Leaving aside particular styles of beers I want to drink, there are a number of other considerations that go into homebrewing. Some of those things are experimentation and cost. If I can save a few dollars when brewing, I will try to do so. But I also like to try new things and experiment. So this is where yeast culturing comes in.
I like Kolsch but honestly haven't had a lot of it over the years. And when I buy yeast, I typically try to brew with it multiple times, so it never seemed to make sense - at least to my cheapskate self - to purchase a Kolsch yeast and only use it once, since I wouldn't generally be making multiple Kolsch batches.
After purchasing a four-pack of Riggs Kolsch back in the spring and noticing the beer was quite hazy, I decided to see if I could culture the yeast from a can. It worked well. The yeast took off, and I contacted the brewery to ask about the strain. They replied that they use BSI-29. There is not much information about this particular yeast on the internet, but according to BSI, it is similar to WLP029.
I continued feeding the yeast until I had enough to pitch as a starter, in May 2023. The night of the brew, I recall that the starter had an apple-y aroma. I was nervous about that but decided to take the risk. And what a big risk. I've been burned by bad yeast so many times in the past. Anyhow, everything was fine. The fermentation was fairly slow and did not form a big krausen.
Despite the smell of the starter, the beer turned out great. It cleared nicely over time, even though I did not use gelatin. It had a very nice grainy flavor and no yeast off flavors. Not a lot of hop flavor as I recall. This was a well-balanced beer and a recipe that I would love to brew again.
Recipe for 5 gallons (inspired by beerandbrewing.com):
7.5 lbs German pilsner
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