I Got Berried!: Strawberry Kolsch

First off, apologies, it has been too long since my last post.  Ed and I both moved, so we've been spending more time transporting beer and equipment than using it.  I did get married though, and we made beer for it, so have I got a post for you!

What to make, what to make, what to make?  Liz and I have a handful of Battery Brewing beers that are important to us. One of our first dates was to pick strawberries so that I could brew with them.  Our first kiss was after a homebrew release party for a Blood Orange American Wheat Ale.  The list goes on, but I'll spare you the mushy stuff.  But this presents a quandary for any homebrewer, when you're brewing for a special event, how do you decide?  What's on your mind?

Do you do something new and bold?

Do you do something you've done a bunch before and are fairly confident in?

Will you get bottle blowups from over-carbonation with everyone in their nice clothes?

What happens if it doesn't turn out?  

Should I brew separate batches to plan for the worse?

What if people don't like it?

Do I need to provide cups so people don't get the yeasties?

What if I get floaters in there?

Am I giving myself enough time for it to mature?

Fruity, dark, hoppy, bitter?

No one's going to touch it, right?

I worry a lot.  I should have it checked out.  Does anyone else secretly dread a big event they're sharing a beer or do you embrace it fully?

We chose a Strawberry Kolsch that I've been brewing with Ed every year since I've met Liz.  It is very drinkable when it works.  It is reasonably drinkable when it doesn't.  It is light and refreshing, so it transcends even inexperienced pallets.  And it is a brew I'm particularly proud of.

It also means we get to go on a You Pick 'Em Adventure!  Ed and Lex joined us.  (We actually pit-stopped at the Flying Barrel to pick up homebrew supplies on the way...or out of the way, depending if you're Ed/Kevin or Liz/Lex)

Liz and I en route to berries...Tip #1, wear red, so you don't stain your shirt
Tip #2, Wear your Flying Dog T-Shirt, and you get compliments on it all day.  

Ed and Lex on the hay ride to the berries

Still happy with each other, even after the field work

Our first foray with this brew, we used a Weizenbier kit with Kolsch Yeast.  The next year we experimented (full on Kolsch kit, speciality grains, timing of strawberry addition, secondaries), but we found that the first year we got it mostly right, so we tried to recreate it.  We've been trying to move beyond traditional kits lately, to both be more adventurous and save coin, and the homebrew store doesn't always have the kit you need!  We used a Kolsch yeast,  3.3 pounds of LME, 1 pounds Pilsen DME, and 2 pounds wheat DME.  We used about 1 pound of strawberries at about 40 minutes, then 2 pounds at about 50 minutes of a 60 minute boil.  We used a mix of both sliced and pureed berries.  We also boiled with sliced/juiced lemon to give it a bit more sour flavor, and in our experience the lemon brings out the flavor of the strawberries.  At 35 minutes we used a 1/2 ounce of German Magnum hops at 50 minutes for bittering, and 1/2 an ounce of US Perle hops at 55 minutes for aroma.

Ignore my awesome hair

Lemon peels dropped into the boil



We used sliced and pureed, surface area
and strainability in mind

 

Since they're being added late in the boil,
we cook the berries to get rid of any bacteria

If you haven't built a wort chiller for cheap yet, do it now!

Filtering out the pulp

 

We let it ferment, which started in about a day and half and completed after about 5 days.  On day 6 we added about a pound of pureed berries in for the secondary, and let it sit for another 3 days.  Then we bottled, using a mixture of honey and priming sugar, let it do its magic for a week, then started doing the nervous taste testing.

Pureed berries boiled for the secondary addition

It was pleasant after a week, and even better after 2 weeks.  I was very excited it appeared to have turned out!

Now for the presentation!  Of course, this is for a celebration!  Check back next week for some great information on how we made labels, attached them to bottles, and decided on the beer selection for the wedding.  I never labeled my beers before, so the designing was fun.

Strawberry Kolsch Round 1

I'm trying to go back and document some of the older brews...so this post has us going back to late May 2010...our (Ed, Liz, and I) first go at Strawberry Kolsch. 

Clearly I'm putting some sweat equity into this batch.  The next year when we went strawberry picking, and we had to overhear this guy talk about Freezer Jam for 2 hours...a running joke between Liz and I.

This picture was taken about half way through our haul...we actually went back the next year to remake this in 2 batches. Having so many berries on one another starts the bruising process pretty early, so upon getting home, I was quick to sort out the good from the bad, washed and pureed the worse off ones, and froze them so I'd be ready to go when we brewed the next weekend.

We originally had the intent of making a strawberry  beer using a lighter wheat beer like an American Wheat or even a Pale Ale.  The guy at the homebrew store suggested strawberries might pair well with a Kolsch.  We were at the Falls Church Homebrew store, which is a bit small and claustrophobic, we so eagerly took his advice.  It turns out he gave us a Weizenbier kit with a Kolsch yeast, since there was no Kolsch kit in the store.  This ended up working even better than a traditional Kolsch kit, as we confirmed the next year when we made both a 5 gallon batch of the Weizenbier kit with Kolsch yeast and a traditional Kolsch kit.  It produced a much sweeter product than a spicier tasting Kolsch kit would have produced on its own.  We pureed about 3 pounds of strawberries for the primary.  For the secondary, we used about a pound of halved strawberries boiled with lemon slices.  The lemon is supposed to add some sourness to the strawberry taste, making the taste even stronger.  We started the secondary about 7 days in, and then let that sit about 7 more days before bottling with some honey and priming sugar.

 The picture on the left is soon after fermentation started and the second picture shows the secondary. You can see the reddish tent in the secondary.  This batch was great, and a big hit with our friends.  The next year, we made a double batch, playing around with things a bit more, trying to amp up the alcohol content a bit, varying the ingredients like I mentioned earlier, and just trying to refine the flavor.  We didn't match the original awesomeness of this batch, but we were happy to have 10 gallons of it this time around.