So, you are asking..."What makes an Alt beer, Alt?" Alt beers are oddities in the world of brewing because they don't fit into the 2 main categories of beers, that being Ale and Lager. Alt beers are actually both. An Alt beer is fermented and Infused the same way any other Ale would be. The big difference is that it generally uses a hybrid Lager yeast. This is done because once fermented, the Alt beer is then placed into a cool to cold, Lager for conditioning. Meaning, an Alt beer is both Lager and Ale, hence "Alt". Kölsch is the original Alt beer. It utilizes a relatively mild Lager of around 45 - 50 degrees. It was called a "Cellar" beer for this reason because it was lagered in basement cellars in the traditional recipes from Cologne, Germany where it first surfaced. Glengarry's rendition of this classic utilizes a slightly cooler 40 degree lager that turns out a generally less opaque yellow beer. Grain Bill, and specifications for Cathedral Kölsch below as follows.
Grain Bill:
- 8.7 lbs Pilsner
- 1.3 lbs 2 Row (2L)
Hops:
- 1 oz Tettnanger @ start of boil
- 1 oz Tettnanger @ 30 mins remaining
Adjuncts: None
Yeast: White Labs WLP029 or Wyeast 2565 Kolsch
Infusion Process:
- 15 mins rest @ 120 degrees
- 15 mins rest @ 140 degrees
- 30 mins rest @ 152 degrees
- raise to 170 degrees, mash out.
- 60 min boil, cool, transfer to fermenter.
Ferment: 14 - 21 days ^ 60 degrees, rack off to lager.
Lager: 21 days @ 40 degrees
OG: ~ 1.054
FG: ~ 1.026
ABV: ~ 6.0%