarifies the beer and gives it a smoother mouthfeel.

I just want to reiterate I think you could make a great beer with the pale malt and munich but you may be disappointed if you were expecting a kolsch. I think it would be quite a bit richer and maltier.

[sam c]

thanks for the tips.

i do want to make a kolsch quite true to style so i think using the lager malt is the way to go.

cheers

[mysterio]

100% lager malt is a good place to start, replace 5% with wheat malt if you want it lighter or 5% with Munich if you want it a little maltier.

[Invalid Stout]

Everything you ever wanted to know about Cologne's water is here: http://www.rheinenergie.com/lang/en/pro ... litaet.php