I have a Kölsch nearing the end of primary fermentation. I do not have kegs and so I’m wondering if I’m better off bottling conditioning the beer and then lagering the bottles to clarify the beer or if I should bulk lager the beer and add a small amount of yeast at bottling?
I would chill it as cold as I could and fine it in the fermenter, then bottle it 3-4 days later. Kölsch yeast is really hard to get out of solution. There will still be enough to carbonate the beer.
I agree with Skyler. If you used a true Kolsch yeast, its quite powdery. You are probably best to chill and fine, then bottle and condition a few days later.
Thanks all.
I used WLP029 in it. My concern was getting proper conditioning if I lagered it for an extended period before bottling (>3 weeks).
I’m going to cool it down for a day or 2, fine with gelatine and the bottle. I’ll the let bottles sit at room temp for 2 weeks and then I’ll put them into cold storage.
I just kegged a Berliener Wiesse in which I used WLP029. I had it cold-crashing for 4-5 days and it was crystal clear at kegging. Beautifully light and clear. So, give it some time in the cold-crash and you’ll be fine. I did a yeast test a few years back with the Wyeast vs. WL Kölsch strains, and preferred the WL quite a bit. Give it plenty of time to cold crash. You won’t regret it.
Interesting. Was that a kettle sour? If so I didn’t know that WLP029 was tolerant of the lower pH environment. I’ve been meaning to make a Berliener for a while and using the Kölsch yeast has me intrigued.
Yep. Kettle soured with the Omega lacto blend. It dropped to just under a pH of 3.2 in 48 hours. I watched a podcast with Michael Dawson talking about brewing Berliener Weiss, and he recommended a German Ale yeast. I fermented it at 57 to get some of the fruitiness.