With or without wheat?
And your hop opinions? How offensive would a new world hop be?
029 or 2565?
German Pilsner base or German Pale base?
My grain bill is 90/5/5 - Pils/Munich/Wheat and I’ve been happy with it. Other will decry that it is not “traditional” but I don’t care.
I use 1/2oz of Nelson at FWH, so it doesn’t get more New World than that.
I used to be diehard 2565, but 029 is much more eager to clear. I haven’t compared them side by side, but I’m not unhappy with my 029 kolsch that is on tap right now.
This is my favorite Kolsch. I ferment for 2-3 weeks at 60F. Rack then reduce the temp 2 degrees a day until a reach 38F. Then hold for 3 weeks. It’s worth the wait. The recipe for this is straight out of Brewing Classic Styles
I don’t add wheat.
I use a traditional noble hop like Mittelfrueh or Hersbrucker. American noble offshoots like Mt Hood or Crystal work fine as well. You can use whatever other type of hop you like if you’re not shooting for a traditional version - just realize it likely wouldn’t do as well in a comp if it were a pronounced ale type hop character, for example.
I like 2565, but it’s a royal bi#@h to get to clear - it’s very powdery. 029 is good and is much easier to drop out.
I’ve always used pils with a little Vienna. I used pils and ~ 20% kolsch malt in the last one. It was tasty.
I did a:
1048
93/7 Pils/Wheat
25ibu tinseth
santiam 5.3AA at 60/30min (1/0.5oz, respect.)
Odell yeast (but 029 would be equivalent)
yellow-full water profile
It came out delicious - like a mini czech pils in most facets.
I brew a hybrid version which just adds some american hop flavor. I use a bit of wheat and vienna since I am not worried about being traditional.
FWH with noble hops
1/2 oz noble at 20 min
1 oz amarillo at 5 min
Started using G03 for yeast which seems to be the same as 029. Clears very easily. 2565 is harder to work with in my opinion
Odell yeast? Isn’t their house strain of English origin?
I’ve seen suggestions online that it’s either English or a German ale strain. Based on my experience in using it, and how it behaves during fermentation and in finished beers, I’m under the impression that it’s a German ale strain. I’ve found it most similar to WLP029. This isn’t saying a lot though because it’s just my best guess. Odell is pretty tight-lipped about where it comes from and they don’t offer samples to anyone (even if you ask politely :D). If it does turn out to be a English ale strain then it’s a very clean fermenting one, which is entirely possible.
The big answer is: I don’t know. I feel like it’s a German ale strain (kolsch) but it may very well be English (or something else for all I know). One thing is for sure though - it’s good! SUPER top-cropper, and a bit powdery, but good.
Very interesting. I have always got an English yeast character out of most of their beers and considering their flagship is 90 Schilling I just made an assumption I suppose. I thought I read it was of English origin but like you said, they don’t divulge much info…
Okay back to Kolsch…
90% Pilsner, 10% Vienna and 25 IBU Hallertau at 60 min with K-97 gets my Kölsch.
I go 100% pils malt. I bitter with Magnum and use a nice German (or German"ish" hop like Crystal, which is lovely in a kolsch) at WP. WY2565 pitched at 58 degrees.
There was a time I used to advocate pitching these beers more like a lager, but you tend to lose the nice pear and “chardonnay” type characters if your pitching rate is too high. This yeast handles low temp very well so go on the lower end of the pitching spectrum. If using software like MrMalty use the standard “ale” not the “hybrid”. (At YHB we target about .85 million per milliliter per degree plato)
There’s nothing wrong with the White Labs strain, it’s a nice strain, but if using that you may want to target a higher picthing rate as it tends to stall at lower temps. Definitely be sure to raise the temp up above 64 after 72 hours or so to avoid stalling.
I use 95% Pils 5% Vienna. All Weyermann Malts. Bitter with Magnum and finish with Crystal. 20IBU
My favorite is Giga021 yeast. I pitch around 58-60, hold for about 3-4 days and let it rise to 68. I have a split batch now with 021 and 2565. Can’t go wrong with either IMO. 029 in a Kolsch falls flat for me. My favorite “yellow” ale for sure.
Have not tried that yeast, thanks for the suggestion.
The malt recipe guidelines for kolsch are 95/5 (pils/carahell) or 85/15 (pils/Vienna) according to German brewing literature. Just an FYI.
I usually order it from Rebel. Harder to find, but worth it IMO. For me it clears like 029, but is much closer to 2565.
Water profile is slightly harder than a pils correct? Cl/so4 ~1.2
*
I have the starter mashing, I am thinking a .9 pitch rate Pitching temp 58F then slow rise to 65F? Is that the general consensus of 2565?
Harder as in Bicarb? I would never add bicarb to water personally,it makes things weird. All my beers except for APA, get the exact same water.
I was thinking ~50-75mg/l vs the usual 25-50mg/l for most pale beers.
I am approaching water profile as unique as a grist. Each style I think deserves it’s own unique balance. That’s just my approach for the moment. I will say I am much happier with my beers, and they are getting more praise at bottle shares and more awards.
An interesting idea, and sometimes just a practical one, could be using a malt with a higher DI pH for beers that require you to mash them at a higher pH value.
This way you don’t have to add any HCO3 to the water. You can start with low/no alkalinity
I have found though trial and error after figuring out that in the professional literature I read assumes zero hardness. In my trials I MUCH preferred beer brewed using water with no hardness. YMMV, IMO, etc etc.