What Makes a Kolsch a Kolsch?

I am not the Kolsch beer authority but I will share how I brew my Kolsch beers.

Fermentation/Yeast Strain

I use a Kolsch ale yeast strain (Wyeast 2565) and I ferment cool (around 60 degrees F).

Malt

Most of my Kolsch beers have been brewed using 100% German Pilsner Malt but for one batch I used Kolsch Malt that is available from Northern Brewer.

Hops

I use Tettnang Tettnanger hops and I only add them for bittering (75 minutes of boiling time).

Lagering

I lager my Kolsch beers for a month. IMO this is a needed step when using Wyeast 2565.

Clarifying Agents

The only thing I use is rehydrated Irish Moss added to the kettle.

Cheers!

 

Well, strictly speaking, it must be brewed within 50km of Cologne, Germany. Anything outside of that is a "Kolsch-style beer", but not a true "Kolsch beer".

 

The beauty of brewing (both homebrewing and commercial brewing) is that each brewer gets to decide how they want to make their beer.

Cheers!

 

It seems that even the officials can't quite decide on the guidelines. The BJCP says that a Kolsch style beer can have up to 20% wheat malt, but the German Beer institute seems to imply that no wheat malt is used. ("In a country dominated by lagers of all strengths and colors, the modern Kölsch (the beer) is Germany's only true, all-barley, pale ale.")

 

I love Kolsch, and ive brewed many over the years and have tried many at local breweries and other craft examples.

Looking at commercial examples, most US brewed examples are lacking, IMO. At local breweries when I fish around for brewing details I usually discover a few issues that I think are problematic. The biggest is using the house yeast strain. The second is using NA 2 row and\or heavy character malt usage. Many also do not lager Hop usage is harder to pin down, though hoppy examples certainly stand out. SN Kolsch uses Simcoe hops and I love that beer.

On the homebrew level, I think grain selection, yeast selection, and lagering is key. I use WY2565, and find WY 1007 too neutral and lacking the yeast character crucial to the style. I usually use 100% continental Pilsner malt, sometimes with a very minimal addition of melanoidin.

 

I personally would not ascribe to this but it seems to me that the ‘answer’ for you is: “Kölsch is defined by an agreement between members of the Cologne Brewery Association known as the Kölsch Konvention.”

Cheers!

 

So a Koelsch is anything the brewer decides to call a "Koelsch"?

 

http://germanfood.about.com/od/beer/g/Koelsch-Glossary-Definition.htm

http://www.morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue6.1/williams.html

 

In my mind, bottom line, it's basically a pilsner fermented with a clean ale yeast so that it still tastes like a lager. Simple as that. Nothing else really matters, as long as it tastes pilsnery. Guess I'd have to travel to Cologne to know for sure. Never been to Europe but it's in my bucket.

 

I think you have to be able to see this.



Feel free to look at this post when your brewing.

 

pils malt, kolsch yeast, low fermentation temp, lagering, spalt hops can low to moderate aroma and flavor

 

Paging @DunkelFester

 

This is probably the best reply so so far. They are predominantly 'clean' and always refreshing, but differ from the typical Pilsner in that the yeast can sometimes impart slight, very subtle notes of fruit that come through most often in the finish. (white grape, pear, apple, etc - varies from brewery to brewery).

Pils malt and noble hops is all you need. My favorite kölsch yeast is ECY21.

 

Eric Warner wrote that Kölsch in Köln is brewed with a small % of wheat by some Breweries.

 

Follow the guidelines outlined in the Kölsch Konvention. There will be no confusion as to what a Kölsch is if you do that. Kinda nice, isn't it? Alternative is what I said above: a Kölsch is anything a brewer chooses to call a Kölsch (and that's a lotta things these days...with very few falling within parameters of the Kölsch Konvention).