Brew Day: Organic Kölsch Beer
Today I am brewing an organic Kölsch-style beer. Why Kölsch? I've been in a heavy weight beer rut of late and I asked a friend what interesting beer could I brew that would have a broader appeal, and he suggest Kölsch. I decided to try brewing this on with organic ingredients just to see if I could notice the difference. My first challenge was finding an extract receipt for Kölsch since I am not yet set up as an all-grain brewer. After some searching, I settled on a recipe found at the BYO site. I ordered the ingredients from Seven Bridges Cooperative, but I got the yeast from my local homebrew store since I have rarely had good success with shipped yeast, especially in the summer.
Here is the recipe modified to be more "friendly" to quantities available at Seven Bridges and changed the hops timing.
Ingredients
Step by Step
Steep grains in 1.5 gallons water at 155° F for 30 min. Remove grains and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add malt extract and stir. Return to boil, add 1 oz. Spalt hops, boil 45 min. Add Irish Moss, boil for 5 min. Add 1 oz. Spalt hops, boil 10 min. Turn off heat and add to fermenter with enough water to make 5 gallons.
Aerate, pitch yeast when cooled to 74° F. Ferment 5 days at 60° to 65° F, rack to secondary and condition at 50° F for 10 to 14 days. Prime and bottle, condition at 75° F for a week, then age two to three more at a cooler temperature.
Here is the recipe modified to be more "friendly" to quantities available at Seven Bridges and changed the hops timing.
Ingredients
- 7 lb. organic liquid malt extract
- 0.5 lb. organic white wheat malt
- 1 lb. organic carapils malt
- 2 oz of organic Spalt hop pellets (6.2 % alpha)
- White Labs German Ale Kölsch yeast (WLP029)
- 1 tsp. organic Irish Moss
- 3/4 cup organic corn sugar for priming
Step by Step
Steep grains in 1.5 gallons water at 155° F for 30 min. Remove grains and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add malt extract and stir. Return to boil, add 1 oz. Spalt hops, boil 45 min. Add Irish Moss, boil for 5 min. Add 1 oz. Spalt hops, boil 10 min. Turn off heat and add to fermenter with enough water to make 5 gallons.
Aerate, pitch yeast when cooled to 74° F. Ferment 5 days at 60° to 65° F, rack to secondary and condition at 50° F for 10 to 14 days. Prime and bottle, condition at 75° F for a week, then age two to three more at a cooler temperature.
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