My Kolsch. What happened???

[CDS]

I made my first ever batch of Kolsch recently and I’m a little confused about the results. First, I BIAB, and I’m also used to getting very clear samples when I’m testing for gravity. I threw in a photo of a typical brew for comparison. I was expecting similar results for the Kolsch, but instead it’s very very cloudy, and a weird colour. Flavourwise, I’m getting strong citrus - grapefruit to be precise.

Grain bill was:
90% Pilsen malt
7% carapils
3% 2-row malt

Hops:
10g Magnum @ 60 min
28g Huell Melon @ 10 min
28 g Tettnang @ 10 min

Yeast: 1 pkg LalBrew Koln Kolsch

Fining agents: Irish Moss, and gelatin when kegged.

Fermented at 17C, ramped up to 20C over 3 days after fermentation slowed down.
The beer had been kegged and sitting undisturbed at 4C for two weeks.
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.010
ABV: 5.4%

So, any thoughts? Based on the recipe, did I get what you’d expect? Or is something kind of weird here?

 

[rburrelli]

Likely the Huell Melon hops. They are daughter of cascade and can be citrus.

 

[dmtaylor]

Regarding the haze, I have had the same results with K-97. I fear the dried yeast strains for Kolsch are extremely slow to clear. My Kolsch with K-97 eventually cleared but it took several months. Not like Wyeast 2565 or 1007 which still take a long time like 6 weeks, but not months like these dried strains do.

The citrus is from your Huell Melon.

 

[MaxStout]

The cloudiness might be due to polyphenols from the hops and/or malt.

 

[CDS]

Regarding the haze, I have had the same results with K-97. I fear the dried yeast strains for Kolsch are extremely slow to clear. My Kolsch with K-97 eventually cleared but it took several months. Not like Wyeast 2565 or 1007 which still take a long time like 6 weeks, but not months like these dried strains do.

The citrus is from your Huell Melon.

Thanks. I wondered about the yeast. First time using dried. It was also very slow to get going...I don't think I say any activity for a full two days, and even then it seemed much less vigorous than what I usually see with other liquid strains. Anyway, the beer is quite drinkable...just not what I was hoping for out of a Kolsch.

 

[couchsending]

You need to pitch twice as much of that Kolsch yeast as you would other dry yeast from lallemand. It doesn’t take to drying well and has really low cells/gram. They have a pitch rate calculator on their web site.