Hey guys, going to brew 6 gals of a Kolsh tomorrow, wanna know something in regards my starter : Have made a starter 3 days ago(now is in fridge decanting), my yeast is a package of Wyeast 2565 that I brought here from NYC. Its date of packaging is 09 may 2016 , I made a 1,2 lt (1040 OG) starter using a stir plate. Beer OG is going to be 1050, is it ok the starter vol? , should I need more yeast considering fermentation temp. will be around 59 F?. BTW , here is my recipe : Kolsch TEBUKEN Kölsch (6 C) Type: All Grain Batch Size: 23,00 l Boil Size: 33,59 l Boil Time: 90 min End of Boil Vol: 26,60 l Final Bottling Vol: 22,00 l Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Date: 27 Aug 2016 Brewer: TEBUKEN Asst Brewer: Equipment: Tebuken Efficiency: 73,00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 80,9 % Taste Rating: 0,0 Taste Notes: Prepare for Brewing Create a yeast starter with 1200,0 ml of wort Clean and Prepare Brewing Equipment Total Water Needed: 41,34 l Water Prep Amt Name Type # %/IBU 16,00 l RO Water Water 1 - 2,00 g Calcium Chloride (Mash 60,0 mins) Water Agent 2 - 2,00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60,0 mins) Water Agent 3 - Mash or Steep Grains Mash Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 5,00 kg Pilsen Malt (3,0 SRM) Grain 4 95,2 % 0,25 kg Munich Malt (9,0 SRM) Grain 5 4,8 % 2,00 g Citric acid (Mash 0,0 mins) Other 6 - Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time Mash In Add 13,69 l of water at 71,6 C 65,0 C 90 min Mash Out Add 7,67 l of water at 97,2 C 75,6 C 10 min Fly sparge with 16,98 l water at 78,0 C Add water to achieve boil volume of 33,59 l Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1,038 SG Boil Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 50,00 g Spalter [5,10 %] - Boil 60,0 min Hop 7 28,2 IBUs Estimated Post Boil Vol: 26,60 l and Est Post Boil Gravity: 1,050 SG Cool and Transfer Wort Cool wort to fermentation temperature Transfer wort to fermenter Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 23,00 l Pitch Yeast and Measure Gravity and Volume Fermentation Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU 1,0 pkg Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) [124,21 ml] Yeast 8 - Measure Actual Original Gravity _______ (Target: 1,050 SG) Measure Actual Batch Volume _______ (Target: 23,00 l) Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 23,00 l Fermentation 27 Aug 2016 - Primary Fermentation (7,00 days at 15,0 C ending at 15,0 C) 03 Sep 2016 - Secondary Fermentation (4,00 days at 21,0 C ending at 21,0 C) Dry Hop and Bottle/Keg Measure Final Gravity: _________ (Estimate: 1,010 SG) Date Bottled/Kegged: 07 Sep 2016 - Carbonation: Keg with 1,27 bar Age beer for 15,00 days at 4,0 C 22 Sep 2016 - Drink and enjoy! Notes Any advice will be appreciated , TIA
I figure you'll have plenty of yeast to tackle the beer. I've used yeast that was more than 5 months old that I did a simple 1.040 starter with and nothing seemed to have suffered. Especially considering the beers were 1.05 or less.
The starter will give you plenty of yeast, even if you round it down to 1 liter. This yeast does not flocculate well, so be sure to use gelatin either in the secondary before kegging or in the keg as you're kegging. You might also want to mash for over 1 hour (75 or 90 minutes), or check with iodine for conversion, as Pilsen malt takes time to convert and might leave some starches, adding to the resultant haziness. Definitely lager for 2 or 3 weeks as a very minimum. Better if you can lager for 4-6 weeks.
For 6 gallons of 1.050 wort, a hybrid/lager-like fermentation, and three month old yeast, a 1.2 liter starter is going to be under pitching in my opinion. I don't know if that's going to be a good thing or a bad thing for a Kolsch. It flocculates fine for me, with no finings other than whirlfloc and sufficient lagering time. I understand you had a problem with it, but that doesn't seem to be the case for most.
I've read on the Internet (other Beer Forum) concering more people that have had trouble with this yeast, even using gelatin. I've been narrowing down the problem and now feel that it might have more to do with incomplete conversion - thus some starch. Many recipes incorrectly advise to mash the Pilsner malt for 60 minutes. I don't think that in all cases you will get complete conversion in that time. So 75 or 90 minutes might be more appropriate if an iodine test is not possible. I remember tasting my wort after mashing and was surprised that it didn't taste sweeter. It was somewhat sweet, but not as sweet as other beers I've made with Pilsner malt (I did 90 minute mashes on all of those, but only 60 minutes for this Kolsch as per the recipe). Thus I think there might have been a small amount of starch left that hadn't converted, and that this may be what caused my Kolsch not to clear. It's still not clear today, even after almost 4 weeks (26 days) of lagering at about 33 F, and after more than 2 weeks (16 days) since I added the gelatin. You can see through it, but it still has a noticeable hazziness.
