Orange Blossom Special Kolsh
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    Orange Blossom Special Kolsch

    Category Light Hybrid Beer
    Subcategory Kölsch
    Recipe Type Extract
    Batch Size 5 gal
    Volume Boiled 5 gal
    Mash Efficiency 72 %
    Total Grain/Extract 7.00 lbs
    Total Hops 2.0 oz

    Kolsh Style ale with brewed with orange blossom honey and orange zest

    0.5 lbs Pacific Northwest Wheat
    .5 lbs English 2-row Pils
    .25 lbs Belgian Cara-Pils
    5.00 lbs Dry Extra Light; Muntons
    .75 lbs Honey

    1 oz Tettnanger (Pellets, 4.8 %AA) boiled 60 min.
    1 oz Spalt Spalter (Pellets, 2.6 %AA) boiled 15 min

    3 oz. Orange Zest (not included in calculations

    Yeast : White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch

    add speciallty grains to a grain bag.
    Steep specialty grains for 30 minutes at 150 degrees, remove from steeping liquid
    Add Orange Blossom Honey at flame out.

    soak 1 medium orange in vodka for 15 minutes, zest add to fermenter

    Original Gravity 1.055 1.044 - 1.050

    Terminal Gravity 1.010 1.007 - 1.011

    Color 4.48 °SRM 3.50 - 5.00 °SRM

    Bitterness 26.5 IBU 20.00 - 30.00 IBU

    Alcohol 4.6 % 5.9 %

    Ain't that a Bitch
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    Brewed it 5/20/2012
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,419
    Exciting. Looking forward to the results.
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,573
    Lothos said:

    Brewed it 5/20/2012



    i thought you only did all-grain?
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    I mentioned in the brew log, but I am brewing this soon, can't wait. I hope it turns out well. I am having our inaugural Oktoberfest this year at my house, I want to serve some German ales (can't lager yet) and wanted to include this. I hope to try it, and some others first, then rebrew a little closer to the event. Sort of a test run on a few as time allows.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    Lakewood said:

    Lothos said:

    Brewed it 5/20/2012



    i thought you only did all-grain?


    Converted it to all grain
    5.00 lbs Dry Extra Light; Muntons
    To
    9.00 lbs 2 row
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    bet this would be good with pilsner malt.... may have to do something like this
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    here it is beginning of week 2 in fermenter

    Picture 004.jpg
    1536 x 2048 - 1M
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    it started out with an OG of 1.065
    10 points over what it should be i guess thats from the grain conversion from powder stuff
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    Benvarine said:

    I mentioned in the brew log, but I am brewing this soon, can't wait. I hope it turns out well. I am having our inaugural Oktoberfest this year at my house, I want to serve some German ales (can't lager yet) and wanted to include this. I hope to try it, and some others first, then rebrew a little closer to the event. Sort of a test run on a few as time allows.



    gonna rack on friday and give it a taste

    Will let ya know whats up
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    Kegged th kolsch today FG 1.011 AVB 6.5% totally awsome on flavor it's a keeper
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    Kegged mine today. FG 1.012, 6.8% ABV. Tastes awesome. Slight hint of orange, good aroma of honey and sweet honey taste up front and through the middle. Finish with a good mouthfeel. A little darker than I expected, but very happy. Will brew this again for Oktoberfest. Nice job Lothos.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    Thank you told ya it was good

    its a keeper
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    For the orange zest, I zested two oranges, then placed in a tea ball and placed in vodka for 15 min. Took out of that and emptied into primary. It had a nice hint of orange, I was wondering if it could use more, but I would hate to disrupt the balance. I don't want to drink a screwdriver.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    ya i took the zest of 2 also and put it in 100 proof stoli for 3 hours than added it to fermenter and its no where near a screwdriver its still awsome
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    Did you soak peels then zest? I zest, then soak. Not sure if it makes any difference, but my method does risk losing some of the flavor into the vodka instead of the beer.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    Sliced in 6 pieces soak than zest.

    Oh than eat orange slices. Or muddle and add orange juice and ice Drink
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    I love this recipe. I want to try playing around with the recipe to learn more about brewing. I want to change one thing at a time ideally and see how it changes. Some things I want to try, and not all at the same time are ferm temp, malt bill and quantity of honey. I fermented in mid 60's. I want to drop to 61-62. Will do that next, and might actually try one other change actually, nothing like contradicting myself. How would I get the ABV down? A little less DME? A little less honey? Thoughts?
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,419
    Benvarine said:

    I love this recipe. I want to try playing around with the recipe to learn more about brewing. I want to change one thing at a time ideally and see how it changes. Some things I want to try, and not all at the same time are ferm temp, malt bill and quantity of honey. I fermented in mid 60's. I want to drop to 61-62. Will do that next, and might actually try one other change actually, nothing like contradicting myself. How would I get the ABV down? A little less DME? A little less honey? Thoughts?


    I would drop up to a half pound of DME. If you want to get the abv down more than a couple tenths of a percent I would say scale the entire recipe, but that's annoying.
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    I am not real good at describing what I am tasting, but it seems like it has a malty mouthfeel, sort of thick in a sense. How would you lighten that, make it a bit more crisp?
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,419
    From OP for reference.
    0.5 lbs Pacific Northwest Wheat
    .5 lbs English 2-row Pils
    .25 lbs Belgian Cara-Pils
    5.00 lbs Dry Extra Light; Muntons
    .75 lbs Honey

    1 oz Tettnanger (Pellets, 4.8 %AA) boiled 60 min.
    1 oz Spalt Spalter (Pellets, 2.6 %AA) boiled 15 min

    3 oz. Orange Zest (not included in calculations

    Yeast : White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch

    add speciallty grains to a grain bag.
    Steep specialty grains for 30 minutes at 150 degrees, remove from steeping liquid
    Add Orange Blossom Honey at flame out.

    the 2-row and belgian cara-pils will give it *more* mouth feel than straight DME, but in such a low amount already I'm not sure.... Instead of steeping/mashing them at 150 back it down to 147. But there again, such a small amount...

    If straight up maltiness/sweetness is the issue then drop the DME down to 4lbs and see what that does for you.
    But @ceannt is way better at tweaking a recipe than I will ever be.
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,573
    @benvarine

    i'd really think the maltiness is from the yeast attenuation more than the grain selection, but you could probably up the honey a touch and pull out some of the DME to dry it out a bit.

    What was the OG/FG of the batch you made?

    was it a sweetness, a mouthfeel, or both?
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    I made two batches. First 1.064/1.012, second 1.062/1.010. It tastes sweet, and until I had another commercial beer at a club meeting where a people commented on the presence of orange blossom honey, I didn't know I was tasting it. Now I know what I am tasting, so I was actually thinking of dialing back the honey a bit.
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    Another thing I noticed, both times I only used 0.5 oz spalter at 15min instead of 1oz. Not sure why, but I did it both times.
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,573
    hop flavors can offset sweetness and balance it out a bit.

    i'm surprised the honey would leave a sweetness though.
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    Not sure what I tasted, but certainly a flavor reminiscent of the honey. I was not aware of how distinct orange blossom honey was.
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,573
    Benvarine said:

    Not sure what I tasted, but certainly a flavor reminiscent of the honey. I was not aware of how distinct orange blossom honey was.



    i can safely say, i don't know what orange blossom honey tastes like. I didn't realize it tasted so much different. maybe i should go buy some different honeys and give them a try.
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    I'd like to make a mead and see what it tastes like, or try a commercial version with it.
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,573
    yeah, im thinking i would like to do a few small batches of mead using different honeys
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • BenvarineBenvarine
    Posts: 1,606
    So I entered this Kolsh in a local comp. Under Kolsh and under spiced beer. Scored the same in both, 38 avg. I'm very happy for my first comp, no medal but still proud. Thanks Lothos for the original recipe. This was also my first all grain batch with BIAB.

    A question I have from my score sheets. Several mentioned low to moderate pilsner malt flavor. So, do I want more for this category? Or is that good to have low pilsner malt flavor. I read the guidelines and they don't mention much about malt flavor except being subdued.

    I don't think I'll change the recipe, just wondering how to interpret this aspect of it.
  • LothosLothos
    Posts: 2,146
    I would go for more
    Ain't that a Bitch
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    Benvarine said:

    So I entered this Kolsh in a local comp. Under Kolsh and under spiced beer. Scored the same in both, 38 avg. I'm very happy for my first comp, no medal but still proud. Thanks Lothos for the original recipe. This was also my first all grain batch with BIAB.

    A question I have from my score sheets. Several mentioned low to moderate pilsner malt flavor. So, do I want more for this category? Or is that good to have low pilsner malt flavor. I read the guidelines and they don't mention much about malt flavor except being subdued.

    I don't think I'll change the recipe, just wondering how to interpret this aspect of it.



    I doubt the judges could answer that question...... (one reason I am not a fan of competitions, the best beer ever could potentially score very low...)
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
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