Saturday morning, I had to get up early and drive to Syracuse for work (some stupid conference), and then I got back home late. A buddy was coming over because he wanted to see what home brewing was all about, so I didn't even get to check my ingredients until the absolute last minute. It turns out that the kit had ONLY Pilsen extract. Now, I don't know a LOT about Kolsch, but I do know that a good malty backbone is important, and that the Munich malt helps to create that. So, as a last minute decision, I threw in a half pound of aromatic malt (steeped). I know that aromatic malt can also help with the maltiness, but I didn't have a clue how much to add. So my recipe ended up being:
1/2 lbs Aromatic Malt - steep for 1/2 hour
6 lbs Pilsen LME
1 lb Pilsen DME
1 1/4 oz Argentina Cascade - 60 min (3.2 AA)
3/4 oz Argentina Cascade - 30 min (3.2 AA)
And the Wyeast Kolsch yeast.
This is also trying a new hop (due to a shortage of Hallertauer), and I must say I like the aroma of the Argentina Cascade. Nothing like American Cascade. I just hope it turns out good!
So, did I do anything horribly wrong with my last minute attempt at creativity?
The rest of the brew day went relatively well, once I finally got everything organized. I hate waiting until the last minute to get prepared, especially when someone is coming over to watch/help. I was running around the house frantically looking for one thing or another. Two or three times he actually quoted me "Relax, Don't worry, have a home brew".
But, in the end my friend and I had fun, we drank a lot of beer, and the Kolsch is fermenting in the basement at 60 degrees.
