Kolsch style and water profile

[Foothiller]

I'll add: it's critical for a pro brewer in his role to have consistent results, thus needing to know his starting point to get consistent outputs.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Yes, ir was Colin. We were lucky to have a presentation by him at our homebrew club. I had put some time previously studying water chemistry, then it felt like he covered 10 times that amount of knowledge. I'm still absorbing things from his book, which had immediately gone on my Christmas wish list.

Be sure to give Colin my best the next time you see him. He and I had collaborated on an article that was published in 2015, where among other things, he provided a behind the scenes look at the making of the book 'Water'. He is truly a visionary who continues to contribute much to homebrewing and homebrewers everywhere.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Using EZwatercalculator to determine how much Lactic acid, and which salt and mineral additions, to go with when using 100% RO water this is what I came up with.

pH - 5.42 calculated - chloride/sulfate ratio 0.99 - CaCO3 ppm -144 - residual alkalinity -126
055 ppm - calcium
011 ppm - magnesium
010 ppm - sodium
076 ppm - chloride
078 ppm - sulfate

Using these calculations a chloride to sulfate ratio of .99 is within range, where .77 to 1.3 equals a balanced water profile.

The recommended BU:GU bittering ratio for a Kolsch is 0.532 and that is what I will be targeting for my first batch. Looks like I'll need to pick up a few Stange glasses to use when this batch is ready for drinking.

[Foothiller]

Good analysis, Screwy!

[ScrewyBrewer]

I brewed this Kolsch on 16-Jan-2016 and have fermented it since then at 60F. I began raising the temperature a half of a degree per day now, until I cold crash it next weekend. The original gravity reading was 1.056, I messed up on my post boil volume resulting in less beer in the fermentors and a few points higher OG. I'm planning to keg and lager this batch for 4 weeks before tapping it for drinking. In the meantime I'll be looking for some commercial examples to sample until my pipeline is full again.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Today's the day I get to take a final gravity sample and keg this batch of Kölsch. Two days ago I dropped the chest freezer temperature down to 38F to cold crash the beer before packing it. So far the only commercial Kölsch style beers I've tried, to do a comparison with to see how mine came out, are Community Kölsch by Freewill Brewing Co. and Gaffel Kölsch by Privatbrauerei Gaffel Becker & Co. Of the two I definitely preferred the Gaffel Kölsch the best, to me it's flavors seemed to be cleaner and more flavorful than the Community Kölsch. Observations from friends and family were similar too, both beers tasted like better versions of domestic light beer and a few said they tasted like a Beck's Beer.

I'll know more about how well this batch has turned out later, when I taste a sample before moving it into 5 gallon kegs for carbing and conditioning. In the meantime I'm thinking about the possible outcome if I were to dry hop one of the kegs so I can have two different beers on tap.

[mashani]

Gaffel Kölsch is good example of the authentic style. Reissdorf Kölsch is also very good if you can find it sometime.

Typically American "Kolsch" is *not* a good example. Most of it is brewed with American ale yeast. It doesn't taste right on the finish because of this. Not "crisp" enough. You have to use a sulfur producing yeast to make good Kölsch IMHO.

[ScrewyBrewer]

A couple of days ago I kegged a batch of Kölsch style beer, it was also the first time that I had ever brewed this style. After stealing a sample I was very surprised at just how much I liked the way it tasted. The original and final gravity hydrometer samples I tasted both had a bright, clear, pale yellow color. The beer actually seemed to have what I can best describe as hints of peaches and pears too. I kept thinking of a Chardonnay wine, everytime I tried associating the flavor and taste of the beer, to something that was already familiar to me.

kolsch-4sml.jpg (52.72 KiB) Viewed 1713 times

It was fermented using White Labs WLP029 - German Ale/Kölsch Yeast™ at 60F for 17 days. From day 18 to 22 the temperature was raised .5F each day. Days 23 to 25 the beer was cold crashed at 34F prior to kegging. In the end I drank close to 16 ounces of beer, purely for the purpose of quality control. What was missing from this beer were any detectable hints of sulfur or spice.

The original gravity was 1.057 and the final gravity finished up at 1.010 giving the fermentation 81% attenuation. I like this yeast, a lot. No yeast starter was made for this beer, just pure pitch packages of WLP029 using a lager yeast pitching rate. The beer is being slowly carbonated at 20 psi right now and hopefully it will be ready for drinking this weekend. I love having yet another style of beer to add to my list of all time favorites. I just know that the Kölsch style of beer and I will remain friends for a good long while.

[mashani]

What was missing from this beer were any detectable hints of sulfur or spice.

This is as it should be. The WLP029 makes sulfur during fermentation, but it cleans up by the time you bottle it. But it leaves the beer with a "crispness".

FYI: You actually fermented the WLP029 a bit cooler then it likes. It is much happier around 64 the entire time. That said my last batch with it was fermented cooler then it likes too, so your not the only guilty party. At 60 or under, you are actually better off using the Wyeast Kolsch strain normally. You likely pitched a good sized starter, but if you didn't you could have run into trouble.

[ScrewyBrewer]

@mashani thank you for your feedback. It's always a good thing to get feedback from someone like yourself who is familiar with this style and has brewed it before. My yeast selection was based purely on availability, my LHBS only carries White Labs yeast, and my wanting to reduce the buildup of esters during fermentation.

I chose to ferment the WLP029 at -5F colder than its optimal range in order to reduce fruity flavors, but I was surprised to learn that in addition to its high attenuation it is also rated as a medium flocculation yeast, which explains why the fermented beer is so clear. I plan to start drinking this one after a week of carbonating, and forego the 4 week cold conditioning I had planned to let the beer clear up. From what I've read this beer, like a wheat beer, is at its best when enjoyed young and doesn't require extended conditioning.

[mashani]

For future reference, my experience is that the WLP029 is clean at 64-65, even 66 degrees. There isn't any need to really ferment it cooler. The Wyeast strain is better cooler though. You can go down into the 50s with it like a lager strain and it's happy. One warning though is the Wyeast strain is a true 1/3rd required headspace top cropping yeast. So you have to plan for that if you ever use it.

[Kealia]

I've always used WLP029 for my Kolsch as well. I typically ferment at 64 and note the same things you guys do. Sulfur during fermentation but a clean and crisp beer in the end.

I've found that this beer also conditions very well. I've found bottles in the back of my fridge that had been there for 6 months and they were excellent. No real change from the early bottles except to maybe be even MORE crisp and clean.

A great Spring beer when brewed right - enjoy!

[ScrewyBrewer]

Oh man I just had to share a picture of this beer with you guys, I think it's amazing. I'm very happy to hear that it will retain its flavor for at least 6 months, thanks Ron for sharing that information. I wish we all lived close enough so that I could have shared a pitcher of this beer with you instead. Given a bit more time this beer will clear up nicely and to style. But for only having been kegged 4 days ago it tastes really good, even though the temperatures here are only in the low teens and single digits. I look forward to drinking this beer year round as keeping it as the go to beer of my pipeline.

kolsch-9sml.jpg (33.82 KiB) Viewed 1675 times

[MadBrewer]

Where's the recipe Screwy?

I'm brewing up a Kolsch next week, got a grain bill in mind...just figured I would compare. (If you say it's that good).

[ScrewyBrewer]

Where's the recipe Screwy?

I'm brewing up a Kolsch next week, got a grain bill in mind...just figured I would compare. (If you say it's that good).

@MadBrewer both the grain and hop bills are pretty simple, just two grains and one hop variety. The entire recipe below is what I used to produce 10 gallons of packaged beer. Feel free to experiment with the recipe if you like although right now it's pretty well locked down for my next batch.

-- Grain Bill (10 gallon packaged beer) --
22.00 pounds Pilsen (German) (95%)
01.00 pounds Vienna (German) (5%)
-----------
23.00 pounds total grain bill

-- Hop Bill --
5.00 ounces Hallertauer (Germany) pellets 3.2% alpha @ 60 minutes
------
5.00 ounces Total Hop bill

-- Yeast Bill --
4 Pure Pitch packages White Labs WLP029 - German Ale/Kölsch Yeast™


-- Mash water profile 15.0 gallons (RO water used) --
03.00 g - Gypsum (calcium sulfate)
09.00 g - Calcium Chloride
07.00 g - Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate)
02.00 g - Baking Soda
08.00 ml Lactic Acid

pH - 5.42 calculated - chloride/sulfate ratio 0.99 - CaCO3 ppm -144 - residual alkalinity -126
pH - 5.40 actual cooled sample after mash
055 ppm - calcium
011 ppm - magnesium
010 ppm - sodium
076 ppm - chloride
078 ppm - sulfate

eBIAB:
Double crush grains then mash for 90 minutes at 149F and mashout at 168F

Fermentation:
White Labs WLP029 - German Ale/Kölsch Yeast™ at 60F for 17 days
From day 18 to 22 the temperature was raised .5F each day
From day 23 to 25 the beer was cold crashed at 34F prior to kegging.

Enjoy!