need some advice on which yeast

[Twah]

Hey Y'all

I'm going to brew a Kolsch soon after I finish my brew cart addition. Anyway, I'm going to brew a 10 gallon batch of Pilsner malt (probably will add a small percentage of Munich malt based on Jamil's recipe), Tradition and Hallertauer Herbrucker hops.

Half the batch with be made with Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast.

I'm looking for suggestions for what yeast to use in the other half of the batch. I was thinking maybe an Abbey/Trappist yeast? I have only made 1 beer with a Trappist yeast (Wyeast 3787) for a Patersbier kit from Northern Brewer and it was really tasty. I don't care about brewing to style on this half of the batch, I just want to play with a yeast strain that will produce something that I don't usually do. I love English and American style ales so I've always brewed stuff like that but now I'm finally trying to branch out to the east some more.

Thanks

[dmtaylor]

How about a saison? 'Tis the season for saison! The dry Danstar Belle Saison yeast is fantastic! Takes about 3.5 weeks to hit final gravity, but it's well worth the wait.

You can also make a very interesting beer with a witbier yeast like WLP400. Ends up with a slight pear or apple flavor -- very tasty, even without any wheat it will do this.

Sky's the limit.

[BDawg]

I really like both of Dave's suggestions.
One more is to use a German Hefeweizen yeast like WLP380 or Wyeast 3068. You'll get a nice beer even if there isn't any wheat in there.

[dmtaylor]

I like BDawg's idea too.

[Twah]

Thanks for the suggestions. I really like saisons and that is a route I could take. But a hefe yeast would be interesting for sure. Guessing both saison and hefe yeasts will complement the malt profile and both should create a totally different beer from the Kölsch, which I'm looking for. I'm just wanting to fill my kegs up and play with yeasts to see how things change with just a different yeast.

I'm going to go back and forth on a saison and a hefe until I get my brew cart finish. Hefe yeast will definitely be more out there than just a saison yeast so maybe I'm at 65-35 hefe yeast.

Thanks y'all, appreciate the info and if you think of anything else to try let me know.

Thanks

[cdburg]

It's probably a boring option, but I've enjoyed doing a lot of side by side comparisons with Wyeast and White Labs or two different strains from the same manufacturer. Wyeast Kolsch vs. White Labs Kolsch taught me a lot about their differences (I like Wyeast better in terms of flavor, but White Labs clears much faster). Wyeast Kolsch I vs Wyeast Kolsch II (seasonal) was interesting too.

If you don't want 10 gallons of Kolsch, it's not a good option, but these kinds of "experiments" have been an interesting way for me learn and compare yeast strains.

[Twah]

Thanks for the tip, I thought about doing the comparison between yeast vendors. Or doing the general kolsch yeast vs the seasonal kolsch yeast.

As much as I'd like to do the comparison, I don't have any beer, had a bash with lots of beer drinkers and they drank my Irish ale, Kolsch and most of my Patersbier. I just want to get my beer volume up again and to make enough of a difference so people have some more to choose from.

I'm going to run the Kolsch, probably Wyeast, I've always used them and have had excellent results, I get pretty loyal when i find something that works so well. As for the other batch, I think I'm going to go with a Hefe yeast so it'll be really a way out fermentation from the Kolsch yeast.

On the comparison bit, I did make two exact IPA's (grain bills and hops bills) but I had to use a Wyeast 1272 and whatever the White Labs equivalent yeast. Rebel brewer was out of the Wyeast so I'll get to do some comparison. But the White Labs yeast IPA was fermented with Oranges so hopefully it'll be an orange IPA. Both are dry hopping and that'll finish tomorrow and I'll keg and I'll get carbonating.

thanks for the help!