I am happy with my current Kolsch but am considering changing it slightly next time around.
It is currently:
85% german pilsner
10% german vienna
5% german wheat
Any recommendations on something different?
I was thinking something like:
90% pilsner
10% munich 6L
or
90% pilsner
5% munich 9L
Similar to mine. I like 90/5/5 - Pils/Munich/wheat
Many will say wheat has no place in a Kolsch, and I guess that is correct traditionally. I like my results so l’ll keep rolling with it.
I would happily consume any and all of the above recipes.
Thanks. I suppose I should probably just leave it alone. I probably couldn’t tell much of a difference between any of them anyways…
I want to try kolsch malt for a portion of the grist but my LHBS (who I am pretty loyal to) doesn’t carry it unless I want to order a whole bag.
I enjoyed my latest Helles grain bill (86% pils/14% kolsch malt) so much, that I decided to try it out with kolsch yeast this time. Still in the fermenter so jury is out. But with the helles, it really helped to showcase the pils malt providing a nice rounded bready note from the kolsch malt.
For what it is worth, I was looking at Gordon Strong’s book when I was making up my Kolsch a couple weeks ago and he leaves out the wheat malt. I did mine with pilsner and a bit of munich (maybe 8%). The color in the samples looks right, but time will tell if the flavor is correct.
I just finished off this kolsch recently. It was very nice.
76% Weyermann Pils
19% Kolsch malt
5% Chit malt
I like 100% pilsner - it has plenty of malt character on its own. Wheat malt adds a nice softness but I get haze from it. Small amounts of Munich and Vienna get lost in the pilsner malt in my opinion. I haven’t tried kolsch malt yet
Yeeeeeeeaaaaahhhhh, Jon knows what’s up.
I don’t understand the wheat thing in Kolsch. Nix it.
Here’s my recent Kolsch recipe, turned out preeeeetty deece.
8 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner - Barke (2.0 SRM) Grain 95.77 %
6.0 oz Carahell (10.0 SRM) Grain 4.23 %
0.50 oz Magnum [12.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 28.1 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [2.70 %] (30 min) Hops 2.9 IBU
0.75 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [2.70 %] (15 min) Hops 2.3 IBU
0.75 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [2.70 %] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs German Ale (Wyeast Labs #1007)
How does the bitterness/hop character come across on that guy? Seems a bit high for a kolsch. Looks delish regardless.
My kolsch is 100% Pilsner malt, and I have won awards with it. I hop it with noble hops: 60 minutes for bittering and 20 minutes for flavoring, no aroma hops. It is malty yet very crisp. I don’t feel the need to add any specialty grains.
You’re right, it’s a tad high, but it works, I think. I’m betting Jon’s kolsch is better.
Don’t know about that. Mine has 23.5 IBU IIRC, but I don’t doubt that yours is pretty damn tasty!
Jon, is that 23.5 all in a FWH charge like I’ve seen mentioned on here a lot for Kolsch?
Thanks all. Mine is about 20 IBU but not a conventional hop schedule by any means. I have really like a fwh charge of noble hops with a smaller 20 min addition and a little surprise at 5 min which doesn’t really make it a kolsch…
Yep, sure is.
Edit - I love Mittelfrueh, so I usually use it. Other German varieties would obviously be fine, too.
Yep. 100% pils for my (award winning 
)kolsch as well. You can obviously add Munich or Vienna or Wheat but there’s simply no need to clutter the recipe up. I do like a flame out addition of hops for mine so that it has a balanced hop aroma.
Didn’t you do a small batch with melon added? I am thinking about adding a cantaloupe post fermentation since they are in season.
Yes I did a batch with hull melon hops and a pureed honey dew mellon secondary carboy. One melon purees down to almost nothing (compared to the bulk size) but the combination gave plenty of melon character
