-
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 -
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.
-
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 upAin't that a Bitch -
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.
-
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.
-
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?
-
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 -
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?
-
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 -
@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 -
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.
-
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.
-
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 -
Not sure what I tasted, but certainly a flavor reminiscent of the honey. I was not aware of how distinct orange blossom honey was.
-
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 -
I'd like to make a mead and see what it tastes like, or try a commercial version with it.
-
yeah, im thinking i would like to do a few small batches of mead using different honeysThe only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
-
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. -
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.
Orange Blossom Special Kolsh