BeerBorg

Well, I was gonna bottle the Straw Boater Blonde Ale today, but I had a bunch of errands and stuff, and I just don't feel like it. I'll bottle it first thing tomorrow, and then turn around and brew a batch of Fedorus Magnus Kölsch.

Bottled a five gallon batch of a American style light lager that was brewed 3/7/15 and has been in the cold/lagering for quite a few weeks this morning, and bottled a Red Rye Ale that was brewed 3/28/15 this afternoon.

berryman wrote:Bottled a five gallon batch of a American style light lager that was brewed 3/7/15 and has been in the cold/lagering for quite a few weeks this morning, and bottled a Red Rye Ale that was brewed 3/28/15 this afternoon.

I've been toying with the idea of brewing an American-style lager, myself. My lager fridge is currently lagering an Oktoberfest, and I don't like to make too many lagers; just two or three a year, as they take so long to get to the pipeline. Keep that lager cold for a while longer, Berry. Should peak around July or August.

swenocha wrote:Doing a loose version of the Beersmith Kölschbier. I'm a big fan of a Kölschbier, especially in the Spring/Summer months. Similar, but a bit heartier than a pale lager, and a bit quicker to being ready because it's an ale. I usually do some pale lagers in the Spring as well, especially since I have so... much... beer... right now, so the time-to-drinking isn't that important, but I had been wanting to do this simple recipe for a while, so I'm going with it tomorrow morning. I have Pearle and Tettnanger on hand in the German hop varieties, so I'll likely go with that instead of the Spalt that they used. I think either would be fine. I also haven't totally decided if I'm going to shift a bit of the hops to a 20 minute addition. Technically true to style probably wouldn't have that addition, so I may well keep it where it's at. But I may change my mind.

Kölschbier
Kolsch

Type: All Grain
Date: 5/17/2015
Batch Size: 2.80 gal

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5 lbs 8.0 oz Schill Kolsch 2-row Ger (3.0 SRM) Grain 94.66 %
5.0 oz Munich Avangard Ger (6.0 SRM) Grain 5.34 %
0.50 oz Pearle Ger [8.00 %] (60 min) Hops 26.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.97 %
Bitterness: 26.0 IBU
Calories: 222 cal/pint
Est Color: 5.4 SRM

Into the hop boil... I stuck with the original plan... 0.5oz Per-lay for 60 min and no flavor/aroma additions.

I posted the recipe to my facebook last night, and a professional brewer friend offered some recommendations regarding ferment and mash temps, so I modified both a bit from what I was going to do. Great getting that kind of feedback, and funny that he said that had I added a touch of wheat, I would have had their Kolsch recipe exactly (which is their baseline beer).

So... I was planning to mash at 150, but he recommended their mash temp at 148, saying that I wanted it as dry as possible. Remembering the Beer Chem course we took, I was reminded that Beta amylase is most active between 130-150 degrees, and that that particular enzyme trims off single maltose sugar units that are more fermentable, which results in higher attenuation, a cleaner beer, and a thinner body. So... 148ish it is. I was also planning to ferment at 60 for a week (or until primary ferm appeared complete), then drop to lager temps for a few weeks. He instead noted that they do the following... ferment out at 56, and then let it ramp up to 65 after holding for 3 days at 56. Allow the fermentation to hit terminal for 3 days, then cold crash. Add some finings. Then lager for 2 weeks. So... I'll be following that process as well, and I'll be sharing a bottle with him at the brewery (assuming I approve of the final product)....

Bottled the Straw Boater this morning, and I'm into the boil on my Kölsch. Looking forward to this once the summer settles in.

So... I was planning to mash at 150, but he recommended their mash temp at 148, saying that I wanted it as dry as possible. Remembering the Beer Chem course we took, I was reminded that Beta amylase is most active between 130-150 degrees, and that that particular enzyme trims off single maltose sugar units that are more fermentable, which results in higher attenuation, a cleaner beer, and a thinner body. So... 148ish it is.

Personally, I've done both 148 and 150 and couldn't tell the difference but when doing large volumes like 9 gallons of BIAB mash, your temps are likely all over the place in the kettle. That's one reason why I stir my mash every 10 minutes ( and may look into recirculating).
My problem is getting to pitching temperature with my water temps and even with a pond pump. I'd have to sit it in the keezer for about 12 hours to get to pitching temperature. I know many do this but I hate the thought of leaving beer alone that long even though I follow pretty good sanitizing and cleanliness rules.
I'm gonna have to try doing this soon but with summer here, now's not the time.
Keep me updated please.

My temps are rock-solid stable for my 3 gallon batch in the electric turkey fryer that I insulated the snot out of. I started at 148ish, and finished around 145-146. I get the temp to maybe 154, shut it off, drop the grain in and stir. Lid and cover lid with blanket. I then stir again a couple times during the mash.

I use a small submersible coil wort chiller, and I get to pitch temps pretty quickly. Of course, with this smaller volume, that's made a touch easier.

FedoraDave wrote:Bottled the Straw Boater this morning, and I'm into the boil on my Kölsch. Looking forward to this once the summer settles in.

What's your Kölsch recipe, Dave?

Kegged a batch of a Rye IPL, brewed on 3/29, dry-hopped with Amarillo & Simcoe hops on 5/10/15. Tasted the final gravity test sample... Excellent! Finished at 8.4% ABV

Rebel_B wrote:Kegged a batch of a Rye IPL, brewed on 3/29, dry-hopped with Amarillo & Simcoe hops on 5/10/15. Tasted the final gravity test sample... Excellent! Finished at 8.4% ABV

Oh Hell Yeah! <drools>

@Swen, your Kölsch should turn out very authentic, although perhaps a shade or two darker then most. Much more authentic the last few I've made (which are still really good beers, but not authentic in any sense of the word). I like that Schill Kölsch malt a lot, even though it is darker then pils. It has a nice flavor. Going with German/Belgian Pils and a touch of wheat will get you a real pale Kölsch with great head retention if you want to try that sometimes.

The white lab Kölsch yeast makes great beer too - I use the Wyeast in the winter and the White Labs in the spring/fall, as the White Labs likes warmer temperatures better.

The Wyeast stuff can be a blowoff machine, so watch out.

Already in place, Mash... My IPA blew the LBC out, and I only had two gallons or so in it. This one is a 2.5, so I was pretty certain that I'd go with the blowoff from the get-go here.



My original plan was to use pale pils, but then I noted that my LHBS carried the Kolsch malt, so I sacrificed color to try it out. I do a fair amount of pale pils/lagers with the pils malt, so I thought I'd try something a touch different on this one.

Nice. I missed the boat on doing my Kolsch this year. I like to brew it in March for June drinking. It's also one of the beers that I like to use gelatin in to make it super clear.

A cold Kolsch with a fresh warm pretzel on a summer evening just hits the spot!

swenocha wrote:

FedoraDave wrote:Bottled the Straw Boater this morning, and I'm into the boil on my Kölsch. Looking forward to this once the summer settles in.

What's your Kölsch recipe, Dave?

I make a 2.5 gallon batch with the following ingredients:

3# Pilsner
1# Munich
0.25# White Wheat

0.33 Oz Hallertau - 90 minutes
0.33 Oz Hallertau - 20 minutes
0.33 Oz Hallertau - 7 minutes

White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch Yeast


I don't know how authentic this is, but it's a nice, crisp beer; very refreshing and highly carbed - almost effervescent.

Brewed my Sweet 'Lil Red today, I've brewed this a few times before. Trying to build up my pipeline before summer.


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