Last Minute Kolsch Substitution

[Brew Engineer]

I originally posted this in the Extract Forum, but I thought I'd re-post it here in recipes, hoping I'd get more comments.

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So, I brewed a Kolsch on Saturday evening. I've been really busy lately, so I just purchased a extract Kolsch kit from Northern Brewer. For some reason, I was uner the impression it was very similar to Jamil's recipe, with both Pilsen and Munich Extract.
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.

[Brew Engineer]

To quote the great Ben Stein:

"Bueller...
Bueller...
Bueller..."

Does anyone have any feedback?

[BDawg]

Aromatic malt has very low diastatic power (15 lintner according to the Briess web site), so it can't convert itself, even if it was steeped at proper conversion temps. (~30 lintner is required for a malt to self-convert)

Sorry to break the bad news, bro.

You will probably get a hazy beer out of this. Drink it up quickly, too. Starchy beers tend to be shelf-unstable. 1/2 lb isn't that bad, but still.

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[Brew Engineer]

Ok, so I wont get a lot of fermentables (if any) out of the Aromatic Malt, but wont I still get some of the flavor profile? That Aromatic Malt smelled great when it was steeping!

Thanks for the info BDawg.

[BDawg]

Yeah, you'll get some of the flavor profile, but there will be some starch haze in there with it too.

[Brew Engineer]

Thanks, I'll let you guys know how it turns out in a few weeks.

I generaly don't use a secondary fermentor anymore, but should I rack this into a secondary to let it sit at 55 for a few weeks, or leave it in the primary?

My basement is about 55, and I want to get it out of my temp control so I can make another batch.

[LBrewski]

I recently brewed partial mash IPA with 1lb of Aromatic malt - it is indeed still very hazy after 3 weeks in the keg. I guess I should have tried gelatin.

I actually used an extract recipe for reference when I did this brew, from back when I was doing extract-only, the 2nd kit I tried from Morebeer. It came out very nice, did not seem to be hazy, malt character was excellent so I think it does provide some good flavor contribution in a steep. This is what the kit had (minus the hops):

Urban Knaves of Grain - Nectar IPA - Kit900 Extract

Malt
9 lbs Ultralight LME
.5 lbs Wheat Malt Extract

Grain
1 lb Aromatic
.5 lb Carapils

[KlosterFocke]

BE,
Actually, the best kolsch I've made was using just Pilsner (Now I tell you...).
Not a malty beer, should be pretty delicate. And it gives a beautiful straw color. Wyeast kolsch is superior to WL, and gives a slight grapey aroma if you ferment around 58-60. Also, Tetts go great in kolsch.
Try it next time.

I suspect you'll be able to choke down your creation when it's done, though.