We are giving the Kolsch style another run. Our last attempt yielded a good beer except for the overwhelming flavor of band aids. Yes, chlorophenolic hell.
It was so bad that we dumped the entire batch. Not fun.
This time was not without drama as we had super efficiency (initial measurement is close to 90%), a yeast that does not want to start and yet another boilover.
Solutions:
The boilover was before the hop addition (low alpha Hallertau) so we did not lose any bittering. We now have a spray bottle full of water on hand to stop this from repeating.
The efficiency leaves us with a beer that had an OF of 1.060 when we were shooting for 1.048. We will add some water to thin it out before we pitch.
The yeast problem will resolve itself, hopefully, as the starter has been going for only 22 hours. If not, we buy 4 more yeast units and pitch straight from the vials.
The wort tasted fantastic. Hoping this one works.
We also spent some time kegging the blonds we brewed last time. They had a very vigorous fermentation.
We also spent some of the 90 minute mash and 90 minute boil cleaning kegs and our big fridge. Strange to see it empty.
Los Angeles Brewers 