Eureka, its time for yet another recipe. This recipe is actually a re-brew of a previous recipe. So no long story today. Had to do some minor changes (substitute the Saazer hops with Tettnanger) and the gravities were a bit different to the previous batch. Lets go through the recipe.
| Recipe: | Gloriosa Kölsch |
|
| Numbers: | Volume [L] | 22 (5.8 gal) |
| Original gravity | 13.2°P | |
| Terminal gravity | 3.5°P | |
| Color | Around 10 EBC | |
| IBU | 27 IBU | |
| ABV | 4.9 % | |
| Grains: | Pilsner malt (4 EBC) | 4.2 kg |
| Wheat malt (4 EBC) | 0.2 kg | |
| Munich malt 1 (14.5 EBC) | 0.3 kg | |
| Hops: | Perle (7.5% AA) | 25.3 g and boil for 80 min |
| Tettnanger (6% AA) | 16.0 g and boil for 20 min | |
| Yeast: | #2565 Kölsch | |
| Water: | Burgdorf | Mash: 12 L (3.2 gal), sparge: 20 L (5.3 gal) @78°C (172°F) |
| Rest: | Mash in @48°C (118°F), 10 min @53°C (127°F), 30 min @62°C (144°F), 30 min @73°C (163°F), 10 min @ 78°C (172°F) | |
| Boil: | Total 80 min | |
| Fermentation: | Primary | 14 days @ 15°C (59°F) in plastic fermenter |
| Secondary | None | |
| Maturation: | Carbonation (CO2 vol) | 2 |
| Maturation time | 3 weeks | |
05/22/10: Brew day number fourteen. This was actually a pretty awesome brew day. It was the first batch I did with my new brewing equipment. The gas burners in Fig 1 look very different today… I can’t believe how beautiful they look once. Anyway, another advantage of such a brew day is to have a brother alongside to take some pictures. When I brew, I normally do my batches alone and have no time to take pictures. Although I try to take at least some pictures…
Fig 1: Mash kettle on the left side, preparing the sparging water in the kettle on the right
Back to the brew day. The resting went great, the motor did his job pretty well. Unfortunately, the iodine test was not negative clearly enough so we went for another 10 min rest at 73°C (at the end 30 min in total) to be sure.
Fig 2: Stir the mash
Fig 3: Mash kettle with the stirring motor
Then transferred the mash into the lautering bucket and collected the wort.
Fig 4: Sparging
The hops went in the boiling wort and boiled the wort for 80 min and cooled it down and pitched some of Wyeast’s #2565 Kölsch yeast.
14/06/10: Bottled the batch after 14 days of primary fermentation. Carbonated to a level of 2 vol and then left the bottles carbonate for a week and then transferred the bottles to a cooler place (15°C (59°F)) to mature.
07/14/10: Tasting:
Aroma: Light sweet aroma, hops are detectable and some apple notes. Maybe some acetaldehyde…
Appearance: Yellow color, clear, persistent white head. Looks like a typical Kölsch.
Flavor: Malty sweet, lightly bitterness and very fruity (apple). Very nice.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium body, average carbonation level, short and lightly sweet aftertaste. This makes this beer a really thirst quencher.
Overall Impression: Well, another nice brew. Quite easy to drink. I did the tasting with the BJCP guidelines (6C Kölsch) booklet and tried to compare this brew with the stylistic accuracy. My verdict: Exemplifies style well, requires some fine-tuning.
What changes would I consider for another batch? Include a secondary fermentation step. Maybe do a two-week primary fermentation followed by a two-week secondary fermentation step. This could decrease any acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is formed by the yeast by metabolizing glucose which leads to a green apple aroma in the finished beer. Leaving the beer longer on the yeast cake would decrease the level of acetaldehyde due to further metabolism.
Eureka Brewing 