Beer Forum

I'm thinking I'd like to try brewing a Koelsch next (once I get a fermenter free). Any suggestions, recipes out there?[/code]

I have one on the go right now

1.7 kg pale malt extract
1 kg wheat malt
1 kg pale Malt
500 g Munich Malt
500 g honey
20 g Galena Hops (60 min)
14 g Saaz (10 min)
14 g Saaz (1 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss

Single infusion mash grains at 150 deg F for 75 min and sparge to make 12 L

Add liquid malts and honey bring to boil

Add Galena hops boil for 60 min

add Irish Moss with 20 min left

add Saaz at 10 min and 1 min respectivly

Strain and top to 23 litres and pitch yeast

I used a Saflager with this one

Fermented in primary for three days and transfered to secondary

Brew temps about 68 deg F (top end) no bad esters

Dogger

Kolsh is one of my favorites to brew. It's also a very challenging style. Tough to do as an extract brewer, mostly because it is so light and delicate. Some things that might help.

1) Full wort boil if you can
2) Add the extract late in the boil (last 15-20 min, Boiling the hops for the full allotted time)
3) ferment as cool as you can w/o having the yeast going to sleep.
4) cold storage for 4weeks or more

Hope this helps,
Dr Scott

Interesting - why is it that extract makes it hard to make Kolsch? Is it that the balance of fermentable/unfermentable carbohydrates isn't under your control, so you end up with too much body?

jaydub wrote:Interesting - why is it that extract makes it hard to make Kolsch? Is it that the balance of fermentable/unfermentable carbohydrates isn't under your control, so you end up with too much body?

That is part of the problem. Color is another issue. At 3.5-5 SRM it's tough to get your beer that light even w/ an "ultra-light" extract. Partial boil (i.e. a concentrated wort boil) or an extended boil of the extract will darken it down even more. A Kolsh is light and delicate. Everything is understated. (except the flaws!) It's a tough beer to nail even w/ all-grain.
But, I don't want you to get discouraged and abandon this. It would be a great time to experiment and see what you can do. There are ways around the problems I mentioned above and you can make something very nice. Go ahead and brew it!

Cheers, Dr Scott

Remember that brewing isn't always about hitting the BJCP guidelines right on the nose. Don't sweat the color unless you're going to enter it into a competition and look for top notch results.

If I were extract brewing a Kölsch, I would look for a pilsner based extract. I am a new listener to TBN and just heard the show with the brewer from Pacific Coast Brewing that has trialed probably every extract out there. I think he mentioned something about a pilsner extract being available but I couldn't figure out how to back up my iPod yet so I don't remember the details. Yes, there is a huge flavor difference between pilsner and pale malts so I would assume that applies to extract as well.

You can skip the wheat or any other malt as a traditional Kölsch uses 100% continental pils malt (okay, so a small percentage of breweries in Köln use 5 to 10% wheat). I accidentally brewed with 100% pale malt once and although my wife enjoyed it, it was nothing like what it should have been. Would you make a Bo Pils with pale malt? Then why make a Kölsch with pale malt?

Use Wyeast Kölsch yeast and ferment at 48°F (I have not tried the WL version). Keep the IBU's towards the top of the BJCP guidlines and use noble hops. I think Saaz are a bit spicy for the style. Try Tetts, Spalt or Hallertauer.

-Danno

Yeh can be if you use a lot,

They balance the honey well though, I like it which for me is the number 1 priority. Like you Danno, I don't worry to much about hitting the numbers on the mark as far as profiles go.

I have heard a lot of discussion with this one regarding the subtlties of ingredients but I have yet heard one comment on the water chemistry which is likely a big chunk of the issue.

Can't get Spalt so wouldn't know.

Dogger

My brewing water is pretty soft, so I'm not anticipating any problems with it (check out my New Users post for some details)