Winterfest un-Kölsch

[mashani]

I make regular Kölsch often, always some in my pipeline, but this one is a bit fun and not really a Kölsch, sort of like Kölsch meets Festbier with a little bit of Juniper instead of any sort of finishing hop. A little bit of extra bittering to balance out the extra maltyness.

I see no reason that it won't be delicious.

EDIT: in the details LOL.

2.5 gallon batch done in my 16Q pot

Mashed at 154/with a teabag sparge in 170 water:

3# Schill Kölsch Malt (this stuff is a lot like Vienna malt mixed with some pils in case you want a sub).
2# Weyermann German Munich Malt

75 minute boil

1.5oz Hallertauer (3.6AA) @60
1/4oz cracked dry Juniper berries @15

WLP029 Kölsch yeast, will be fermented around 66-68 degrees.

OG was 1.053

[mashani]

Sulfur odorification. I has it. That's how you know it's a Kölsch yeast.

[mashani]

This got bottled a few days ago at 1.013. Juniper was more prevalent in the taste then in the other beers I used it in recently, likely due to no crystal malt of any type and the super clean yeast. Should be nice, but if you *absolutely hate* Gin you might not like this one, as it did have some Gin like notes, although it may tone down a lot with some age. Will update when I crack one for real.

[mashani]

I popped the trub bottle. Juniper toned down already. Very smooth very nice, most delicious this is. More bitter and dry seeming then a festbier. Juniper flavor is nice, not strong, but there. This won't last long.

I will try to post a pic tomorrow, it's pretty. Totally clear already.

I love WLP029.

[Bluejaye]

Since I'm starting to think Kolsch is going to be my go to beer, I find this thread most interesting. How does one crack juniper berries? Meat hammer, rolling pin???

[mashani]

I used a rolling pin but you have to bash them with it a bit. They are a good bit tougher to crack then grain. But you don't need to pulverize them, just crack them open.

[mashani]

I wanted to take this picture outside, but rolled in after dark. So you get what you get. Here is this beer. Which is awesome after a long bike ride btw...

P1100193.JPG (40.82 KiB) Viewed 1578 times

[philm00x]

That looks glorious, mashani!

[Ibasterd]

Looks and sounds great. I'm still going to try juniper berries soon.