First Batch Advice

[SmokinBarleyPops]

I am prepping for my first batch of All Grain BIAB. I am intrigued by brewing a Kolsch. Am I crazy to make that my first beer? I do have a fermentation/lagering chamber equipped with at STC 1000+.

Working in 3 gallon batch

The recipe I am thinkings is

3lb Kolsch Malt
3lb Pale 2-Row

Hallertau or Select Hops 60 mins, no flavor or aroma hops

Any advice is welcome, mash temps, mash out temps, hops additions, ferm temp profiles. Or even if you want to talk me out of a Kolsch.

thanks in advance

 

[ThunderpantsBrewing]

Sounds like a good plan, and no, you're not crazy for making that your first beer. It sounds like you're set up for lagering, and the rest of the process is the same as any other beer, so you should be good to go. My advice to you is to just take it easy, map out every part of your process and don't start drinking until you have wort in the fermenter. A lot of mistakes are made with a cloudy mind.

 

[SmokinBarleyPops]

Thanks for the response.

Looks like I am actually going to go with the Northern Brewer Kolsh BIAB kit. Which contains

6lb German Kolsch

1oz German Select for 60mins

I know this is going to be a bit darker and higher OG than a typical Kolsch, but I decided to use a tried and true so I can benchmark efficencies, rather than my own recipe.

They say to mash in at 150 for 90mins and mash out for 160 for 10mins

They give the options of dry Safale US-05, or Wyeast Kolsch 2565.

Which yeast do you think I should go with? Being it is a 3gal batch, liquid I should just be able to pitch without a starter.

As for ferm temp profile I was thinking if i go with the Wyeast, I could go at 58deg for 7 days, ramp up to 65 over a day and set for 2 days, then crash to 40 degrees for lagering for 2 to 3 weeks. I dont plan on moving to a secondary.

Feasible, Suggestions?

Thanks

 

[ThunderpantsBrewing]

Definitely go with the Wyeast, as the US-05 won't do anything at lagering temps. That looks like a good profile for that yeast. Sounds like you've got this under control!

 

[Yooper]

One thing I've noticed about making a kolsch is that water is crucial. What is your water profile like? My water is high in bicarbonate, so when I make something like a Kolsch I use 100% Reverse Osmosis water.

 

[SmokinBarleyPops]

One thing I've noticed about making a kolsch is that water is crucial. What is your water profile like? My water is high in bicarbonate, so when I make something like a Kolsch I use 100% Reverse Osmosis water.

I havent even considered water modifications as of yet, I don't quite understand the numbers yet, so fill me in here what I am looking at. I found water stats for Omaha on brewers friend, there were two listed, very similar so if you could please enlighten me, I would appreciate it.

Ca+2 Mg+2 Na+ Cl- SO4-2 Alkalinity pH

43 12 64 59 78 133 (CaCO3) 8.81
43 10 35 16 75 118 (HCO3) 8.8

Also Mr Malty says even with a 3 gallon batch with the Wyeast, I should use as 1 liter starter, this seems marginal to me, what do you think?

Thanks

 

[LexusChris]

If your source water has a pH of 8.8, I think you really need to make some water adjustments. Some lactic acid (or acid malt) would help greatly. The higher pH water, without any dark malt to lower it, can extract astringent tannins from the malt husk... and in a light beer like a Kolsch, it will be hard to hide.

Definitely use the Kolsch yeast. It has a softer, rounded profile, that you will not get from the US-05, as well as the fermentation temperature concerns.

Good luck!
--LexusChris

 

[SmokinBarleyPops]

If your source water has a pH of 8.8, I think you really need to make some water adjustments. Some lactic acid (or acid malt) would help greatly. The higher pH water, without any dark malt to lower it, can extract astringent tannins from the malt husk... and in a light beer like a Kolsch, it will be hard to hide.

Thanks for the input. Now its time to figure out how to integrate acid malt into my recipe, or take a crash course in water chemistry 101.

 

[Chadwick]

Wow, ph 8.8 water. That is really alkaline. I would be horrified if I discovered my water was ph 8.8 or anything close to that. Yeah, acid malts are your friend. Also tools for measuring ph.

 

[jimjohson]

Wait...Your very first batch is an all grain?? I am impressed...I thought I was doing good to hit AG in 6 months. You got cojones bro!

 

[soccerdad]

Let us know how this turns out

 

[SmokinBarleyPops]

Wait...Your very first batch is an all grain?? I am impressed...I thought I was doing good to hit AG in 6 months. You got cojones bro!

Yeah, I'm returning from a 15 years hiatus from brewing so I'm pretending like I know what I'm doing this time. I'm studying everything this time getting a better set up, controlling temps. But yet still dragging my feet to brew

 

[Yooper]

Wow, ph 8.8 water. That is really alkaline. I would be horrified if I discovered my water was ph 8.8 or anything close to that. Yeah, acid malts are your friend. Also tools for measuring ph.

The water pH really doesn't matter- but the CaC03 of 133 is too high for a kolsch.

A simple fix would be to dilute this water with 50% RO water (from the big water machine at the stores, in places like wal-mart) or distilled water.

It would dilute the high sulfate as well, which is needed for a kolsch.

If that is really the water profile (they differ slightly), it's not a bad place to start for most beers but it does have too much alkalinity and sulfate for a light beer.

Once it's diluted 50%, some calcium chloride can be added to the water (1 teaspoon would be sufficient) and that should help a lot.

The recipe might still need a little acid via lactic acid or a bit of acid malt, to get a mash pH of around 5.3-5.5.