I will be brewing NB extract Kolsch this week end and was reading some posts on this yeast. This is a 100 billion cell pack and says on the package that it is adequate for 5 gal at the rate recommended by professional brewers with no need for a starter. Wyeast recommends 56 to 70 on temp. I don’t have a lot of experience with liquid yeast but wondered why there are so many opinions on doing it different than Wyeast recommends. They do say the beer will need filtration or a long settling time. Would whirlfloc or polyclar be a good idea? I will keg and force carb. Thanks
Kölsch-style beer is a funny style. Traditionally, the beer is fermented with a top fermenting yeast in the range that lager and ale overlap, low 50’s. Then the beer is lagered for a period of about a month. Altbier follows this same fermentation style. Kölsch-style beer will need more yeast than an ale due to the colder fermentation.
Mr.Malty and yeastcalc both have a calculator for these styles considered hybrids.
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html http://www.yeastcalc.com/index.htmlYou can lager in the keg or fermenter. Either way, the yeast will settle nicely.
I just brewed a Kolsch with this yeast, specifically, the NB kit. I recommend using a yeast starter as fermentation took a while to start and it also took a long time to finish - gravity didn’t stabilize until the 3.5 week mark. This yeast created some very nice flavors and aromas as well.
What are your plans for cold fermentation? I don’t believe the NB kit recommends lagering this style of beer as it is more constructed using ale temperatures - if your not using this kit - ignore that. GOOD LUCK
What temp for the “ale” fermentation period?
I picked up the NB honey kolsh and they recommended Safbrew WB-06.
[quote=“s2y”]What temp for the “ale” fermentation period?
I picked up the NB honey kolsh and they recommended Safbrew WB-06.[/quote]
I did the honey kölsch kit with US-05. Fermented at 55 and lagered for a month. It came out great! I carbed it a little heavier than usual, around 2.8vol co2 (in the keg) and it was dancing off the tongue. Not sure if you can ferment WB-06 that low…
[quote=“Gipe62”]I just brewed a Kolsch with this yeast, specifically, the NB kit. I recommend using a yeast starter as fermentation took a while to start and it also took a long time to finish - gravity didn’t stabilize until the 3.5 week mark. This yeast created some very nice flavors and aromas as well.
What are your plans for cold fermentation? I don’t believe the NB kit recommends lagering this style of beer as it is more constructed using ale temperatures - if your not using this kit - ignore that. GOOD LUCK[/quote]
NB’s instructions are not gospel. If you follow them religiously you will find that your beer is less than it could be.
The instructions are good for beginners but I recommend straying from them as quickly as you feel comfortable.
[quote=“mvsawyer”][quote=“s2y”]What temp for the “ale” fermentation period?
I picked up the NB honey kolsh and they recommended Safbrew WB-06.[/quote]
I did the honey kölsch kit with US-05. Fermented at 55 and lagered for a month. It came out great! I carbed it a little heavier than usual, around 2.8vol co2 (in the keg) and it was dancing off the tongue. Not sure if you can ferment WB-06 that low…[/quote]
I think I read about that in another thread. I’ll have to try that sometime. I’d need to get a fridge for that since my keg fridge doesn’t go past 46 degrees. It’s on the agenda, but I promised the wifey to not buy more equipment since she’s letting me brew a lot, as well as be in a band and race my road bike.
The WB-06 generally imparts a nice enough flavor at normal ale temps.
