20 replies to this topic

[chadm75]

8 lbs. American 2-row.5 lbs. Munich Malt 1 lbs. White Wheat Malt.5 lbs. Crystal Malt 10°L1 oz. Liberty (Pellets, 4.00 %AA) boiled 60 min.1 oz. East Kent Goldings (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 15 min.1 oz. Willamette (Pellets, 5.00 %AA) boiled 1 min.Yeast : WYeast 2565 KolschMash at 152 for 60 mins. OG: 1.049 - FG: 1.011 - IBU: 24 - SRM: 5 - ABV - 5.0%Thoughts? Suggestions?

[ColdAssHonky]

Wish I had more to contribute, but I'll say it looks darn tasty to me. Brew on.

[Big Nake]

Yeah, it looks nice. What temp are you going to ferment with the 2565? The Kolsch yeast will make a nice blonde ale (cleaner at lower temps, a little fruitier at higher temps) and you can even get a pretty clear beer even though the 2565 is a low-floccer. Use some Whirfloc in the brewpot, maybe a gel solution in the secondary and maybe get the secondary cool/cold before you package it. Do you know what your water is like? If it's the slightest bit hard, you might consider some amount of distilled water in the mash & sparge to soften the beer a little. When I used to make pilsners, blondes, cream ales or American wheats with my hard water in the past, I ended up with a clunky, non-smooth finish to the beer. These are beers that are meant for warmer weather and relatively quick-consumption so the softer water will play right into that. Cheers & good luck.Hey... where's the beer's catchy name?

[chadm75]

Yeah, it looks nice. What temp are you going to ferment with the 2565? The Kolsch yeast will make a nice blonde ale (cleaner at lower temps, a little fruitier at higher temps) and you can even get a pretty clear beer even though the 2565 is a low-floccer. Use some Whirfloc in the brewpot, maybe a gel solution in the secondary and maybe get the secondary cool/cold before you package it. Do you know what your water is like? If it's the slightest bit hard, you might consider some amount of distilled water in the mash & sparge to soften the beer a little. When I used to make pilsners, blondes, cream ales or American wheats with my hard water in the past, I ended up with a clunky, non-smooth finish to the beer. These are beers that are meant for warmer weather and relatively quick-consumption so the softer water will play right into that. Cheers & good luck.Hey... where's the beer's catchy name?

Hi Ken, I'm going to ferment around 57-59 degrees. In fact, I'm going to be using your tub/frozen water bottle method of keeping my fermentation temps down. Any other tips using this method?I've become a HUGE fan of Whirlfloc...it's so much better than IM. I've never had any issues with my water (I don't think! ). I just pull it right out of the tap!It's named after my sister-in law's...ummmm...chest! She wanted a light blonde ale named after her!

[Big Nake]

Any other tips using this method?

Use enough water so that everything stays consistent... the more water, the better the insulating power and the less things will fluctuate. If you can, place a probe thermometer in there so you know where you're at. If it starts to creep up, rotate the water bottles.On the water, as long as you've made beers in this style before, you're fine. My local tap water is relatively hard and very high in chlorine. The filtering cuts out the chlorine which makes the water better, for sure. But on light-colored beers that are supposed to be "smooth", the finish can be a little "hard" which turns off some people. This is not an issue with things like pale ales, reds, ambers, etc. where there's more flavor and the finish is not as noticeable. On some of the latest Czech & Mexican Lagers I just made, I used some distilled in there along with the filtered tap water which should smooth things out a little bit. Cheers and good luck... Hey, your SIL wants a beer named after her? She's got it!

[chadm75]

Yeah, I've got a thermometer I can place in there ensuring my temps stay consistent. Thanks for the tips on the water as well. What about my pitching temps? I usually pitch my ale yeast at about 70 degrees. Would you recommend I pitch my kolsch/lager yeast at 60 degrees or lower?

[ncbeerbrewer]

Chad,I like your recipe, I think it looks really good and you should be happy with it. If I can give advice on your pitch temp I would suggest chilling to 2-3 degrees lower than your intended fermentation temperature and let it rise with the heat of fermentation. I would say chill down to 55-56 and let it rise to 58ish if you like. I think the Kolsch yeast will add some nice character to your beer as well. Enjoy and good luck.

[Big Nake]

Chad,If I can give advice on your pitch temp I would suggest chilling to 2-3 degrees lower than your intended fermentation temperature and let it rise with the heat of fermentation. I would say chill down to 55-56 and let it rise to 58ish if you like. I think the Kolsch yeast will add some nice character to your beer as well. Enjoy and good luck.

Bingo.

[chadm75]

I'm curious as to what American Vienna would be add in lieu of the Munich?

[Big Nake]

Sometimes I will interchange the two. Vienna is kind of like a wimpier version of Munich, IMO. It seems to add less maltiness and it doesn't add quite as much color either. By color, I mean that a good amount of Munich will make a gold beer a darker gold color... Vienna doesn't do as much of that. Both seem to add some body, maltiness, a nice flavor and just some general oomph as opposed to just base malt. If I have a recipe that calls for one or the other, I will sub... especially if we're only talking a pound or two. If it was my Oktober where I use 5 lbs of Munich, I'd go get Munich. Cheers.

[DaBearSox]

It's named after my sister-in law's...ummmm...chest! She wanted a light blonde ale named after her!

hmm...so your SIL has a sneaky chest...one of those girls that hides them....then BAMMO where'd those come from....I'd...umm...drink it

[Jimmy James]

One question, why do you have the crystal 10L in there? Why not drop it and just go with a pound of light (~8L) Munich? I second all Ken's suggestions around water. Not sure how clear you want this beer to be, but a protein rest can help eliminate some of the chill-haze. You could mash in at 130 dF and hold for 30 minutes, then step up to your sacch rest of 152 by stirring in some boiling water. Then again, you can often get pretty clear beers with prolonged cold-conditioning as well.

[chadm75]

Thanks for all the posts and suggestions fellas...this is why this board is great!I guess the only reason I wanted to keep some 10L in there was because I didn't want too much body in the beer. Wouldn't 1lb of Munich make it a bit heavier or would it not be enough to be noticed? Based on what Ken says, I could sub out the 10L & Munich with 1lb of Vienna. Which would give the beer less body and color and perhaps a better balance between the malt and hops. I've never tried a step mash before...didn't know that can affect the clarity...interesting. Might have to try it as I would like this baby to be crystal clear! Whirlfloc additions have helped my beers so much lately.DaBear Sox....you nailed it! She hides them well but come summer time, those babies are ready to be let out!

[Jimmy James]

Subbing the Vienna for the Munich/Crystal will keep it lighter. I think Vienna has a nice light sweet malt character. If you did that though, you'd be pretty much brewing a Kolsch, which is typically pale malt with a touch of wheat and some Vienna (or a decoction) to get a little color and complexity. I think it will be good as you originally posted, and was asking about the C-10 because it wasn't obvious from the recipe why you put it in there and what you wanted to get from it, that's all. I like Ken's idea of the Vienna and dropping the Munich and C-10 if you want it very light in color and less malty. It's debatable how much the protein rest helps. I have done it for my light lagers and found that I didn't get chill-haze with them. So, at least in my experience it can help. Especially since you have wheat in the grist which is very high in protein. I think for most beers the key to preventing haze is going to be getting a good hot-break and cold-break during/after the boil. Most base malts are pretty well modified apparently so in most cases the protein rest is not needed, or at least that's the conventional wisdom.

[Big Nake]

She hides them well but come summer time, those babies are ready to be let out!

TTIUWP!!!!!

[MyaCullen]

TTIUWP!!!!!

+2

[chadm75]

I'll fill her full of my Sneaky Big Blonde Ale and see if she'll let me take a few pics! I'll just tell her I'm thinking about putting a new label together

[Big Nake]

I'll fill her full of my Sneaky Big Blonde Ale and see if she'll let me take a few pics! I'll just tell her I'm thinking about putting a new label together

Nice. We'll be waiting.On the water thing... I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but earlier this year I made 4 "gold lagers" with Wyeast 2000 Budvar and Wyeast 2001 Pilsner Urquell. The only one I have ready to drink is one with 2001 and I didn't do anything to my water but filter it. It's good all the way around, but it's just not as smooth as it could be and I'll assume that it's my hard water. I made a few others with 50% distilled water and my guess is that they will be noticeably smoother. They're all in secondary or primary at the moment so time will tell. All that said, I just use filtered tap for my Blonde Ale and I really enjoy that beer so maybe I just "expect" a pilsner to be smoother than a Blonde Ale.

[MyaCullen]

Nice. We'll be waiting.On the water thing... I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but earlier this year I made 4 "gold lagers" with Wyeast 2000 Budvar and Wyeast 2001 Pilsner Urquell. The only one I have ready to drink is one with 2001 and I didn't do anything to my water but filter it. It's good all the way around, but it's just not as smooth as it could be and I'll assume that it's my hard water. I made a few others with 50% distilled water and my guess is that they will be noticeably smoother. They're all in secondary or primary at the moment so time will tell. All that said, I just use filtered tap for my Blonde Ale and I really enjoy that beer so maybe I just "expect" a pilsner to be smoother than a Blonde Ale.

On the water I can agree that using soft, especially low in carbonates has lead to smoother tasting golden beers for my taste buds anyways.

[chadm75]

This water thing is interesting. So would you recommend I pick up maybe 3 gallons of distilled water at the grocery store and mix it with my tap water? Is it as simple as that? Can this conceivably work on all ales as well? I guess it does not matter so much though on ales as you expect the profile/mouthfeel to be not as smooth. I think I'll try this!Boy, this is going to be a batch of firsts for me! My first cold-fermented batch as well as trying some new water techniques...