So, I started building a California Common beer in Beersmith. I took a little turn north and ended up here. I’d love to know what you think. I’ve added my reasoning behind my choices, tho I may be wrong.
12 lbs 8.0 oz Golden Promise 98.7 % (I thought the sweetness may help cut some of the bitterness)
2.7 oz Midnight Wheat 1.3 % (Just for color, obviously)
1 oz El Dorado [15.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min
1 oz El Dorado [15.00 %] - Boil 7.0 min
1 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min
German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029) Optimum Ferment Temp: 65-69°F
“Accentuates hop flavors, similar to WLP001. The slight sulfur produced during fermentation will disappear with age and leave a super clean, lager like ale.”
Be careful with the el dorado. In my opinion they can be extremely sweet if not balanced by other hops. It sounds strange but others have experienced that as well…
Son, where I’m from, we don’t call that a California Common. We call that a good ole American IPA.
Good recipe, though.
My experience with El Dorado has been very different from most other people’s. I didn’t get sweetness from it at all. Might have helped, though, that I blended mine with Columbus, which totally overpowered it. Same will go for you, the Citra will overpower it. No worries. Go ahead and brew your recipe as-is, I bet it will be very tasty, no matter what you call it (hint: yes, seriously, it is an IPA).
I would classify it more in the APA/IPA realm as well. I used WLP029 in a wheat IPA once and loved it. It seem that if you ferment it within their recommended range you get a bit more a fruity/grape character which I like. 58-60F seems very clean and more lager like.
I used the other Kolsch yeast 2565 on my last two IPAs and kind of like it, although it’s almost too dry. WLP029 might not turn out quite so dry. 'Course I did mash pretty low, I think 151-152 F, but only for 40 minutes. Attenuation was over 80%.
I usually get around 80% attenuation with WLP029 but normally mash pretty low as well. I am going to do my next kolsch with 2565 for the first time then reuse the yeast for an ‘alt’ type beer (I know this yeast is not used for alts). I am very excited to see which strain I prefer.
(Ditto about off topic, sorry.) When you do try the 2565, keep in mind that it needs extra time to finish. Give it a good month, maybe even 5 weeks, to finish attenuating and settling out. Might also want to add gelatin as it takes forever to settle. But it tastes great, superior to WLP029 IMHO.