Liquid Gold

Thousands of miles away tucked in the city of Cologne, Germany lies a sadly underrepresented gem of the brewing world.  The golden ales originating in this city represent a beer style few have tasted, and fewer can pronounce.  Now for those of you confused by the words “German” and “Ale” in the same sentence, you heard me correctly.  While Germany certainly lies at the world’s forefront of lager brewing, they also contribute some fantastic ales, namely Alt-bier and Koslch.

Kolsch is a style of beer originating in Cologne.  These beers are pale gold in color and strike a remarkable balance between a structured hop bitterness and subtle, light malt character.  Peppery noble hops are evident in the aroma as is a pleasant, grainy maltiness and a touch of pear-like fruitiness from the fermentation.  Kolsch is defined by two qualifications.  The beer must be fermented with Kolsch yeast and must be brewed in their hometown of Cologne.  The yeast used is particularly suited for cooler fermentation than most ales, which results in a very clean flavor profile.  This strain is also a big attenuator, i.e it ferments a higher percent of available sugar.  This means that this style ferments clean and has a distinct dry finish which lends to a very refreshing and drinkable beer with a lot of subtle character.

With the widespread availability of many yeast strains the first of these qualifications is easy to meet, and some brewers have made an attempt to recreate the style outside of Germany.  Despite this, I personally believe the best and most authentic examples of the style are still those imported to us from their homeland.  I had an opportunity recently to try three different examples of imported Kolsch: Gaffel, Sunner, and Reissdorf.  All three were excellent, but if you’re planning on trying one I thought Sunner struck the most appropriate balance for the style.  Light and easy drinking but with some pleasant subtleties.

For the homebrewers out there, brewing Kolsch is a very simple process with some very strict parameters.  The ingredients are basic using pale or pilsner malt as a base.  A handful of malted wheat and/or other pale specialty or crystal malts for body, color, and a touch sweetness are not inappropriate.  Hops are generally of noble varieties and provide mostly bitterness.  Traditional Kolsch limits hop additions in the last 30 minutes of the boil, but small additions near the end are not uncommon and can add a bit of peppery or grassy hop complexity to the aroma.  The key to really pulling off a kolsch lies with the yeast.  Highly attenuative, low flocculating german ale, alt, or kolsch strains are a must to dry out the beer and achieve the appropriate balance.  Given the option, I would always use one of the authentic “Kolsch” strains because this particular yeast creates a touch of pear-like fruitiness which adds a bit of depth to what is already a very simple beer.  Managing the fermentation temperature with this style is important to achieve a clean ferment.  A primary fermentation between 58 and 62 degrees will keep ester production to a minimum and will produce the dry, lager-like finish we’re looking for.  Because these yeast strains ferment cool and are poor flocculators, a secondary conditioning phase lasting two to five weeks should follow the primary ferment.  The extra time will help the beer clear and mature.

The beauty of spring is the ambient temperature lends itself perfectly to this type of ferment.  An average of 60F is perfect for these beers, and when its finally ready to drink the heat of the summer will be just starting to set in and the perfect refreshing pint will be yours to be had.

With all that said and done lets talk specifics.  Kolsch usually runs between 4.5%-5.0% ABV putting us at an OG between 1.044 and 1.049.  Bitterness should be noticable but not overpowering, an IBU range of 25-30 will get you the balance you want.  Any noble variety will work well, even some of the American grown clones like Mt. Hood or Liberty will work great.  All grain brewers, this is one where we want upwards of 80% apparent attenuation with a dry finish.  That means executing a single infusion mash with a rest temp in the mid-high 140’s to achieve maximum fermentability.  Keep in mind that if you go with a base of Pilsner malt you will want to conduct a full 90 minute boil to drive off any DMS precursors.

Now I’d like to share a recipe I brewed myself this past week.  I’ll admit that while I look to traditional brewing for inspiration, I am by no means a traditionalist, so my “Kolsch” recipe is more my interpretation of the style as filtered through my desire to experiment with new ingredients.  This recipe is inspired by a hop that I’ve never tried and really wanted to play around with.  Aurora is a mid alpha acid range hop notable hints of citrus peels and lime zest.  My goal was to add a touch of hop flavor and a nice blast of aroma to add some depth to the beer without getting too much in the way of the raw simplicity of the base style.  Enough of my rambling, here’s the recipe!

Liquid Sun Kolsch:
OG: 1.047-1.052
IBU: 27-30
All Grain Version:
Total Volume: 5 gallons
Boil Volume: 6 Gallons
Grains: (75% mash efficiency)
8lbs Domestic 2-Row
12oz Wheat Malt
6oz CaraHell
Hops:
60 mins: 1oz Mt. Hood (6.1%)
20 mins: .25oz Aurora (7.5%)
KO:         .75 oz Aurora (7.5%)
Mash at 149F for 60 minutes or until tested negative for starch.  Collect 6 gallons from the sparge and conduct a 1 hour boil with the noted hop additions.  Chill to 60F, pitch yeast and ferment.  When fully attenuated rack to secondary and condition near 50F for 3-6 weeks.

Extract Version:
Total Volume: 5 gallons
Boil Volume: 2.5 gallons
8oz Carahell steeped at 150F for 15-20 minutes
2.5lbs Pilsner DME added at the beginning of the boil (60 minutes)
3.3lbs Extra Light LME added at 15 minutes
Hops:
60 mins: .75oz Aurora (7.5%)
20 mins: .25oz Aurora (7.5%)
KO: .5oz Aurora (7.5%)