BeerBorg

My first batch of beer for 2016, that I will be brewing this morning will be also be my first Kolsch style. As with any style of beer that I haven't brewed before I am feeling very excited this morning as I prepare for my brew day. True to form the recipe that I chose to brew includes just 2 types of grains to get the job done. I love my rainy day indoor brewing days, they're a form of therapy that actually pays off with gallons of great tasting beer and a feeling a satisfaction.

Estimated OG=1.054, IBU=31, SRM=3, FG=1.014, ABV= 5.2%
BU / SG = 0.532
Mash at 149F and boil for 90 minutes

Pilsen (German) (95%)
Vienna (German) (5%)

Hallertauer (Germany) pellets (for bittering)

I decided to brew this one a few days ago and didn't have time to make a starter, but I did buy enough Pure Pitch packages of
White Labs WLP029 - German Ale/Kölsch Yeast™ to ferment 10 gallons of beer. I plan to ferment this batch at 60F for 3 weeks before cold crashing, kegging, carbonating and then allowing 4 weeks to condition.

The water profile was calculated using EZwater with 100% RO water as a starting point.

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

Let the brewing begin!

Sounds good. I'm curious about Kolsch, have not brewed one. But my Belgian Pale just kicked, I need more of that. And I'm thinking a Rye PA too...

Does tomorrow count? I'll be doing my 1st (or 1st 2) batches tomorrow of 2016? It really doesn't take too much longer for a double batch and I have the time so I'm going to tweak my water a bit more.
I wish there was a place around me that I knew had RO water to give it a try but so far, what I've been doing seems to work pretty well.

Any day devoted to brewing counts, and it's always a good day. To me Kolsch is in the same category as my warmer weather session beers and should make for a nice change in my pipeline. Before getting an RO system setup in the brew room I would buy distilled water and treat it the same as I do my RO water. I'll admit using RO or distilled water isn't a necessity when brewing great tasting beer, but for me using it has become ingrained in my brewing now.

Actually, today would have been better for me weather wise as it's going to about 62. Tomorrow, not bad at 53 but it's supposed to be very breezy. Not good when dealing with trying to get 13 gallons of water to boil.

I've looked at some of the cheaper RO kits and I don't think they work for me. Space is an issue. My house is just not set up for it. I have no garage so that limits me.

I'll be kegging a chocolate oatmeal stout in a little bit.

I'm glad tomorrow counts, because Sunday is (almost) always brew day at Fedora Brauhaus. I'll be making my third batch of Hopsperiment, this time with Mosaic hops. The first batch, with Ahtanum, has already been consumed. Nice, mild hops, that Ahtanum; I think I can make good use of it, especially as a flavor addition. Last week I bottled the Hopsperiment/Chinook, and I'm looking forward to that in the future.

Brew on, brethren and cistern!

Ah the peace and serenity of brewing or kegging cannot be beat. Good to hear you guys have time to spend on yourselves this weekend.

Working on the second mash (mash tun not big enough) on an 18 gallon batch of North Port Pils 15.5 for an event first weekend in March and 2.5 for me. I'll see how long it takes to get 20 gallons of wort boiling.

I get ya Steve. I can't mash 23 lbs in my 15 gallon pot so I'll need to do a small sparge.
I could brew every other day and never get tired.
And Dave, Sunday's are usually my brew day too. I get the grains crushed, the water and hops measured the day/night before so that when I get up, I can start the mash right away. And it makes it a 4 plus hour brew day instead 5 or more.

Not brewing today but bottled a 5 of pumpkin ale. it came out really clear for a pumpkin was secondary. I wish I could take better close-ups with my I Phone.

Took about 35 minutes to get 20.5 gallons to boil.

Just brewed up a quick batch of Ye Olde Devils Nut Brown Ale, used a package of S-05 yeast instead of the yeast BrewDemon supplied with the recipe. It's in my LBC and fermenting away...

Dawg LB Steve wrote:Working on the second mash (mash tun not big enough) on an 18 gallon batch of North Port Pils 15.5 for an event first weekend in March and 2.5 for me. I'll see how long it takes to get 20 gallons of wort boiling.

Hey Steve is that rig new?

berryman wrote:Not brewing today but bottled a 5 of pumpkin ale. it came out really clear for a pumpkin was secondary. I wish I could take better close-ups with my I Phone.

I can almost picture you drinking your homebrew and looking into that fish tank!