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This was a BIAB batch This was my first "No Chill" batch
My goal with this batch is to make an "easy drinking" non-threatening homebrew for my friends. My group of peers tend to be Bud Light and Miller Lite drinkers. They don't appreciate more sophisticated styles, and they really don't seem to want to. Instead of having hurt feelings that my brewing efforts aren't appreciated by people other than my husband, I decided to try and brew some things that my friends would like.
Kolsch is an ale exclusively brewed in Cologne Germany. It is lightly fruity/floral and tastes a lot like a lager. It is probably my favorite style of beer when it is made by someone who understands the style and can brew it properly (it's not an easy brew). I honestly haven't consumed one brewed in the U.S. that passed muster. Sunner Kolsch is my favorite German Kolsch (sadly there is an issue with importing it - so getting one that isn't out of date is kind of hard).
I don't call my brew a Kolsch since there are a few things about it that are very un-Kolsch like. First of all I am not using a dedicated Kolsch yeast. I'm using the Wyeast German Ale 1007 yeast. It wasn't my preference, but got my yeast at the local homebrew shop instead of mail order due to the time of the year (I didn't want my yeast dying in the heat in transport). The 1007 was the only yeast close to what I wanted. Also, I'm using 1 ounce of Fuggles hops in my recipe. There isn't a real reason for this except that I was one ounce short on hops - and this was the only one I had that would work.
Here is the recipe
10lb Pilsner Malt (German)
.50lb German Munich Malt
1 ounce Fuggles Hops (added at 60 minutes)
1 ounce Saphir Hops (added at 30 minutes)
9 gallons of water (my recipe asked for 9.16, and I wished I would have trusted it because I came up just short of 5 gallons in the fermenter)
This was the first time I did a 5 gallon BIAB batch. I usually do 3 gallons. It was a little tricky. My boil pot wasn't big enough, so I had to mash and boil 2 gallons on the stove. Kind of a pain, but it was doable.
I mashed at 147 for 90 minutes - brought the wort back up to 160 then strained all the grains.
I boiled 90 minutes adding hops per the recipe.
At the end of the boil I poured the wort into a No Chill "Jerry Can" and sealed it pushing out as much air as possible.
Left the wort in the container overnight to cool down.
The next day I racked the wort into the fermenting bucket, pitched the yeast, and aerated the wort.
It is currently fermenting at 62F in the fermentation chamber - I would go lower but I'm also fermenting my Loquat Mead in that chamber, and I don't want to crash it since it is fermenting with Champagne yeast.
Sadly I forgot to take Hydrometer readings. I'm really mad at myself for this. I guess with the new procedures (5 gallon batch, new type of yeast, no chill process) it slipped my mind. This is really going to screw up my calculations for ABV, but it is what it is :-/
June `19, 2015 - Bottled today. Netted equivalent of 46 twelve ounce bottles. The bottles went directly into the refrigerator for "lagering". I'm kind of wondering if carbonation will take place at these temps. Maybe I should have lagered before bottling since it is an ale yeast. The reason I didn't is because I still have Mead in the fermentation chamber, and it would hav crashed had I dropped to lagering temps. Well, this is all a learning process so..... Side notes: I saved the yeast from the batch. I'm going to brew al Altbier when I get back from New England (which will give me enough time to get it fermented and bottled before leaving for Germany Sept 1st). I tasted the finished beer - definitely NOT a Kolsch; however, it was mighty tasty even before any lagering etc. Super excited to see what we get in a month.
June 27, 2015 - Began tasting today. I was just curious to see what's up not expecting even carbonation since the beer is now under refrigeration. Well, the carbonation was there. So was a kind of strange boiled egg like aroma. I am not sure if this is the yeast or an infection. The beer is drinkable, but the aroma is not really pleasant. It is possible that this aroma will fade as the yeast cleans things up since the live yeast is still in the bottles to some extent. Will be tracking it.
My goal with this batch is to make an "easy drinking" non-threatening homebrew for my friends. My group of peers tend to be Bud Light and Miller Lite drinkers. They don't appreciate more sophisticated styles, and they really don't seem to want to. Instead of having hurt feelings that my brewing efforts aren't appreciated by people other than my husband, I decided to try and brew some things that my friends would like.
Kolsch is an ale exclusively brewed in Cologne Germany. It is lightly fruity/floral and tastes a lot like a lager. It is probably my favorite style of beer when it is made by someone who understands the style and can brew it properly (it's not an easy brew). I honestly haven't consumed one brewed in the U.S. that passed muster. Sunner Kolsch is my favorite German Kolsch (sadly there is an issue with importing it - so getting one that isn't out of date is kind of hard).
I don't call my brew a Kolsch since there are a few things about it that are very un-Kolsch like. First of all I am not using a dedicated Kolsch yeast. I'm using the Wyeast German Ale 1007 yeast. It wasn't my preference, but got my yeast at the local homebrew shop instead of mail order due to the time of the year (I didn't want my yeast dying in the heat in transport). The 1007 was the only yeast close to what I wanted. Also, I'm using 1 ounce of Fuggles hops in my recipe. There isn't a real reason for this except that I was one ounce short on hops - and this was the only one I had that would work.
Here is the recipe
10lb Pilsner Malt (German)
.50lb German Munich Malt
1 ounce Fuggles Hops (added at 60 minutes)
1 ounce Saphir Hops (added at 30 minutes)
9 gallons of water (my recipe asked for 9.16, and I wished I would have trusted it because I came up just short of 5 gallons in the fermenter)
This was the first time I did a 5 gallon BIAB batch. I usually do 3 gallons. It was a little tricky. My boil pot wasn't big enough, so I had to mash and boil 2 gallons on the stove. Kind of a pain, but it was doable.
I mashed at 147 for 90 minutes - brought the wort back up to 160 then strained all the grains.
I boiled 90 minutes adding hops per the recipe.
At the end of the boil I poured the wort into a No Chill "Jerry Can" and sealed it pushing out as much air as possible.
Left the wort in the container overnight to cool down.
The next day I racked the wort into the fermenting bucket, pitched the yeast, and aerated the wort.
It is currently fermenting at 62F in the fermentation chamber - I would go lower but I'm also fermenting my Loquat Mead in that chamber, and I don't want to crash it since it is fermenting with Champagne yeast.
Sadly I forgot to take Hydrometer readings. I'm really mad at myself for this. I guess with the new procedures (5 gallon batch, new type of yeast, no chill process) it slipped my mind. This is really going to screw up my calculations for ABV, but it is what it is :-/
June `19, 2015 - Bottled today. Netted equivalent of 46 twelve ounce bottles. The bottles went directly into the refrigerator for "lagering". I'm kind of wondering if carbonation will take place at these temps. Maybe I should have lagered before bottling since it is an ale yeast. The reason I didn't is because I still have Mead in the fermentation chamber, and it would hav crashed had I dropped to lagering temps. Well, this is all a learning process so..... Side notes: I saved the yeast from the batch. I'm going to brew al Altbier when I get back from New England (which will give me enough time to get it fermented and bottled before leaving for Germany Sept 1st). I tasted the finished beer - definitely NOT a Kolsch; however, it was mighty tasty even before any lagering etc. Super excited to see what we get in a month.
June 27, 2015 - Began tasting today. I was just curious to see what's up not expecting even carbonation since the beer is now under refrigeration. Well, the carbonation was there. So was a kind of strange boiled egg like aroma. I am not sure if this is the yeast or an infection. The beer is drinkable, but the aroma is not really pleasant. It is possible that this aroma will fade as the yeast cleans things up since the live yeast is still in the bottles to some extent. Will be tracking it.
