Help with building a recipe

[WorryWORT]

Hey all,

I've been following recipes as a production brewer for a while and recently took a position at a small brewpub as the head brewer. The previous brewer left some of his recipes but I want to try something new. I had this mango kolsch a while ago and thought that would be fun to try and make. I know its mostly pilsner malt but i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regarding grain bill and/or hops, or just general advice on how to make a good kolsch.

I'm using a 5bbl system from PsychoBrew

Thanks!

Spencer
Lake Superior Smokehouse Brewpub

[MatthewS]

First off, welcome to the world of making your own beers with your own recipes. Going to be a fun ride for sure. To be clear, I may be (or may not be) in the minority here regarding my position and opinion of Kölsch. If you are interested in brewing a proper Kölsch and thus learning about how amazing this style can be and also how challenging, then I recommend to drop the fruited part, as it literally seises to be Kölsch when you use fruit. If anyone wants to argue this point, I am kind of over it but welcome the debate. As a brewer making a traditional and authentic tribute to this style, I really take aim at those fruited pretend versions.

That being said. go with a base of German Pils, I dig the Bohemian Pilsner from Weyermann, but there are many choices. Feel free to toss a little Vienna at it and maybe even some carapils (foam, hell, what have you). I stick to Tettnang in mine and of course proper Kölsch yeast.

Good luck, but please can we just call it "average golden ale with fruit" instead of kölsch. We must keep one style sacred....

Matthew Steinberg
co-founder / head brewer
Exhibit 'A' Brewing Co.
Framingham, MA

[barleyfreak]

Well, I have to admit Matthew’s comments certainly resonated with me. On a practical level, and without knowing any of your brewing background (homebrewing and/or just production brewing?), my two cents would be to maybe first get to know your system brewing some classic straight up styles. Admittedly, I am not a big fruit-in-beer fan, and a good clean crisp Kolsch, well balanced, is a delight. When you get to a point where you have it nailed, and the equipment/system, then that seems like a good time to start introducing adjuncts/additives/fruity bits. Again, just my two cents. Others may have something more sage to offer. Like sage!

As for my Kolsch, it has always been 100% pils from weyerman. Hopped with tettnang and liberty.

Good luck and congrats!
Dave

[WorryWORT]

Thanks for the advice guys! I like the idea of starting with a pure form before starting to branch out. Sage sounds interesting Dave, there's another brewery in town that uses lavender that's really popular

[jebzter]

Homebrew a ton. You need to play with ingredients to learn their effect on the beer. Get some good books, designing great beers, the series from brewers association(Malt, Hops, Water, Yeast). These are all starting points, but nothing will replace actual use. I say homebrew because you might not exactly like what comes out, and its way easier to dump 5 or 10 gallons, than a full sized batch.

Fruiting a beer is easy, and it covers up flaws that would otherwise be very apparent. As was said before, stick to some traditional styles to learn the craft, then go into the non-traditional. A well designed and made beer before fruit will taste a whole lot better than a poorly designed beer with fruit added to "make it better"