Kolsch kit (Extract) Slow ferment?

[nymtber]

I brewed a Kolsch extract kit with Wyeast 2565 on March 11. It has been 10 days, and a gravity reading gave me 1.016, which seems a bit high, as I plan to rack to secondary when it hits 1.012 or so and “Lager” for a few weeks as cold as my fermentation chamber can hit (Hoping for 45 or lower…This has been fermenting at 60-62F.

Should I rasie the temp to mid-upper 60’s for a few days and check again? Or is 2565 just slow to ferment out? The beer (even flat) taste pretty darn good, and the color is very light, which is spot on for a Kolsch! I can taste the fruityness/champagne from the yeast, and if I am super careful with my racking to secondary and bottling, it will be a great beer.

I don’t want to rush it at all, just wondering if its a slow yeast.

Thanks! Cheers!

[eichen323]

I’ve found that 2565 is fairly slow. My last batch took a month for the krausen to drop and for gravity to level. After a month I did bring it up to 64 for 3-4 day because I was getting impatient. Then I “lagerd” it for 2 months at 42…The lowest I can go with my setup. I kegged it 2 nights ago and it was crystal clear. It’s going to be hard to save it till May.

I’m noticing that my 2nd batch is much more aggressive. I did do a yeast starter and Cranked up that oxygen prior to pitching. I’m hoping that it ferments a little faster.

[spykeratchet]

Kolsch is kind of a strange yeast. Awesome but strange. Slow ferm time is something I have noticed. Take a sample and take another one 2 days later, if they are different, then be patient and let it do its thing. If they are the same, it might be done unless you feel like raising the temp to try and spur a bit more.

[mppatriots]

My Kolsch took off very fast as I did a starter, but it still took three weeks for it to hit its final gravity. It is currently is sitting at 40deg on its third week. I think I’m going to rack it to keg this week or the next.

[nymtber]

I didn’t make a starter, just pitched a very swollen smack pack, and by morning it was going strong. Never got a blow off, but it did get very high krausen! I will check again mid-next week, if it hasn’t fermented out more I will raise temp a few days for the yeast to clean up/work more, and if I can get a constant gravity for a few days, I will rack to secondary and drop the fermentation chamber as low as she will go for 3 weeks or until I think its clear enough (its homebrew, I honestly don’t care, and I bottle so it tends to clear out even more in bottles). I am surprised just how light this is turning out, its going to be very nice!

After the few weeks of lagering, should I allow it to come back up in temp a bit before bottling? Never lagered or even cold crashed yet (because again, I don’t care much about clarity) so I am not sure how that works. I know John Palmer’s priming sugar guide, as most are, depends on temperature. I tend to use his because its simple, and, I like simple!

Thanks all!

Cheers!

[nymtber]

Sampled again today (about a week later) and its now at 1.014. Talk about slow! I rasied the temp up to 66F, will let sit and will check it Sat morning and again Monday. If it holds through Monday, I will rack to secondary and turn the fermentation chamber as low as she will go for 3 weeks.

Taste is not bad, definitely has sulfur and some other things that should be cleaned up by the yeast with the warmer temp, and also the lager period. VERY light in color! But tasting it flat and warm is always different than tasting it carbonated and cooled…

Hoping for the best! I really would like to see it 1.012 or lower!

[mppatriots]

For me, i want it as clear as possible as i don’t want to be tasting those little yeasty bastards. Plus i’m kegging, so they are dead to me!

[johngreg2]

Ditto on this. I’ve got a Kolsch in the basement getting close to four weeks with a good Krausen still sitting there. I just posted the same question (don’t worry, I deleted it when I saw this one). I was wondering if I should bring it upstairs and warm it up to speed things along and get the krausen to fall. But it sounds like the plan is to just let it sit and do its thing. Kolsch yeast is a unique flower of a yeast and must be given the space to bloom in its own time. Or something like that…

[mppatriots]

Some people have said that their kreusan never dropped, they ended up racking it from underneath the kreusan. Mine dropped but after i had disturbed it with the hydrometer. At 4 weeks in primary, you should be pretty good to rack it to your secondary to lager. I can’t wait, mines going in the keg tomorrow!

[twdjr1]

I just did the Kolsch kit, and I had similar fermentation results. It kicked off right away, had a lot of krausen (with really great looking foam) and then the secondary ferm phase seemed to take a while. I was going to rack it to secondary so I could start another batch but didn’t do it, and left it in the better bottle for 3-4 weeks.

It was hard to tell how much of the suds were due to dissolved CO2 at that temperature vs. actual fermentation. I also assumed that at 61 degrees it would take longer so I wasn’t too alarmed about it.

[sully_nm_156]

I’ve used that yeast at least once a year. It is a slow fermenter, but I would recommend to just leave it alone and let it work. It will do its thing…eventually :cheers: