Kolsch
Testimonials
"Brewed this a few months ago and have tapped the second keg. My family and friends love it, so looks like a beer I'll have to brew often. Thanks for the share. I used the Wyeast 2565 and really like it. This is a top of the line Kolsch, your going to love this beer. I'll be brewing this again, soon." - Castermmt
"I am brewing the Kolsch today since it's been such a huge hit. I brought it to my high school homecoming and the 5 gallon keg of Kolsch was gone in about three hours; beer drinkers AND swill drinkers love this..." - Jerz
"This one is pretty easy to make and it tastes good. We have a winner!"- Ashquest
"After watching Anthony Bourdain's Season 7 Parts Unknown where he visits Cologne's restaurants and drinks a lot of Kolsch with some great food, I had to make some.. drinking it now.. its superb.. Kal's right .. get the right yeast... Side note.. the Kolsch was my 200th batch on my TheElectricBrewery.com system.. still chugging along nicely. Cheers!"- silverspoons
"Just tapped this today after conditioning for 2 months. Perfect beer for the hot weather. I was rushed during the kegging process that I forgot to use gelatin so the final product isn’t crystal clear. But the taste is great! I enjoyed this one more than the blonde ale / lager recipe. - dward4421
Introduction
Kolsch (or Koelsch) is a clean, crisp, delicate ale, with a light grainy Pilsner malt flavour and aroma. Usually lightly hopped (20-30 IBU) and reasonably low alcohol (4.4-5.2% ABV). A great gateway beer to steer light lager drinkers towards more flavourful offerings without completely scaring them away.
While Kolsch has origins in the long existing German wheat beers (Weissbier / Keutebier) that trace back 500 years or more, the current form was originally brewed in Koln (Cologne) Germany starting in the early 1900s. It never became particularly popular in the first half of the twentieth century as Germans were already enjoying new found cleaner tasting lagers. Brewers in Cologne (and the Altbier brewers of Dusseldorf) stubbornly continued to produce top-fermented ales, while almost every other brewery in Germany turned out bottom-fermented lagers.
Today, with beer interests moving away from lighter tasting lagers, Kolsch has seen a resurgence in recent years with strong exports to the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China and Brazil. The three largest brands are made by private family breweries - Gaffel, Früh and Reissdorf.
Gaffel Kolsch, served in the correct glasses in New York City's Lower East Side. Image (c) nytimes.com
Many American brewpubs and breweries have now created their own (often quite different) interpretations of the style, including Goose Island Summertime, Sam Adams East-West Kolsch, Short's Kolsch 45, and Rogue Honey Kolsch. Up in Canada there is Beau's Lug Tread.
Kolsch is one of the few beers that gets its own special glass. Unlike their Bavarian cousins who prefer large serving vessels, Kolsch is traditionally served in a 0.2 litre (~6 oz) Kolsch glass (called a 'Stange') which is tall and cylindrical. The idea behind the small glass is that the beer stays fresh and cold as it doesn't sit around for long.
In traditional Cologne pubs Kolsch waiters (Kobes) will continue to exchange your empty Kolsch glasses with new ones unprompted until you leave your glass half full or place your coaster on the glass to signal that you're done. The waiters carry these filled glasses of the beer around the beer hall, in special circular trays called a Kranz, ready to replace any empty glasses immediately. As each beer is served, a mark is made on the coaster, which is then used to calculate your bill. Waiters are encouraged (or expected) to speak the local dialect which is also called "Kolsch" and to use fairly rough, unrefined language, which might include crude jokes with the customers.
The malt bill and hop schedule are extremely straightforward. Given the delicate nature of the beer, it's important to use good quality fresh ingredients, such as Weyermann malt.
The key to brewing an authentic Kolsch is using the right yeast: The two most popular options are Wyeast 2565 Kolsch or White Labs WLP029 German Ale / Kolsch. While you can make a great clean tasting beer using other yeasts (such as Fermentis Safale US-05), it just won't have the same flavour and aroma as a true Kolsch. Try a split batch yourself and see the difference the yeast makes. In fact, try a split batch with these two Kolsch yeast strains as well to see how they differ: WY2565 tends to be more flavourful with a subtle hint of fruit / white wine and some yeast derived flavours, while WLP029 produces a cleaner tasting more lager-like beer. The sources for the yeasts is rumoured to be Paffgen for WY2565 and Fruh for WLP029. Both work, it depends on which Kolsch you prefer. We tend to prefer WY2565 for the added flavours.
Kolsch is strictly defined by an agreement between members of the Cologne Brewery Association known as the Kolsch Konvention such that a Kolsch can only be called Kolsch if it is brewed within the region of Cologne. (Similar to how the name "champagne" can only be used for sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France). If you brew up your own outside of Cologne and call it a Kolsch, we won't tell. 😉
Brew up a batch and let us know how you like it!
Kolsch
Size: 12 US gallons (post-boil @ 68F)
Mash Efficiency: 95%
Attenuation: 82%
Calories: 149 kcal per 12 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.045 (style range: 1.044 - 1.050)
Final Gravity: 1.008 (style range: 1.007 - 1.011)
Colour: 3 SRM (style range: 3.5 - 5)
Alcohol: 4.9% ABV (style range: 4.4% - 5.2%)
Bitterness: 21 IBU (style range: 20 - 30)
Mash:
16 lb German pilsner malt (1.5-2.1L) (95%)
0.85 lb Weyermann Vienna malt (3-4L) (5%)
Boil:
2 oz German Hallertau hops (6.7%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min [20.9 IBU]
1 Whirlfloc tablet (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
Yeast:
Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast or White Labs WLP029 German Ale / Kolsch yeast
(~636 billion cells [6-7 fresh packs] or an equivalent starter)
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Notes / Process
- Add 500mg potassium metabisulfite to 20 gallons water to remove chlorine / chloramine (if required).
- Water treated with brewing salts to our Balanced flavour profile: Ca=50, Mg=10, Na=16, Cl=70, SO4=70. (Hit minimums on Ca and Mg, keep the Cl:SO4 ratio low and equal. Do not favour flavour / maltiness or bitterness / dryness. For balanced beers.). For more information on how to adjust your water, refer to our step by step Water Adjustment guide.
- 1.5 qt/lb mash thickness.
- Start the mash at 120F (low end of the protein rest range) and immediately start raising to 149F (starch conversion / saccharification rest temperature) and hold for 90-120 mins.
- Raise to 168F mashout temperature and hold for 10 mins.
- ~90 min fly sparge with ~5.6-5.8 pH water (measured at mash temperature).
- Boil for 90 minutes, adding Whirlfloc and hops per schedule. Lid on at flameout, start chilling immediately.
- Cool the wort quickly to 60F (we use a one-pass convoluted counterflow chiller to quickly lock in hop flavour and aroma) and transfer to fermenter.
- Oxygenate the chilled wort to a level of 14 ppm dissolved oxygen. For more information refer to our Aerating / Oxygenating Wort guide.
- Pitch yeast and ferment at 60F (wort temperature). We use modified stainless fermenting buckets in wine fridges.
- Ferment until approximately 5 points from final gravity and then raise the temperature to 70-72F until finished. In our case we simply turn off the fermenting fridges and allow the beer to naturally rise to room temperature. Assume fermentation is done if the gravity does not change over ~3 days.
- Before packaging you may optionally rack to a brite tank (we use 5 gallon glass carboys) that has been purged with CO2 to avoid oxygen pickup, add 1 tsp of unflavoured gelatin dissolved in a cup of hot distilled water per 5 gallons of beer, and allow to clear for 2-3 days. Note that even when using gelatin, WY2565 typically requires more time to fall clear than WLP029. In most cases we recommend skipping this step as the less you handle the beer and potentially expose it to oxygen, the better. The beer will drop brilliantly clear on its own during the conditioning period.
- Package as you would normally. We rack to kegs that have first been purged with CO2 and then chill to near freezing while carbonating at the same time in a 6-keg conditioning fridge. After ~1-2 weeks at serving pressure the kegs will be carbonated and ready to serve. In a hurry? Feel free to raise the CO2 pressure temporarily to 30-40 PSI to carbonate fast over a 24 period, and then turn back down to serving pressure.
- Carbonate this beer to around 2.5 volumes of CO2.
- This beer will improve greatly if conditioned just above freezing for at least 4 weeks before serving (6-8 weeks is better). Avoid keeping the beer unrefrigerated for extended periods. It will remain clean and crisp for months if kept near freezing.
For detailed brewing instructions, see our Brew Day Step by Step guide.
Enjoy!
Questions? Visit our Kolsch forum thread.
Pictures / Videos
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