You won’t regret this decision.
+1 And, as a bonus, you can use it for, you know, cooking…
For anyone who cares, after setting it at room temp for a week the gravity is 1.010. So it dropped three points. And that rocks.
So, I racked it into kegs and they are chilling at 40F. 
I recommend cold conditioning it at 38 degree or colder for at least 2 weeks. A little fining like Biofine clear or even gelatin will help drop the yeast.
+1
Cold conditioning really makes a difference with this beer. I like 4 weeks in the lagering chamber. The amount of time is a personal choice as long as the beer can condition at lagering temp for at least a couple weeks.
I agree with both comments about doing what you can to clarify it, and to lager it sufficiently. I normally go 4 weeks at 38-40F, and use some kind of finings (what I use varies, just about anything works if it drops yeast). Kolsch is normally filtered, and clarity is an important part of the style. That yeast is very powdery, so it almost never will floc on its own, at least not in the time before the beer starts to go off. Drink it young, but don’t rush the cold conditioning.
I usually “lager” in the bottle since I only have one fermentation freezer. After it hits terminal gravity I’ll drop the temp in the freezer to around 36* for a week or so, then bottle it, let it carb, and then put it in the fridge for a few weeks before I start drinking it.
Would it be better to lager in bulk?
If you’re bottle conditioning, it’s basically the same as lagering in bulk. However, I doubt you’d get it clear enough by just bottle conditioning. If that’s OK with you, then it probably doesn’t matter much.
I use gelatin finings while it’s cold crashing in primary, then I’ll bottle it with a more flocculant yeast (like a Prise de Mousse). I don’t personally care about clarity all that much, but I like knowing the “proper” way to do things, so I know what advice I’m ignoring.
I’m also making my first Kolsch. I’ve been lagering it for about 2 weeks at 35 F. I plan to lager for another 2 weeks. When I bottle do I need to add more yeast, or will there be enough suspended to ferment the priming sugar? I am not planning on adding any fining agents.
I fermented this batch at around 56-58 F then slowly raised the temp to 65 F, where it stayed for 3 days, then I cooled it to 35.
If what you bottle tastes ok (not too ‘green’) then that should work. I worry about about the ‘cold crashing’ statement, and whether it gives you enough conditioning. The yeast are helping with more than carbonation at this stage; I’m not sure if different strains will do the same thing. But try it. If you find it doesn’t condition or mature satisfactorily, then let it lager on the primary strain longer. I suspect your approach will work, and the clarity should be pretty good since you are fining it. But I haven’t tried that myself, so that’s only conjecture.
If you aren’t fining it, you should have plenty of yeast for carbonation using this approach.
That’s where the wicket gets sticky. I haven’t done enough back-to-back comparisons trying different techniques to know if what I do is a good way to do it. It’s not a horrible way, but probably not “best practice.”
I agree with Gordon…try lagering on the yeast for a few weeks longer. This will allow the yeast to really settle out and help clear the beer. I do this for all of my lagers and my Kolsch as well. My Kolsch currently on tap is crystal clear after 4 weeks lagering on the yeast. Note: I didn’t use any finings either.
This is good to know. I have a kolsch brew coming up and I have a 60 day window to have it ready for a comp. I am now thinking this gives me 4 weeks on the yeast (is that including or excluding primary fermentation time?) and 2-4 weeks cold condition in the keg. Does this sound good?
With what yeast? I use either the Wyeast or White Labs Kolsch yeast, and they never seem to totally drop bright, let alone crystal clear. For competition, I’d always either fine or filter it. For just drinking at home, I’d RDWHAHB.
10 ml of Biofine clear A3 and my last kolsh dropped close to crystal clear in 24 hours.
That’s after “lagering” on yeast cake in better bottle for about 10 days after fermentation was finished, then straight to keg, added biofine, shook for carbonation and tapped the next day.
WLP029…and just about crystal clear. This batch is the clearest I’ve ever seen a Kolsch without fining. I was pleasantly surprised.
No racking between biofine and shaking for carb?
Nope. But I left almost all the yeast behind in the primary (careful racking). It was only slightly hazy when I was racking. And, of course, I poured out the first pint and a half of yeasty beer from the keg.