Kölsch Tips? Yeast suggestions?

Tom Carola

President
What is everyone's experience and/or recommendation for Kölsch- especially on yeast strains?

Hoping to do a few this year, so I want to nail down a good process.

I have a small batch going right now with the Lallemand Köln strain and it seems to be a real slow starter. Pitched Friday evening and today it is just starting to show some consistent bubbles (every 10 seconds or so) in the airlock. I probably underpitched a bit since I just tossed 1 packet into the 2.75gal of 1.051 wort at 60° but still, feels pretty slow! Should I try to warm it up a bit? The stuff I saw online all recommended 55-65° so I figured 60° would be fine...

Anyway- I'm open to any input/suggestions on yeast and temps.

Grain recipe was just 95% pilsner with 5% vienna and I used all hallertau mittelfrüh (60, 15, 5 mins to get me ~25 IBUs). Open to input/tweaks there but probably won't change that much since I have a fair amount of german hops I gotta burn through... and plenty of pilsner malt.
 
The last time I brewed a Kölsch was in 2019. According to my notes, I used Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch), and I wrote "Yeast took off almost right away", which means I must have seen activity by the next day. I did make a yeast starter. That recipe was 85% Pilsner, 15% Munich, Hallertau and Saaz hops, which BeerSmith says is 29 IBUs, and the original gravity was 1.048. It was summer, and I just fermented in ambient temperatures with my central air conditioning on, even though the high end of that yeast strain is 70°. According to my notes, my central AC died a few days into fermentation, so I might have been close or over that 70° limit after that, but the AC was working during the start of the fermentation.

That beer turned out more like a continental pilsner (think Heineken skunkiness), not as dry as a Kölsch should be, so I wouldn't recommend pushing the temperature limit like I did. Still enjoyed it though.
 
I make a Kölsch a few times a year. I just kegged a batch last week. I have used both Llalemand and K-97 dry yeasts. I prefer the Fermentis personally. I found the Lallemand Köln to take even longer. I pitch 2 packs for 5 gallons and ferment about 60 until the krausen starts to drop which takes a long time usually 2 - 3 weeks, then I slowly crank it up to about 68 over the next 3 or 4 days. After the krausen finally falls out I cold crash and add some gelatin. My malt bill is 90% pils 10% Wheat 10% Vienna. Bitter with magnum at 60 and some Mittlefru at 15.
Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the responses.

Well I have a K-97 sitting in my fridge so I guess that will be the next attempt!

For the grain bill- I had been using this BYO article as my guideline:
In the past, a number of sources suggested that Kölsch-style beers were made with a sizable portion of wheat malt, up to 20%. The current Beer Judge Certification Program style guidelines correctly indicate that this is rare in authentic Kölsch. A small portion of wheat malt is OK; the same as adding Vienna malt. Wheat can add a gentle bready note to the beer and can improve head retention. Overall, try to keep it simple. Limit yourself to no more than one grain in addition to the base malt and keep that to no more than 5% of the grist. A single infusion mash around 149 °F (65 °C) strikes the proper balance between fermentable and non-fermentable sugars.
So maybe the next beer I will sub out the vienna for wheat... and then try a mix of the two after that. I'm sure at a minimum it will help with head retention.

I'm going to stick it out with 60° and see how it rides.
 
Got one going right now... the recipe was heavily based on the Brewing Classic Styles recipe (I wanted to use significantly more Vienna malt, but PHO literally had 8oz left so that's what I used!), and I used Imperial Kaiser yeast (my first choice was Dieter, but they had just sold the last of that before I got there!)

It's been in the fermenter for a week so far; started at 60ºF, and just moved it to 65 last night. Tastes really nice (although still yeasty, this strain is a notoriously low flocculator), but it reeks of sulphur at the moment. Not surprised, but the intensity did throw me a little. It'll dissipate tho, I'm not worried.

Here's the recipe... note that I am using Amarillo, as I had a couple of ounces left over from a recent APA that I wanted to use. (Still have ~2oz, so the next beer I make will be Amarillo as well!) Not at all a traditional Kolsch hop! :)

Amarillo Kolsch v1
5-B Kölsch

Size: 5.25 gal
Efficiency: 77.57%
Attenuation: 77%
Calories: 165.71 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 12.38 °P (10.94 - 12.37)
Terminal Gravity: 2.94 °P (1.8 - 2.81)
Color: 3.89 SRM (3.5 - 5.0)
Alcohol: 5.04% (4.4% - 5.2%)
Bitterness: 29.3 (18.0 - 30.0)

Ingredients:
9.5 lb (95.0%) Pilsner Malt - added during mash
8 oz (5.0%) Vienna Malt - added during mash
1 oz (100.0%) Amarillo® (8.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 m
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient (AKA Fermax) - added during boil, boiled 10 m
1 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 10 m
1 ea Imperial G02 Kaiser
1 ea Clarity-Ferm (10ml) - added dry to primary fermenter

00:03:00 Mash In - Liquor: 27.44 L; Strike: 154.36 °F; Target: 149 °F
01:33:00 Rest - Rest: 90 m; Final: 149.0 °F
01:33:00 Lift Grain Basket - Drain (No Sparge): 0.0 gal sparge @ 168.0 °F, 0.0 m; Total Runoff: 5.93 gal

Notes
Target Water Profile (PPM):
Ca 44 | Mg 3 | Na 8 | SO4 80 | Cl 35 | HCO3 -49 | SO4/Cl Ratio 2.3 | RA -58

Target Mash pH: 5.34
Measured Mash pH: 5.5

Bru’n Water Profile: average of Yellow Balanced / Cologne (boiled)
 
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