What’s up! Long time, no talk. Just thought I’d update everyone on my next beer. I think I’m going to do it this Sunday. It will be an Orange Kolsch that is flavored with sweet and bitter orange peel, and coriander. Its a very mild, blonde ale that gets alot of its flavor from the esters in the Kolsch yeast (Wyeast 2565). It’s basically a complete departure from the big, in your face American beers that I normally do. I’m concerned I may not have my brewing process dialed in enough to brew such a light beer. Since dark malts, hops, etc… hide ‘mistakes’ in the process, I’m concerned that this beer will expose me as a fraud of a brewer. I guess if it does than its a good thing because it gives me a chance to improve my process.
Either way, I’m pretty excited about this beer. I’m going to ferment it on the colder side around 60-62° for a couple weeks and then let it lager at 40° for another 4-6 weeks to get rid of all that nasty acetaldehyde (whew, big word) that will be lingering about. I don’t plan on doing a secondary on this per my new methods and I think this is the beer where it will be most apparent how skipping the econdary affects the clarity of the beer.
One interesting side note about this beer is that I have never actually had a Kolsch beer. It sounds weird to brew something I’ve never tried but I find it quite intriguing. No matter how much I may try not to, I always find myself comparing my beer to some reference standard. Not this time, I know that Reissdorf is one of the go-to Kolsch’s and I’m thinking about picking some up, but not until after I have tried my own version of it. For once, I am going to brew with no preconceived notion of what it will taste like. This time, when tasting the Reissdorf, my beer will be the reference standard.
UPDATE: I remembered (after Ryan mentioned it) that Big Boss Angry Angel is a “Kolsch Style” and I have had that so I guess the above statements are not completely true. Of course, it can’t be legally called Kolsch since its not brewed in Cologne, Germany… but neither is mine. Either way, I’ve only had a sample of it once at their tour and I don’t particularly remembered what it tasted like and I’m sure it’s not considered anywhere close to the ‘reference standard’.
Andrew, much thanks for letting Ryan and I come by and watch you brew the Kolsch and check out your brewing setup. That keezer (and contents) is truly awesome.
As a newbie to homebrewing, it was good to observe all-grain brewing firsthand.
Grazie, Damon
I’m glad you guys could make it! It was fun getting to brew with some new people. Your beers were excellent and I look forward to trying your Ruination clone as soon as its ready.