Midweek Brew Day - Kolsch

My boss has requested a beer for a Memorial Day weekend party that he is going to.  The only way I am going to get this beer fermented, kegged, and carbed was to brew it soon.  Since I will be out of town this weekend I am brewing this beer on a weeknight…which I don’t do very often.  With 2 kids I am usually in bed by 10 or so and exhausted.  Luckily my wife stepped up extra tonight and I had enough kid free time to brew!

Since Kolsch is something that I really enjoy drinking (Schlafly Kolsch is my all time favorite) I am brewing a double batch.  I am doing a single hop, 3 additions to this beer.  Tettnang this year has a great aroma to it and am looking forward to making a few beers with it out of the pound I ordered.   I missed my mash temperature the first go so my mash turned into an infusion mash.  The first step was 144* for 20 minutes.  The second step was 150* for 70 minutes.

Malt Bill / Ingredients
Pounds	Type
14lbs	Pilsner
4lb	Munich 10
2lb	White Wheat Malt
Hops
IBU	Type	Time
19	Tettnang	60
5.8	Tettnang	20
2	Tettnang	5
Mash Schedule
Temp	Time
150F	90 minutes
Yeast	White Labs WLP-029
Stats
11 gal	85% efficiency	IBU: 26-27

Kentucky Common – Take Two

POLAR VORTEX IS OVER

Finally back to brewing.  I am both tired of hearing Polar Vortex and tired of it occurring.  We’ve have finally had a break in the unbelievably cold weather.  In central Illinois the wind chills have been below 10* for a couple of months.  I usually brew a batch or 2 of beer during the winter but with the temperatures so low I just can’t bring myself to go outside to do it.

My coworkers have requested that I make another batch of Kentucky Common for them.  This dark cream ale is an easy drinker, but with the Rye malt added it isn’t your typical cream ale.  I changed a few things with this recipe.  The main thing is I switched out the US-05 yeast for Nottingham.  I don’t think there will be that much of a difference in the final beer, but Nottingham is what I had on hand.  My efficiency was about 5% higher this time due to oversparging by a bit. 

Malt Bill / Ingredients
Pounds	Type
7lbs	2 row
1lb 4oz	Corn
12oz	Flaked Rye
3oz	Crystal 120
3oz	Carafa III
Hops
IBU	Type	Time
20	East Kent Golding	90
Mash Schedule
Temp	Time
148F	90 minutes
Yeast	Nottingham
Stats
6 gal	85% efficiency	IBU: 20