Help With Fining a Kolsch

Wyeast 2565 does take a good ~6 weeks to clear. You can rack and add gelatin to knock the yeast out quicker if you want. I do this sometimes.

 

Have you tried lowering your temp. I lager at 29 with a +2 difference. Ironically i just watched a beersmith video where charlie bamforth talks about the difference a few degrees can make.

 

Thanks - went ahead and transferred to carboy for secondary with some gelatin, sticking in garage at 50f. Though fermentation seems done (hit FG at 1.008, no airlock activity) the krausen was still high - there was no yeasty trub on the bottom of the primary, which surprised me! Smells damn good. Think I'll let it hang another few weeks before bottling with DME...that's a funky yeast, and I think I like it...

 

It was the whole cake of a previous batch but it was a bit old(november 2016)

 

Well I'm finally sampling my Kolsch brewed on 1/27, and it is only on week 2 bottled with DME as prime (was trying to adhere to style type as much as possible). The carb is low, no head retention past inital pour, but decent lacing and tiny carb bubbles which seem more right than my corn sugar option - still, that DME prime will be dragging me out another 1+ weeks of carbing for primetime. Just wanted to note beer turned out great, tastes to style (aroma, mild hop (all Spalt) sweetness at front, crisp through, ends dry). I've read that Kolsch can't be done as a partial mash in some forums and just wanted to say that's a load of poppycock. Also didn't need true lagering period - I left it 3 weeks around 50 in the coldest spot in my cellar after fermentation was complete, I think it helped, but was not 30something degrees. Anyone interesting in partial mash recipe happy to share. Thanks for the tips here and along the way!

 

Couple Kolsch questions - just trying to learn from this brew as I really like this style - what surprised me most:
- Color - turned out more orange: partial mash (90 min at 150f) was 5 lb Germ Pil, 1/2 Ger Munich Malt, and 3 lb DME added at boil (90 min). Does the 1/2 lb Germ Malt likely account for the hue (darker than intended)?
- Flavor - not quite as crisp in flavor, more body (only gelatin finings and no true lagering) than expected. Very light initial taste followed by significant spicy finish - this was only Spalt hops (1.5oz at 60 min). Sound like result of the hops or some more mysterious aspect? All thoughts welcome - I'm a newbie and trying to learn (about to post about my saison III)...thanks all

 

At least partially. DME also tends to be darker than typical base malts.

 

Darkness comes from both the Munich and the extract.

Yes, Spalt hops are spicy.

 

There is really no such substitute for layering when it comes to flavor.