German and Belgian Kolsh

This is a lightest of the two beer. Still lots of flavour.

This is a tale of two Kolsch's. Yeast, method, mash, sparge are all the same however the Malts are different. I've only used seven  pounds of base malt to keep this beer around 3% to 4 ABV. Hops are the star with IIPAs. Yeast is the star here.


Keg #1
GR310 Malt - German Pilsner - 7Lb
GR400 Malt - German Munich - 1/2 Per Lb
OG 1.036 ABV 4.2%
Fermented at about 62F

Made total of 5 gal


Keg #2
GR340 Malt - Belgian Pilsner - 7Lb
GR410 Malt - German Vienna - 1/2 Per Lb
OG 1.040 ABV 4.5%

Made total of 4.5 gal

First day fermented at 74F then down to 62F. This started fermenting much faster than the other.

Mash

151F for 60 Mins and sparged at 170F to make 7 gallons

Boil

60 minute boil

Tetenger 60 mins (pellets with no bag)
German Spalt 20 mins (pellets with no bag)
Cooled to 90F and pitched yeast

Comments

July 22, 2014 - both have the same aroma. Keg #1's taste is sharper and thinner. Keg #2 has good body. Placed into secondary @ 60F.

Aug 20 - Poured the remaining beer from #1 into two growlers to make room for more beer in kegs. This was a great beer. It improved with lagering for 3 weeks.

Aug 31 -  keg 1 is lower in ABV and what I would consider a lite beer. Still good Kolsch flavor however a bit lite.  I think the other keg is better

Oct 4 - Aging in the made this very clear and rounded out the falvours. I would recommend aging for 4 to 6 weeks next time.

Note: From the 4 Kolschs I've made 5% to 4.5% is the best for delivering a drinkable full body flavour with the Kolsch style. Any less gives a very lite yet good beer. Any heavier is too much flavour.