Kolsch yeast

[tariq khan]

I'm brewing a Kolsch soon for the first time and I'm trying to find a decent yeast strain. Any recommendations ?

Also what would you think would be a good grain bill ?

I was thinking along the lines of mostly pilsener and maybe some Munich malt (10% or so).........

Thanks !

Tariq (Big Ridge Brewery, Surrey, B.C.)

[dubo11]

Dave Bryant and Bryan Pearson at the Brewing Science Institute in Colorado have an excellent European Ale Yeast that I used in mine. They have it in pitchable quantities for whatever your barrel size might be.

[Woolsocks]

Mine is 100% weyermann pils and Fermentis US-05 (aka California ale). Recently, some people from Koln said it tasted just like they were used to! You'll want to play with the fermentation temp to dial in the ester intensity. In my brewery, 19C seems right. Personally, I'd leave out the Munich.

[Woolsocks]

P.S. Brewing Science Institute is a great resource when you don't know what yeast to use. I've liked all their recommendations so far. Just tell them what you're doing and they'll give you the yeast for it!

[karzar5]

I have been using Wyeast 2565 with great results. It's a true Kolsch yeast and I typically ferment it around 60 to 63 degrees. It gives a great ester profile. My malt bill is made up of Pilsner malt and around 10% Wheat. This yeast is fairly versatile as well. I have used it in Biere De Gardes, Fruit beers and Alt Beers with great success.

Kevin Kozak
Head Brewer
Front St. Brewery

[tariq khan]

Thanks a lot guys....appreciate the info...will have a think but I think I'm leaning to using the Safale Us-05 and the Weyerman Pils.......lovely!

Cheers!

Tariq

[Brett0424]

I find the SafAle K-97 will give you more of a kolsch flavor than the 05.

[tariq khan]

Brett0424....What temp did you ferment at ? A colleague of mine said he had good results with the K-97 for I think an Alt beer but said his fermentation was very slow...think he pitched on the low side (17-18deg c).....

T

[Brett0424]

I've used it at several different temps but 62F will give you a pretty clean kolsch flavor.

[Woolsocks]

Fermentis says K-97 can be used for alt, kolsch, or "wheat" beers -- is it clovey/fruity or not? Or for the geeks, is it POF+ or POF-?

[Brett0424]

I have used it for both kolsch and alt and have not found it to be clovey. It is very similar to the other kolsch strains (White Labs 029 and Wyeast 2565). It does not flocculate well at all and at higher temps will put out some fruity esters if that's what you're going for. At lower temps it is fairly clean but with more character than, say, the 05/california/american ale. As far as wheat beers go, I'd say it would be well suited for a clean American Wheat.

[MJMurphy]

We have had great success fermenting at 18 deg C (64F). We tried warmer temps, but it encourage far too much ester production than we liked.

We did have one that fermented out at fairly high temp when the glycol chiller went down overnight. We discovered in the morning that it went up to 28 degC (83F). It turned out well, but a couple years later when we fermented a batch a warmer-but not that warm-temp than usual, we found it to have too much of the ester character than we liked. It wasn't bad, just not the traditional clean snap that our Kolsch strain usually gives us.

[tariq khan]

My Kolsch is going on tap tomorrow and I'm really pleased with it so far....used all Cargill German Pilsener malt and Safale S-05 (Thanks Woolsocks!), cold conditioned it at 3degC for 5 weeks......fermented at 19degC.....

Cheers guys!

Tariq (Big Ridge Brewery, Surrey, B.C,)