Carbing a Kolsch

[escollay]

Hello there!

It’s my first time brewing Kolsch. My recipe calls for it to be fermented at 60f/15c for 10-14 days and then lagered at 33f/1c for 14-21 days.

So normally when I brew, once my fermentation is complete I put it in my keg and put it under pressure for two weeks.

What I am wondering is whether I should keg the Kolsch and apply the pressure while it lagers.

Or rack it into a second FV for the 14-21days while lagering AND then keg and apply the pressure after this time? Maybe force carb at that stage?

 

[Josh Hughes]

yes. Lager in the keg while carbonating

 

[Minbari]

yes. Lager in the keg while carbonating

Second that. Not a fan of a secondary fermentor.

Plus you can carb it up while waiting. Kolsch is a high volume beer

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Most breweries, including German breweries lager a fully carbonated beer. I spund my lagers, so they are often fully carbonated before they completely finish fermenting.

I contend it’s the best way to lager because the beer is pressurized and helps prevent any exposure to the atmosphere due to “suck back”. If the beer is any warmer than the lager temperature, it will produce a vacuum in the fermenter, drawing in air, or “suck back”.

 

[Donoroto]

yes. Lager in the keg while carbonating

I do this all the time.

 

[escollay]

Thanks for the replies everyone

 

[BartS]

I always bottle my beer. It looks like it is recommended to lager in the keg while carbonating - what are thoughts of bottling, priming (gyle) and lagering in bottle?

 

[Minbari]

I always bottle my beer. It looks like it is recommended to lager in the keg while carbonating - what are thoughts of bottling, priming (gyle) and lagering in bottle?

it takes longer because of the temps. but I have done it.

 

[GFHomebrew]

It's an interesting approach you gotta have some fresh wort on hand come bottling day which would make this method tricky.

I tried to save wort from brew day to do this but it went bad

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I always bottle my beer. It looks like it is recommended to lager in the keg while carbonating - what are thoughts of bottling, priming (gyle) and lagering in bottle?

Leave it at room temp until it’s carbonated, then crash cool the beer to near freezing. It takes 4-6 weeks to clear. Once it’s clear, it’s done. Keep it near freezing for the entire time until it’s gone. It’s fun (at least to me) to sample during lagering.

 

[BartS]

Thanks for the responses.I've used gyle quite a bit with lot's of luck and actullay prefer it to sugar. Good advice HighVoltageMan and intend to try these steps on my next lager (which will be soon as winter is coming fast in Idaho!)

 

[GFHomebrew]

Thanks for the responses.I've used gyle quite a bit with lot's of luck and actullay prefer it to sugar. Good advice HighVoltageMan and intend to try these steps on my next lager (which will be soon as winter is coming fast in Idaho!)

Hey can you explain to my how you store your Gyle or do you time your bottling with brewing another batch of beer?

I tried to store some from brew day and it was a Royal disaster.

 

[BartS]

I remove appropiate amount from cooled wort into a sanitized container (last batch went into a beer pitcher) and cover with saran wrap or container lid and put it into freezer. I move it to refrigerator a couple of days before bottling day for thawing. I read you don't have to boil it on bottling day but I always do for 5-10 mins. Let cool to beer temp and to beer for bottling.

 

[Herm brews]

Suddenly I am interested in this method of priming for bottle conditioning. Please provide more info.

 

[BartS]

Really not much more to offer. I use BF calculator to determine how to pull from the cooled wort and freeze. I treat the carbing period same as I do with sugar. Seems to work well for me. I like the end product primed with gyle better for some reason, maybe it's because I know it's as close to kegging as I'm going to get at this point (no added sugars just unfermented wort). And besides, why buy sugar when I already have what I need?