Brew Log : Imperial Kolsch - October 17, 2009

Brewlog: Imperial Kolsch - October 17, 2009

Brewday Brewday Print

Brewed:	October 17, 2009	Bottled/Kegged:	November 15, 2009	Status:	Ready

Values:

Volume to fermenter[ltr (gal)]:	18.00	Alcohol by volume:	8.71%	Apparent Attenuation:	81.25%

Original Gravity[SG]:	1.080	Final Gravity[SG]:	1.015	Colour [SRM(EBC)]:

BU/GU ratio:	0.50	Balance:	1.20

Recipe Values:

Expected Mash Efficiency:	75.00%	Expected Bitterness[IBU]:	35.07
Actual Mash Efficiency:	75.00%

Expected Values >>

Comments:

Additions: 2.2 gm CaCl, 1.25gm Citric

Only achieved 60% efficiency :( so OG a lot lower then planned.

Log entries:

Attenuation(points) vs Time(days)

Sun November 15, 2009 13:25	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.015, Temp[C (F)]: 4.00 (39.20), Atten: 81.36%, ABV: 8.72%	Racked to a keg
Thu November 12, 2009 23:45		Have crashed it down to 4C tonight. Hopefully will get it off the yeast some time this weekend.
Wed November 11, 2009 12:30	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.015, Temp[C (F)]: 15.00 (59.00), Atten: 81.36%, ABV: 8.72%	Seems to have kicked back into life recently. Hopefully means the yeast will start settling out soon.
Sat November 07, 2009 04:49	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.015, Temp[C (F)]: 15.00 (59.00), Atten: 81.36%, ABV: 8.72%	Much dryer and getting closer to expected flavour profile. Some good pear esters coming.
Wed November 04, 2009 12:55	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.025, Atten: 69.19%, ABV: 7.42%	Had a look again at it last night. The yeast is still very much active and does not look like it is going to finish off any time soon. I will give it another couple of weeks and then transfer it to a keg to finish out and lager in. Very frustating at this stage.
Fri October 30, 2009 20:20	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.025, Temp[C (F)]: 15.00 (59.00), Atten: 69.19%, ABV: 7.42%	Hmmm bit underwhelmed atm with lack of progress
Tue October 27, 2009 09:22	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.037, Temp[C (F)]: 15.00 (59.00), Atten: 53.48%, ABV: 5.74%	Some movement down, but obviously not going to reach the target. Repitched some yeast to help it along. Slight off flavour, hopefully not the start of an infection taking hold.
Sun October 25, 2009 10:34	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.041, Temp[C (F)]: 14.80 (58.64), Atten: 48.46%, ABV: 5.20%	Hmm not good ... better get some more yeast on the stir plate.
Wed October 21, 2009 19:20	Gravity reading[SG]: 1.051, Temp[C (F)]: 14.20 (57.56), Atten: 35.74%, ABV: 3.83%	Still very sweet. Heaps of that great Kolsch yeast character. Hopefully tones down a bit and the hops come through to balance out the sweetness.
Tue October 20, 2009 10:02		Yeast going crazy in there, looking good at the moment. Have bumped up the temp slightly and will do so again once primary has stopped.
Mon October 19, 2009 08:00		Fermenting strongly, started about 12hrs after pitching. Pushing out a lot of sufur at the moment.

Log tasting entries:

Sat December 19, 2009 10:46	Rating: 37 Age at tasting: about 1 month	This one is really on the improve. Think I better bottle it soon. Already onto my second for the evening. The sharp edge is starting to drop away, and the malt coming through more. Better make sure there is plenty left to age.
Tue December 08, 2009 21:30	Rating: 30 Age at tasting: 23 days	Two words ... "slow burn" Not much perception of alcohol to begin with, but my god it does catch up on you. The Kolsch yeast flavours are a lot more subdued with the high alcohol content, but still there as a background component. This one still seems to be a bit on the edgy side, and will definitely benifit with some aging as most of the heavy hitters do. Definitely a different beer than the standard Kolsch. Still a slight harshness to it, and the bitterness seems to stand out a bit. Think both issues will be fixed by some aging.