I'm about to make my 1st Kolsch for a intra-club contest at the end of June. I've never made one and, honestly, don't think I've ever drank more than 1 or 2 before. I had one recently at a local brewery (Locust Lane Craft Brewery) and rather enjoyed it. I am a bit friendly with a couple of the brewers there but didn't get around to asking them any questions. In looking at the BJCP style guidelines, plus a lot of online research, I want to stay somewhat true to style but not necessary 100%. Here's what I'm thinking for a 5 gallon batch:
9# German Pils (or a local craft pils if I can get it)
0.5# Vienna
0.5# torrified wheat
1.25 oz Edelweiss (30 minutes, 19 IBU)
0.50 oz Edelweiss (10 minutes, 3.5 IBU)
Wyeast 2565
OG 1.050ish (70-73% efficiency, BIAB)
It seems like some Koln brewers are using wheat but I doubt that torrified wheat is being used. I'm not really sure why I want to use torrified but I don't really seem any detriment to using it either. It's like an itch that needs scratching, and I think the subtle differences will differentiate this from all the other entries. Edelweiss has some non-German hops in it but I have some in my freezer and I've read good things about it. I doubt that I'm using enough to really stand out anyway. I'm going to try to ferment around 60F but only have a swamp cooler setup to work with.
Any feedback?
Thanks!