My new beer label for my bastardized Kolsch recipe courtesy of Greg Barnett over at http://www.rocknmotion.com and http://www.thestudiobar.net/index2.php

Thanks again dude! Cheers to you!

Bottled my bastardized Kolsh on February 10th and will post an update after the first sampling in a week or two. As far as my American Style Bock is concerned (see below), it may be a bust. I used the Munton’s yeast that came with the kit and should have known better. I believe the off flavor, sour bitterness comes from that yeast strain. Next extract kit that I make, I will be sure to replace the cheap dry yeast with a good strain or simply go with a White Labs liquid yeast strain. I am holding on to hope wit the Bock and will sit on the bottles for another month or two to see if the sour bitterness settles out. Time will tell!

The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), released the new 2008 style guidelines, the first revision since 2004. They are available in several different formats for you to download including a small, pocket sized guide, check it out here!

I’ve been meaning to post my update on my bastardized kolsch recipe for a while now but have been out of commision with the flu lately and  haven’t really been inspired to write. Now that I’m feeling better and have some energy, here are the details straight from beertools:

Kolsch in da hood

6-C Kölsch

Size: 5.0 gal

Efficiency: 46.57%

Attenuation: 78.9%

Calories: 345.28 per 22 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.057 (1.044 - 1.050)

Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.007 - 1.011)

Color: 13.4 (3.5 - 5.0)

Alcohol: 5.89% (4.4% - 5.2%)

Bitterness: 22.47 (20.0 - 30.0)

Ingredients:

3.0 lbs American 2-row

0.5 lbs Caramel Malt 120L

6.6 lbs Liquid Light Extract

1 oz Mt. Hood (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min

1 ea White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch

.5 oz Mt. Hood (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min

.5 oz Mt. Hood (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min

Notes:

Mashed  for 1 hour at 148 -152 Added 1/2 gallon of heated  water at 1/2 hour mark to get temp back up after hitting 148< New temp start 164 with 20 minutes left in mash

Mash volume 1.5 gallons for 3.5 lbs of grain

Rinse with additional 1.5 gallons for 10 minutes at 170

Started boil at 1:20pm

Added 1 oz Mt Hood at 60

Irish Moss 15

1/2 oz Mt Hood at 10

1/2 oz at end

Cooled wort to in ice bath @ 2:20 afer over 40 minutes, was down to 100; poured top off water into fermenter & added wort, temp dropped to 80. Will pitch at 75

Pitched yeast @ 77; attached blowoff tube @ 3:30

Waiting for fermentation to start

Refracto reading was 14 which converts to 1.054 pre fermentation

Took refracto reading on 01/30/08 (10 days into fermentation) and converted to 1.017/Took Hydro reading as well which read 1.012 without adjusting for temp

02/04/08 - Dumped the yeast/trub

02/05/08 - Took refracto once more  - 8 brix; steady at 1.012 and ready to bottle

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.29