Devil’s Purse Brewing Co.
Dear Replicator,
While on a trip to Cape Cod this summer we tried a beer brewed by Devil’s Purse Brewing Co. in South Dennis, Massachusetts called Handline Kölsch. We have had Kölsch in Germany and this was as good as, if not better, than those. The depth of flavor in this 5% ABV beer is remarkable. According to their website it’s hopped with Vanguard, but could you further illuminate this beer for me?
Dale Markwardt
Strawberry Plains, Tennessee
Great request Dale! It’s not every day that I get a request for a Kölsch let alone one that is comparable to its progenitors from Germany. Confirming your opinion, the more I asked around about Handline, the more praise of the beer I received. Although the recipe is fairly simple, it’s a style that will challenge even the best brewer as any error is magnified from a lack of intense flavors and aromas that could mask minor brewing or fermentation flaws.
Devil’s Purse opened in 2015 in Massachusetts under the careful planning and watchful eye of Mike Segerson. Mike, a New England native, spent quite a bit of time traveling to Cape Cod in his youth. Maybe it was building sandcastles on the beach, or the access to quality seafood, or the ambience of the Cape that guided Mike to the decision to stay and open . . . a winery. Yes, you read that right; a winery. He started his fermentation career working at Truro Vineyards, a small winery located way up on the outer Cape. According to him, “I wanted to be a winemaker, but also wanted to live on the Cape. Not that it’s impossible to make a nice wine here, but I found that brewing seemed like the better choice. You can make beer however you really want and not have to be tied to one ingredient. Obviously, grains and hops can be difficult too, but it’s much easier to substitute in my opinion. For example, you can make a Kölsch that resembles the beer that can only be made in Germany, but it would be impossible to make a Nebbiolo-based wine, like a Barolo, in Massachusetts at all, let alone something that resembles the wines made in the Barbaresco region in Italy.” It’s tough to argue with that.
Devil’s Purse is located in the Mid-Cape region of Cape Cod in a popular summer destination. This location proved to be a challenge since demand for their beer right out of the gate was highly seasonal. Fermentation capacity would be maxed out during the busy warmer months, but could be knocked down to a trickle when colder months arrived since they started on a taproom and draft-only business model. Mike and his partner in the business, Mike Belson, knew they needed to expand their reach to keep their beers flowing year-round.
Devil’s Purse clearly bucks that trend. Their flagship beers are a Kölsch, an ESB, and a classic American IPA.
Their brewery and associated taproom are similar to many local craft breweries in this country in that they’re not producing 100,000 BBLs of beer. Currently, the brewery boasts a 7-BBL DME Process Systems brewhouse that put out 1,000 BBLs in 2018. But that’s where the similarities may end. In this age of differentiation and market competition, more and more breweries are inclined to produce beers that pay the bills regardless of what the owners and brewers actually desire to brew. Devil’s Purse clearly bucks that trend. Their flagship beers are a Kölsch, an ESB, and a classic American IPA. Occasionally on tap you’ll also likely find their Intertidal Oyster Stout, which contains locally-harvested oysters, an easy-drinking table beer, an imperial British stout called South Channel, and a handful of IPAs. They brew what they want to drink, all the while being able to keep the lights on.
Handline Kölsch’s success was rapid enough that they couldn’t keep up with its demand, especially through the summer months. Through the years distribution has grown through Massachusetts and has since spread into the neighboring New England states of Connecticut, Maine, and Rhode Island. Instead of trying to expand the entire brewery operations to compensate, Mike opted to go the contract brewing route on their mainstay beers like Handline and their ESB instead. During this business venture, he dealt with using different water sources and the myriad of effects it can cause (mash pH, balance of flavors, perception of bitterness) as well as the inherent trust factor of having someone else take care of your proverbial baby. But the brewers at Isle Brewers Guild out of Pawtucket, Rhode Island came through! A quick review of their ratings online show this relationship has proven to be a healthy one.
If you’re not one of the fortunate individuals living in New England, then you probably won’t have access to this quality Kölsch. For the rest of us, Mike was gracious to provide us mere mortals with the recipe. He prefers using continental malts such as Weyermann to provide as much authenticity as possible. The Vienna malt is present to provide additional malt complexity while still allowing the beer to dry out in the end. As for yeast, Devil’s Purse uses strains from Brewers Science Institute (BSI), a yeast provider for commercial brewing operations. But similarly attenuating and flavor generating strains can be commonly found from homebrew-scale yeast providers. For additional information, check out the “Tips for Success” at the end of the recipe.
Devil’s Purse Brewing Co.’s Handline Kölsch clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.009
IBU = 20 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.1%
Ingredients
7.25 lbs. (3.29 kg) Pilsner malt
2.75 lbs. (1.25 kg) Vienna malt
5 AAU Vanguard hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
2.5 AAU Vanguard hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 5% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch) or White Labs WLP003 (German Ale II) or SafAle K-97 yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Start with either soft water, reverse osmosis (RO) water, or distilled water. Mill the grains, then mix with strike water at a 1.25 qts./lb. (2.6 L/kg) water-to-grain ratio, or 3.1 gallons (11.8 L) of 165 °F (74 °C) strike water to achieve a single infusion rest temperature of 148 °F (64 °C). Adjust water with calcium salts and 88% lactic acid to stabilize mash pH at 5.3. Hold at this temperature for 60 minutes. Mashout to 170 °F (77 °C) if desired.
Vorlauf until your runnings are clear before directing them to your boil kettle. Batch or fly sparge the mash and run-off to obtain 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the times indicated in the ingredients list. At 15 minutes left in boil, you may want to add either Irish moss or Whirlfloc as fining agents.
After the boil, rapidly chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C) then pitch a healthy amount of yeast, higher than your standard ale pitch rate. Maintain this temperature during active fermentation in order to prevent too much yeast character.
Once primary fermentation is complete, and the beer has settled, you can bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.6 volumes. Alternatively, if you can, cold lager the beer for about one month.
Devil’s Purse Brewing Co.’s Handline Kölsch clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.047 FG = 1.009
IBU = 20 SRM = 5 ABV = 5%
Ingredients
4 lbs. (1.81 kg) dried malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) liquid Vienna malt extract
5 AAU Vanguard hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
2.5 AAU Vanguard hops (5 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 5% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2565 (Kölsch) or White Labs WLP003 (German Ale II) or SafAle K-97 yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 6.5 gallons (25 L) of water to roughly 150 °F (66 °C). Add the malt extracts, with stirring, before heating to a boil. The warmer water will help to dissolve the extracts. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the indicated times left in the boil. At 15 minutes left in boil, you may want to add either Irish moss or Whirlfloc as fining agents.
After the boil, rapidly chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C). Pitch yeast. Maintain fermentation temperature in order to prevent too colorful of a fermentation character.
Once primary fermentation is complete, and the beer has settled, you can bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.6 volumes. Alternatively, if you can, cold lager the beer for about one month.
Tips for Success:
Although this beer can be brewed using extracts, the best representations will more likely be from all-grain. But, one of the challenges for the all-grain brewer will be in water chemistry management. In the beginning, Devil’s Purse used acidulated malt to help control the mash pH (pH = 5.3) but currently is using 88% food-grade lactic acid. This is important as the South Dennis water is soft so without adjustment, the mash pH will be far too high. If you also read into that last bit, you’ll notice that the carbonates, residual alkalinity, and calcium concentrations are more than likely on the lower side of the spectrum. You may want to consider starting with RO and building up your brewing water profile or diluting your current profile with distilled water. Finally, in the end, this beer just takes patience, unless you have a centrifuge. Cold lagering for a month should provide you with the clarity and crispness you’re looking for.
