Looking to do a Kolsch partial extract brew. I have used the Brewers Friend recipe calculator and came up with the following: http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/79714/awesome-recipe 5.5gal batch boil 4.0 gal 4.0lbs German Kolsch grains steeped @160* FOR 30min 5.0lbs Light DME 3.0oz. saaz added 60,30,5 min. Wyeast Kolsch 2565 Ferment @ 63-68* og 1.048 fg 1.012 abv 4.69 ibu 20.71 srm 4.56 Anyone have any opinions or changes I should make?
I believe that you may want to steep for an hour to make sure conversion happens. Another thing you can think about it adding a majority of your DME in the last 15 minutes to preserve the pale color. Other than that, you have a good looking recipe to me
So you suggest a 60min steep of the grains (at 160*) then a boil for a total of 60 but add the DME only at the last 15min? I never had done this before but now that you mention it, all my beers come out darker than what they should have been. I never realized you could add the DME so late. I always thought it was boiled always for the full 60min.
I was also reading up on the Kolsch style hops and found that I may use Spalt @60min, Saaz at 30min, Liberty @5min. Just to give it a bit more depth.
A few comments: Hopping In my humble opinion, a Kolsch should feature the malt flavors. Consequently I would suggest that the only hop addition be a bittering hop addition. I personally use Hallertauer Mittelfruh for my bittering hops but any noble hop should ‘work’ here. Spalt would be a good hop to use for the bittering addition. I strongly recommend that you nix the 30 and 5 minute hop additions. The bittering amount should be around 25 IBUs (the range is 20-30 IBUs for this style). Malt Bill In my last Kolsch I used some Kolsch Malt (my grain bill was 2/3rd Kolsch Malt and 1/3rd German Pilsner malt). The Kolsch malt (along with the German Malt) provided a very pleasant grainy malt backbone to the beer. I would strongly recommend that for the DME you use Briess Pilsen DME; this will provide the lightest color and the fact that the DME is made from Pilsner malt is a plus. Mash I would strongly recommend that you mash for at least 60 minutes and at a lower mash temperature to encourage wort fermentability. A Kolsch beer should be on the dry side (i.e., a lower final gravity) to provide a clean, crisp taste/mouthfeel. For my all grain Kolsch beers I mash at 149°F for 90 minutes to achieve a very fermentable wort. Boil The Kolsch Malt is essentially a form of Pilsner Malt. Pilsner Malts have a significant amount of precursers which can turn into DMS. It is generally recommended when brewing all grain with Pilsner Malts to have a 90 minute boil to drive off (boil off) all of the DMS that was formed. Whether you need a 90 minute boil for a partial mash I really don’t know. It certainly could be helpful to have a 90 minute boil. I don’t know if you have ever used 2565 before but it has been my consistent experience that this yeast needs extended conditioning time for the beer to ‘mature’. You can expedite this by lagering the beer after primary fermentation is complete. In past batches I would conduct a pseudo-lagering where I would store the carbonated bottles in a cool area (e.g., 50°F) for a period of time. I would periodically (e.g., once a week) drink a bottle; the Kolsch beer was at its best about 1-2 months of cool aging. Good luck with your batch of Kolsch. A properly made Kolsch is a beer of beauty! Cheers!
Jack, I think he actually plans on steeping the Kolsch malt. I'm not an extract brewer, is there a benefit to steeping a base malt? I was under the impression that you can't really convert much in a steeping scenario as the grist to water ratio and PH would inhibit it... or maybe with 4 lbs of malt in his pot he pretty much is mashing? Brew in a bag might be a good idea, no?
I read “Looking to do a Kolsch partial extract brew” as meaning he intended to conduct a partial mash. Message to the OP: you need to conduct a mash of the Kolsch malt since it is a base malt. Below are some musings on the topic of mashing vs. steeping I made in a prior thread: If you think of it, a steep is very similar to a mash in several ways: you are soaking grains in hot water for a period of time. Let’s discuss the differences: • Time: most folks mash for 1 hour while most folks steep for 30 minutes • Water to grain ratio: most folks mash between 1-2 quarts per lb. of grain while steeping is more water per lb. (I steep at 1 gallon per lb.) • Temperature: most folks who conduct an infusion mash maintain a precise temperature (e.g., 153°F) while are more lax with steeping (e.g., anywhere between 150-170°F). Cheers!
Ahh...yes. I intended to steep the grain for 30 min at 160*in my 4 gallons of water in the brewpot then do the boil adding the dme. I think I need to regroup and decide what to do exactly. Thank you Jack for the insights in regards to all of this.
Conducting a partial mash is not difficult. If you have a grain bag you could do a Brew in a Bag (BIAB) method. You could use a paint strainer bag from Home Depot for example. Just place you 4 lbs. of grain in about 6 quarts of hot water (1.5 quarts/lb. ratio) in a pot (e.g., your brew pot) and let it soak at something like 150°F for one hour. An easy way to maintain a constant mash temperature is to place the pot in your oven and if your oven permits a setting of 150°F then set to that (otherwise just keep the oven in the neighborhood of 150-160°F). Once the mash is done just lift the bag out and let it drain. If you are ambitious you could conduct a sparge (either a batch sparge or a fly sparge) but I think a simple BIAB method of just letting it drain will work fine for this beer. A rule of thumb for achieving a mash temperature of 150°F is to get the 6 quarts of strike water to around 165°F and the room temperature grains will get the temperature down to 150 over a few minutes. If the temperature is a tad high (e,g, 154°F) then throwing in an ice cube (or two ice cubes …) will aid you in getting down to 150°F Easy peasy! Cheers!
Jack this ^ is what I will do. BIAB Thanks a million! I will post the results when done (may be a couple months).
Question...Doing the 6 quarts BIAB, once I reach 60 min and drain bag do I add hot water (liquor I guess is the correct term) to the 6 quarts (if yes how much? I only have a 5 gallon brew kettle).
“ …do I add hot water (liquor I guess is the correct term) to the 6 quarts (if yes how much? I only have a 5 gallon brew kettle).” I am not 100% sure what your exact question is. I would recommend that you do a simple BIAB method whereby you simply lift the grain bag from the wort. You will have something like 4-5 quarts of wort. I would then add some water (another 3 gallons or so) and the DME to achieve a total volume of 4 gallons or so (whatever amount you feel comfortable boiling in your 5 gallon kettle) and then boil. If you are adventurous you could also sparge the grains to obtain some more wort (e.g., a total of about 2 gallons) but perhaps for now it would be best to keep things more simple? Your choice. Cheers!
