Flat Bland Kolsch

[Mercian]

Hi
Brewed a AG Kolsch and bottled it 4 weeks ago.
I tried it the other night and it is very flat and bland.
Final ABV came out at 5.8% which was way above the expected 4.6%.
Temp control was reasonable.
Batch primed with 102g table sugar.
Have i done something wrong?
If all else fails it will make a pretty potent shandy.

Final ABV came out at 5.8% which was way above the expected 4.6%

 

[crowcrow]

That is a high percentage to a relatively low grain bill - though I'm assuming a 21 litre brew - how much was it actually? (which make of course make it a high grain bill!)

 

[Mercian]

Hi
18 litres in the FV which was pretty much what I was aiming for. I

 

[Cestrian]

100g sugar in 18L should be enough to give it a good fizz. Have you had the bottles inside for 4 weeks or in the garage. If you’ve had them in the cold, try storing them somewhere warmer for a couple of weeks. The other thing it could be is did you give it a stir after adding boiled sugar into the batch before bottling? If not you might have some flat ones and some very fizzy ones!! The only other thing it might be is did you lager before bottling? If you did it might just take a bit longer to carbonate as there’s less yeast.

 

[Mercian]

Hi
The bottles were stored in my shed in the brew cupboard- about 12 deg for 7 days and then left to stand in ambient temp but as you know it has been cold.
I will bring them inside.
I added the sugar liquid as I began to siphon but did not stir.
I cold crashed for 24 hours prior to adding the priming sugar.

 

[Cestrian]

Probably just not warm enough to carbonate then. Bring them in the house for a week. They will be fine.

Never tried CML Kentucky before, but just googled it and it is quite a clean yeast. I usually use safale k97 for kolsch and it has a very distinctive flavour. If it is bland try that next time. You could up the first hop addition too.

 

[Mercian]

Thanks for the advice .
Much appreciated.

 

[Richard_H]

If you found the above recipe bland then next time I would add some Munich or Vienna malt, slightly biased as Munich is my favourite malt but it depending on your taste will add a lovely malty depth to a beer. Carapils I find will add some body and a little mouthfeel but not a great deal in terms of flavour, same with wheat although enough will give a lovely thick fluffy head and a rich body.

 

[Mercian]

Thanks
I will bare that in mind for next time.
I was trying to recreate the kolsch I was drinking on a field trip to cologne 35 years ago - a bit of nostalgia, however I was very “very” drunk and it may have been flat and bland

 

[Mercian]

Update - stored the bottles in “warm” and tried one tonight- vast improvement.
Thanks guys

 

[darkbright]

If you found the above recipe bland then next time I would add some Munich or Vienna malt, slightly biased as Munich is my favourite malt but it depending on your taste will add a lovely malty depth to a beer. Carapils I find will add some body and a little mouthfeel but not a great deal in terms of flavour, same with wheat although enough will give a lovely thick fluffy head and a rich body.

I agree with this - I would probably add some Vienna Malt but either would add a little bit of malty character. Vienna is a bit more subtle, but have used both and made a good Kolsch both times.

 

[Mercian]

Kolsch 2nd brew

1.9 kg Vienna
1.7 pilsen
500g carapils
180g wheat

55g tettnang hops split evenly 0 mins 55 mins 60 mins (hop stand 80 deg)
CMA kolsch yeast
Volume 19 litres.

Bottled 10 days ago - just had a crafty litre - beautiful

Thanks for the advice