Schwarzkölsch (PM/PV)

[mashani]

I make straight up Kölsch many times a year, but I have this ongoing tradition of making a more malty and dark Kölsch like beer for when it's still chilly. Because I am a heretic. So this is this years version. Instead of using dark candi syrup like a Belgian bad boy as I have the last few times (which I was going to do again), I decided to make an attempt to blend a more traditional Schwarzbier and Kölsch, so somewhere in between this lies, actually closer to Schwarzbier, but with Kölsch yeast. My LHBS gave me some little jars of this black dme that would be 3500L at 1.04 that someone ordered but never came to get. Although very dark, it tasted like dark chocolate... and not smoky/burnt. So I built the recipe around that, using only a small amount of dark malts to enhance it.

For 5 gallons.

BIAB Oven mash @152 of:

1.5# German Munich
4oz Aromatic Malt
4oz 120L crystal

Into this, added the liquid from:

1oz British Black Patent
1oz of British Chocolate malt
Cold steeped those for 24 hours, to try to avoid any burnt/astringent flavors.

And:

3/4# Pilsner DME
2.5oz of the dark maltoferm stuff the LHBS gave me - 3500L if you used enough for 1.040 gravity.
5# of MoreBeer Pilsner LME (late addition @10 minutes)

Hops:

3/4oz 7.6AA Northern Brewer @60
1/2oz 3.4AA German Spalter Select @30
1/2oz 3.4AA German Spalter Select @5

Cooled, split between 2 LBCs, topped up to 5 gallons.

Pitched a full very fresh smack pack of Wyeast Kölsch (2565) yeast into each. I would have made a starter from one of them and split it but my stir plates POT is fried, and I haven't gotten a chance to fix it yet.

OG after top up was 1.051
SRM should be 23-24 at least, probably even higher.
IBUs around 27

Will ferment around 57-59 degrees.

Forgot this is a top cropper unlike the White Labs version, so this might blow out my fermenters, but that's always fun.

[Kealia]

And the Kolsch experiments continue.....

I'll be watching.

[mashani]

Yep, I should have done this as 4.6 or 4.8 gallons instead of 5. Because that's what I'm going to end up with...

:: messy ::

[mashani]

It's been stable at 1.010 for 5 days, so I bottled this... was very messy fermentation. My LBCs are soaking in a tub full of oxyclean. They were coated with Krausen Krap. If I had to guess the Krausen would have hit 6-7" in height if I had that much headspace. I did not... LOL at me...

I bottled from under 1/4" of lingering Krausen, which is not completely unusual for this yeast or other true top cropping yeasts, unless you crash then out or wait forever. But I don't want to wait, I've got other stuff to brew. It's only a bit cloudy due to the powdery yeast, but based on experience I know it will clear in the bottle just fine in a month or two. Lots of the yeast was stuck up in that krausen layer as if I had used 3787 (which I also often bottle from under krausen), so it actually wasn't as cloudy as it could have been.

The taste was great. As in if I had a keg I'd throw it in, put it on gas, and start drinking it next week great. Didn't taste green at all. It's dark, but you don't taste anything but the slightest hint of roastyness, and what I am tasting now might mellow/go away totally in a few weeks. Was Kölsch crisp, with a bit of bittersweet cocoa in the middle. It does taste a lot like a Schwarzbier, I could probably enter it into a comp as one and have it judged decently.

I poured the hydro sample into my Stange and took a pic... it looks totally heritical - the anti-Kölsch. And then drank all of it. Happily!

I have no regrets doing it this way vs. with the candi syrup like I normally do, this is nice in it's own way.

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[Rebel_B]

A dark Kölsch? That is heretical! Does the cold steep really help reduce burnt flavors? Looks cool.

[mashani]

Rumor has it that the cold steep is supposed to work. Seems like it, although I didn't really use that much. Some lady at Briess came up with the idea.

I barely tasted any roasty flavors. I got no bitterness/astringent flavors that I can identify from the grains. Mostly it's was like some bit of bittersweet dark chocolate in the middle. I probably won't pick up any roastyness at all once it's aged and carbed.

I'm doing a larger cold steep for use in my Bier de Mars, so I can say more after that batch.

I'm an ongoing heritic. I've done a "strong dark Kölsch" every fall/winter for the past 3 years. Two batches I just used pils/wheat, I think a bit of Munich in one of them... and darkened with D-180L candi syrup. Those were awesome. But I wanted to try something different this time.

[mashani]

Even at this young age, it's super yummy. If you like Schwarzbier you would like it. If you like Kölsch you would like it. Even people who don't like dark beer might like it. Because it is *not icky!*. No significant roasty flavors, just hints of coffee and chocolate.

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[Kealia]

If you like Schwarzbier you would like it.

Why, I like Schwarzbier.

If you like Kölsch you would like it.

And I like Kölsch.

Even people who don't like dark beer might like it. Because it is *not icky!*.

Hmmm, maybe I fit into this bucket, too....


Sounds like you've got another winner on your hands. Congrats!

[mashani]

Just poured one for mai waifu.

She said "This is good". Drinks more... Short pause... "Man this is really good".

Would be easy 'nuff to convert this to AG. My guess would be to add about 3 or 4oz of Briess black malt (not black malted barley/roasted barley) to the cold steep to replace the little jar of maltoferm extract. Because that's what the maltoferm stuff is made from. Briess says little flavor contribution in small amounts for black malt, but other web sites seem to think it's strong, so I'd cold steep it to be sure. Or midnight wheat/chocolate wheat might be a good option. Either way I think the cold steep is mandatory, or it will be more roasty. The cold steep did work for sure I think. It's smooth. Too smooth... :gulp: