Quote:
Originally Posted by Tetragrammaton
I'm reviving this topic. Could you suggest an all-grain or partial-mash clone recipe for this beer? I'm mainly concerned about the hops. Should I just use German hops like Tettnanger I'll be fine?
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In general, as far as ingredients go, Helles are some of the simplest brews (next to SMASHes), yet one of the most difficult to perfect due to the attention to detail required in the procedures.
One can brew a wonderful Helles with just 100% German Pilsener malt, one or two types of German noble hops, and a couple (to a few) packets of Saflager W-34/70 dry yeast. Or you can get a little more complicated and add a small percentage of Cara-pils and/or Melanoidin malt and/or more hop types.
A good simple recipe is:
97.5% German Pilsener malt
2.5% Cara-pils malt
OG = 1.047
Do a single infusion mash at ~66°C for 60 min. or do a step infusion or direct heat step mash at 61°C for 45 min. and 70°C for 30 min. Either way, mash out at 76°C. You could also do a decoction, but that gets more complicated, time consuming and questionable in regards to cost/benefit. You can get plenty maltiness from German Pilsener malt without doing a decoction.
Boil = 90 min. Use 21 IBUs any German noble-type hops (or combination) at 60 min. (You can use Tettnang or any of the Hallertau types like Hallertauer, Mittelfrueh, Hersbrucker, Tradition). Also, add 1/4 to 1/2 oz. (per 5 gallon batch) any German noble-type hop at flame out. I find this adds a touch of aroma that is pleasantly noticeable as you bring the glass to your mouth.
Chill it down to as cold as you can get it before pitching yeast... anything at 10°C or a little less is good. Pitch at least 2 rehydrated packs of Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 per 5 gallons (use the rehydrating instructions from their website). Let this ferment for about 8-10 days at 10°C if you plan to do a diacetyl rest and raise the temp. to ~16°C for a couple days and let it finish fermenting. If you don't want to do a D-rest (probably not absolutely necessary if the yeast is pitched cold), just let it ferment out at 10°C. This should take about 2 weeks or slightly less. Your FG should be somewhere around 1.011.
At around the 2 week mark, transfer it to a secondary vessel and slowly lower the temp by about 2°C per day to around 1°C and let it lager for 6 weeks. Then bottle or keg.
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