Kolsch Recipe Help

[rich1985]

Hi All,

I need some advice. I'm hoping to make a kolsch this weekend. This is what I've got:
2kg of Munich
3.6kg of German malt
Whitelabs kolsch yeast.
And then 56g of saaz (75 minutes of the boil) and 28g of hallertauer (in for the last ten minutes)
This was meant to be for a kellerbier with 150g of chocolate malt. If I ttook out the chocolate would it work or do I not have the right hops?

Was planning on fermenting for two weeks, crashing in the fv for a week, conditioning in bottles for two weeks and finally crashing in bottles for two weeks.

All advice will be greatly received!

 

[BeerCat]

I have never made one with so much Munich but that looks good to me. Perhaps shift the 10m addition to flamout , i find them more appealing with a little more hop flavour. Be sure to make a starter. The yeast ferments cold , i have done it at 14c but requires finings to get crystal clear. Your fermentation schedule looks good. I always mash low but i like a dry beer. I don't know about adding chocolate malt but have added carraffa3 and midnight wheat. I also sometimes add a little wheat and some melanoidin.

 

[gregd]

Hi All,

I need some advice. I'm hoping to make a kolsch this weekend. This is what I've got:
2kg of Munich
3.6kg of German malt
Whitelabs kolsch yeast.
And then 56g of saaz (75 minutes of the boil) and 28g of hallertauer (in for the last ten minutes)
This was meant to be for a kellerbier with 150g of chocolate malt. If I ttook out the chocolate would it work or do I not have the right hops?

Was planning on fermenting for two weeks, crashing in the fv for a week, conditioning in bottles for two weeks and finally crashing in bottles for two weeks.

All advice will be greatly received!

Your hops are fine. I usually go with 5kg of pilsner malt and 200g or so of carapils for 23litres.

 

[Hoddy]

I would tend to agree that you don’t need all that Munich. My Kolsch recipes are a mix of Pilsner and light MO and then add in some Munich or whatever you want to use to give you the character you want.

I wouldnt aim for over 20 IBU’s as over that and your into pale ale territory.

Hallertau and Saaz is a pretty good bet. Once you’ve done a few you’ll broaden then hops and grain bill.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
I bow to the wisdom expressed so far - my first kölsch has just gone into bottles today, so I can't pretend to be knowledgeable.
I went for a very small proportion of Munich and a single hop addition at 60 minutes. I aimed for a lower IBU as I don't like over-bitter beers.

 

[rich1985]

I've just checked my grain store. Unfortunately as I've bought from maltmiller it's all pre packed (the munich mixed in with the chocolate and all of the german malt in the other bag). It hits everything on beersmith for a kolsch (bar SRM) and everything for a kellerbier. I've moved all of the hallertau to flameout. Think it will turn out nicely, even if not like the kolsch I'm used to making. Just had a Mahrsbrau unfiltered from Bamberg which was my original inspiration so hopefully this will turn out similar! I've got one of my kolsch left from a previous batch so I'll be able to check the Munich influence. Thanks for the advice!

 

[rich1985]

I have never made one with so much Munich but that looks good to me. Perhaps shift the 10m addition to flamout , i find them more appealing with a little more hop flavour. Be sure to make a starter. The yeast ferments cold , i have done it at 14c but requires finings to get crystal clear. Your fermentation schedule looks good. I always mash low but i like a dry beer. I don't know about adding chocolate malt but have added carraffa3 and midnight wheat. I also sometimes add a little wheat and some melanoidin.

Starter is made, I'll go with 14C. I was thinking of mashing around 64C. Seem reasonable?

 

[BeerCat]

Starter is made, I'll go with 14C. I was thinking of mashing around 64C. Seem reasonable?

Sounds good to me. Best of luck i am sure it will be great. I will have to try that grain bill sometime. Been experimenting with single malt beers recently and have to try a munich SMASH. Have fun.

 

[gregd]

Actually just checked my last kolsch and I did add some munich, dry hopped during active fermentation and got a cracking beer.

Kolsch with munich

23litre final volume

Original Gravity (OG): 1.054
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014
Alcohol (ABV): 5.4 %
Colour (SRM): 3.7
Bitterness (IBU): 18.1 (Average)

86.87% Pilsner 4.5kg
5.79% Munich I 0.3kg
4.83% Carapils (Dextrine) 0.25kg
2.51% Acidulated Malt 0.13kg

8g Magnum (15.3% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
20g Cascade (7.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
20g Cascade (7.3% Alpha) after unplugging the leccy and just below 80C for a wee whiley.

I am gonna rock some more cascade pellets in to the fv while this is in full ferment probably around 30-50g or so.

Single step Infusion at 67°C for 150 minutes, we went shopping and ate some chips. Boil for 60 Minutes in the rain.

Ferment at 17°C with kolsch yeast cake sliced into six, served with custard, toffee syrup and sprinkles.