I brewed a Kolsch a week ago using the Wyeast Kolsch yeast.
I am using the recipe from Brewing Classic Styles.
Jamil Zainasheff recommends brewing at 60 degrees and moving to a secondary after 3-4 days and then slowly raise the temperature to keep the fermentation going and let the yeast clean up.
Lager and cold crash for 3-4 weeks.
I am planning on moving to a secondary after 7 days but I'm worried about oxidation.
Is the yeast still active after 7 days?
If it is I will have a layer of C02 to protect against oxidation.
Do I need to use an airlock or can I just use the cap without the gasket if I lager for 4 weeks?
Kolsch Secondary advice please
Moderators: BlackDuck, Beer-lord, LouieMacGoo, philm00x, gwcr
Kolsch Secondary advice please
Last edited by Banjo-guy on Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Kolsch Secondary advice please
My personal thoughts would be:
There is no harm in secondarying it, oxidation is not an issue if you rack carefully. Yes the yeast is still in suspension and active at this point. That particular yeast will remain in suspension for a long long time. But personally, I would just raise the temps in the primary, no reason to secondary it. I would lager it in the bottles. It will clean up faster sitting on the big yeast cake.
That said, that yeast really doesn't need the temps raised as long as your in the 60s. It will finish on it's own. If you were using White Labs Kolsch yeast then you would want to raise the temps, it doesn't like fermenting in the lower 60s very much. But the Wyeast Kolsch works even as low as 53-54 degrees in my experience, and 60 is warm enough for a D-Rest with it.
In any case, it likely is not done at 7 days, it does not floc out easily and keeps working slowly for a long time. I've sometimes had to wait more then two weeks, even 3 weeks for it to get to it's true FG. This is true of White Labs Kolsch as well. So even if you do secondary it, put an airlock on there. You do not want exploding secondary fermenter. I know this.
I have a batch using White Labs Kolsch sitting at 66 degrees, it's been in the primary fermenter for 16 days, it's still got lingering krausen and I'm not convinced it's done yet based on hydro samples - it's going to need to sit for another day or two or more for sure. As soon as it's done (lingering krausen is not unusual, it doesn't mean it's not done), I'm bottling it, and lagering in the bottles. The yeast will floc out in the bottles while lagering. Unless a little bit of bottle trub really bugs you, then do it in a secondary and bottle. But I don't care about bottle trub, I pour into a glass and it will pour clean by the time it's done.
There is no harm in secondarying it, oxidation is not an issue if you rack carefully. Yes the yeast is still in suspension and active at this point. That particular yeast will remain in suspension for a long long time. But personally, I would just raise the temps in the primary, no reason to secondary it. I would lager it in the bottles. It will clean up faster sitting on the big yeast cake.
That said, that yeast really doesn't need the temps raised as long as your in the 60s. It will finish on it's own. If you were using White Labs Kolsch yeast then you would want to raise the temps, it doesn't like fermenting in the lower 60s very much. But the Wyeast Kolsch works even as low as 53-54 degrees in my experience, and 60 is warm enough for a D-Rest with it.
In any case, it likely is not done at 7 days, it does not floc out easily and keeps working slowly for a long time. I've sometimes had to wait more then two weeks, even 3 weeks for it to get to it's true FG. This is true of White Labs Kolsch as well. So even if you do secondary it, put an airlock on there. You do not want exploding secondary fermenter. I know this.
I have a batch using White Labs Kolsch sitting at 66 degrees, it's been in the primary fermenter for 16 days, it's still got lingering krausen and I'm not convinced it's done yet based on hydro samples - it's going to need to sit for another day or two or more for sure. As soon as it's done (lingering krausen is not unusual, it doesn't mean it's not done), I'm bottling it, and lagering in the bottles. The yeast will floc out in the bottles while lagering. Unless a little bit of bottle trub really bugs you, then do it in a secondary and bottle. But I don't care about bottle trub, I pour into a glass and it will pour clean by the time it's done.
Re: Kolsch Secondary advice please
Thanks for the quick answer.
I moved it to a secondary today. The OG is 1.048 and my sample today was 1.015.
I fermented this with the cover of a bucket loosely on ...no airlock. I'm wondering if it is ok to leave it with just a loose lid in the secondary for 4 weeks or would I be better off with an air lock ?
My mini fridge might be not tall enough for a Speidel with an airlock.
I don't use the Speidel airlock. It is hugh.
Do I need to add yeast at bottling in 4 weeks?
I moved it to a secondary today. The OG is 1.048 and my sample today was 1.015.
I fermented this with the cover of a bucket loosely on ...no airlock. I'm wondering if it is ok to leave it with just a loose lid in the secondary for 4 weeks or would I be better off with an air lock ?
My mini fridge might be not tall enough for a Speidel with an airlock.
I don't use the Speidel airlock. It is hugh.
Do I need to add yeast at bottling in 4 weeks?
Re: Kolsch Secondary advice please
I haven't used an airlock in forever. I am using Brew Demon LBCs with the cap and no gasket and the plug in the airlock bunghole, so basically a similar setup to you. I've had 0 issues with beers sitting in them for 3-4 weeks. But I do not secondary anymore for anything - your going a bit longer then that.
You won't get infected because of it. Beer infecting bugs can't crawl up under the lid. But if you already have an infection it can make it more apparent/active depending on what it is due to the oxygen that can get in. Oxidation should not be an issue as long as you don't have huge headspace and move the fermenter around a lot or mess with it.
That yeast is not going to fully floc out with 4 weeks in the secondary unless you get it really cold. I would think Jamil would have said to add yeast if it was needed following his schedule.
Personally, pretending I did it, and say went with 4-6 weeks in the 40s, then I would add yeast. There are some Belgian Strong Golden ales I would do that type of process to, and they needed the yeast to be happy. But that Kolsch yeast is less flocculent then any of the yeasts I used in the strong ales, and it likes colder temps better, so even then it might not be needed with it.
You won't get infected because of it. Beer infecting bugs can't crawl up under the lid. But if you already have an infection it can make it more apparent/active depending on what it is due to the oxygen that can get in. Oxidation should not be an issue as long as you don't have huge headspace and move the fermenter around a lot or mess with it.
That yeast is not going to fully floc out with 4 weeks in the secondary unless you get it really cold. I would think Jamil would have said to add yeast if it was needed following his schedule.
Personally, pretending I did it, and say went with 4-6 weeks in the 40s, then I would add yeast. There are some Belgian Strong Golden ales I would do that type of process to, and they needed the yeast to be happy. But that Kolsch yeast is less flocculent then any of the yeasts I used in the strong ales, and it likes colder temps better, so even then it might not be needed with it.