Ever use Kolsch yeast?

[majorvices]

The small amount of wheat won;t affect clarity. Of course, wheat is entirely optional. I like to sometimes add a little Munich in there too.

[Not the Momma!]

I'm just on the fence with the Wheat thats all... I have a couple lbs of it sitting around over here so I could use it, I just don't know if I want to bother with it.

[Vista]

I had a friend that made a hybrid wheat coupled with small amounts of cascade and kolsch yeast. he took third at some brew comp down in VA. it was an eazy peezy recipe and boy was it highly drinkable. he said though even with it being a pretty modest 4.9% abv his 6.5 gallon carboy needed a blow off tube for a 5 gallon batch... he pitched yeast at 58 and his fridge temp was @ 60 degrees F.

[SenorPantalones]

Technnically an Imperial Kolsch could be classified as a Bier de Garde. For my tastes there was just a yeasty character I didn't care for. Kind of like that Chardonnay, wine like character but amplified to a degree that I didn't enjoy. I tried brewing a high gravity kolsch 3 or 4 times and just hung it up. Just wasn't something I cared for. Others may disagree or find the taste pleasant. Or perhaps it was a recipe thing. But you don't hear of many "imperial kolsch" recipes floating around and IMO there is a reason for that.

You may have a point there. I made my first Kolsch a few months ago and I really liked the yeast character in it, but maybe a high gravity Biere de Garde would end up more like what I'm shooting for.

[Atlas366]

I do my Kolsch with all pils, I don't think it needs or benefits much from wheat. I do have a comment on the OP too. I did an IPA with WLP0029 and I wouldn't do it again. It wasn't bad, it just would have been much better with a clean American strain. The yeast accentuated the wrong things and got in the way in a subtle fashion.

[majorvices]

I would agree that the wheat doesn't play much in the way of contribution. I always have a sack of wheat laying aorund and I use it in several beers to kind of "get through the sack" since I can only drink so many hefeweizens. One thing wheat does do is add to the head retention and lacing some which may actually be one of the reasons adding wheat to kolsch got started in the first place.

If I didn't have the wheat on hand I wouldn't hesitate brewing, thats for sure.

[ynotbrusum]

I made an Imperial Kolsch and used the WLP strain -- maybe it could be called a Bier de Garde, but I called it Kaiser Kolsch. Then just last month BYO Magazine had an article about "imperializing" beers. It had one recipe for a Kolsch and they called it Pickelhaube Kaiser Kolsch. The AG recipe used 15 lbs of Weyerman Bavarian Pilsner Malt with Tettnanger hops and no wheat (I had a little wheat in mine, but mine was an extract recipe I made up).

[Atlas366]

I would agree that the wheat doesn't play much in the way of contribution. I always have a sack of wheat laying aorund and I use it in several beers to kind of "get through the sack" since I can only drink so many hefeweizens. One thing wheat does do is add to the head retention and lacing some which may actually be one of the reasons adding wheat to kolsch got started in the first place.

If I didn't have the wheat on hand I wouldn't hesitate brewing, thats for sure.

You can do whatever you want with your Kolsch and I'd be on board. I couldn't brew that style worth a damn until I read your posts on the subject. So thank you, if I haven't said it before.

[Not the Momma!]

I brewed it with the yeast ended up on the upper end of the Kolsch category but 1.051 SG isnt bad...

Funny I had very little lag time and on sunday didnt look like it was doign much fermenting... woke up this morning...

I had a massive blow off even with over 1 gallon of headspace...

Luckily I control my temps quite well... I can only imagine what could have happened if I was fermenting in the upper 60's...

All 12 gallons are happily sitting at 62-64*f Optimally I would have like to go at 60* but i Thought my basement was doing a good enough job with the 2 degree variation ambient...

[bluesman]

I find that Kolcsh yeast accentuates the hop bitterness in a good way. I've never tried it with any other beer style. I made it for the first time this past summer and it will be hitting my lineup on a routine basis. A refreshing summer brew IMHO.

[Tesla_HV]

I ordered a vial of Kölsch yeast intending to brew an all-Simcoe double-IPA but decided against this due to the low alcohol tolerance of the Kölsch yeast. Instead I ordered a NB Honey Kölsch kit. It sounded tasty at the time.

[Not the Momma!]

I ordered a vial of Kölsch yeast intending to brew an all-Simcoe double-IPA but decided against this due to the low alcohol tolerance of the Kölsch yeast. Instead I ordered a NB Honey Kölsch kit. It sounded tasty at the time.

Wyeast's tolerance is around 10%, i know you went with White Labs, but is there that big of a difference and is your IIPA over 10% abv? Just curious. Sounds like a real big beer.

[Tesla_HV]

I ordered a vial of Kölsch yeast intending to brew an all-Simcoe double-IPA but decided against this due to the low alcohol tolerance of the Kölsch yeast. Instead I ordered a NB Honey Kölsch kit. It sounded tasty at the time.

Wyeast's tolerance is around 10%, i know you went with White Labs, but is there that big of a difference and is your IIPA over 10% abv? Just curious. Sounds like a real big beer.

The NB Honey Kölsch kit has a OG of 1.048. This translates to an ABV of around ~5%, not a big beer IMO.

[HabeasPorkus]

Sorry to hijack, but I've got 5 gal of Kolsch that's just finishing up, and I'd like to brew 20 more gallons, using the slurry. Has anyone had any problems using just 1/4 of the slurry per 5 gallons on a Kolsch, pitching around 55 degrees?

[sorry again for the hijack]

Eric

[ndcube]

I ordered a vial of Kölsch yeast intending to brew an all-Simcoe double-IPA but decided against this due to the low alcohol tolerance of the Kölsch yeast. Instead I ordered a NB Honey Kölsch kit. It sounded tasty at the time.

Wyeast's tolerance is around 10%, i know you went with White Labs, but is there that big of a difference and is your IIPA over 10% abv? Just curious. Sounds like a real big beer.

The NB Honey Kölsch kit has a OG of 1.048. This translates to an ABV of around ~5%, not a big beer IMO.

I believe NtM was asking about your IIPA.