Citrus-Mint Spring Kolsch

After staring at countless bags of dried mint from the garden for a while and wondering how I would ever use it up considering the amount of various mints that grow in the front yard beds all summer long, I settled on making a mint beer. I have used mint in small proportions in various beers and never in an amount that offered even a trace of the menthol trait of the herb. Lemon pairs well with mint and I thought it would provide a nice compliment and help balance the flavor. In the past I have made very lemon forward beers in a Kolsch style beer, and I happened to have some citrusy American hops around. And thus, a recipe was born. Hopefully this will be a nice refreshing spring beer.



Mint, Coriander, Chamomile, Lemon Zest



My friend Quinn was over and helped out with the brew day as well as an apple cider we made while the mash was resting. It was nice to have Quinn around to help zest fruit, which is a job I greatly dislike. While this started out to be a Kolsch, the yeast unfortunately was bunk and after a day and a half, I added Safbrew T-58 to the fermenter and it took off. So, in the end, it isn't a Kolsch at all. The result of the shit slant of White Labs was not only a waste of $8, but forced me to make adjustments to other recipes all week. This is not the first time that White Labs from my LHBS has not worked when purchased past its expiration date. At bottling I will assess the flavor and add a tea steeped with lemon zest to brighten the flavor and possibly more mint if necessary.

Citrus-Mint Kolsch Recipe:



Quinn zesting lemons

 Specifics:
Batch Size: 5.25g
OG: 1.050
TG: 1.011
SRM: 4.61
IBU: 29.7

Grain:
7 lbs. Pils
1 lbs. Wheat Malt
.5 lbs. Carapils
.5 lbs. Munich 10L
.25 lbs. Caramel 20L

Hops:
1 oz Hallertau at 60 min
.5 oz Hallertau at 30 min
1 oz Cascade at 10 min
1 oz Cascade at flameout

Yeast:
WLP 029 German Ale/Kolsch (didn't begin fermentation)
Safbrew T-58 (pitched at 1.5 days after fermentation did not begin)

Extras:
Dried Mint Leaves (three quart bags) at flameout
Chamomile (small amount) at flameout
Lemon (7, zest only) at flameout
Coriander (1 gram, crushed) at flameout

Notes:
Single infusion mash at 157F.