Munich Helles BierMunchers “Helles Belles” (Munich Helles, AG)

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Well your recipe looks like a good grain bill for an APA. The hops and ibu are missing however... Changing the pilsner malt for 2 row brought you more towards an APA.
Good luck.
 
crazyirishman34 said:
I guess that my question would be why Kolsh and not a Munich Lager?

I did this recipe with both WL Kolsh and WL Munich Helles yeast. I found the Kolsh was sweeter but took longer to clear - the Helles is nice and malty, especially with a dual decoction mash. Technically the Helles yeast is more in line with the style but both were mighty tasty! If you are kegging I'd recommend either - if bottling I'd recommend the Helles yeast.
 
quick question, this recipe requires a 90 minute mash and a 90 minute boil? How would I maintain temperatures in my mash tun over 90 min? I tend to find they drop about 5 deg over 60 min.
 
E-rok said:
quick question, this recipe requires a 90 minute mash and a 90 minute boil? How would I maintain temperatures in my mash tun over 90 min? I tend to find they drop about 5 deg over 60 min.

You can always pull a decoction to boil and add back the your mash tun or add additional hot water to increase the temp. If you're feeling adventurous this recipe is great via dual decoction mash.
 
I'm confused how 3 oz of Tett is only 16.4 IBUs. I put those number into Beersmtih and it says it would be 32. Am I missing something?

EDIT: Nevermind, I forgot to cut the hops in half when I scaled down to 5.5 gallons. Good thing I caught that before brewing it..
 
I'm planning on doing this one this weekend with the posted grain bill and Notty. Needing a good summer drinker and this seems to be perfect!

BM - I've found Notty to be cleaner than WLP029 but never tried it in a Pilsner based beer. What are your thoughts on the trade offs when fermented 60 or so? I would think you likely end up with a little less breadiness character as wlp029 tends to give more of the bready/yeasty flavors, along with some fruitiness that wouldn't be to style, than the cleanness you get from Notty cold.
 
Forgot to add, planning on calling it "Notty as Helles" on the tapper - with credit to BM on the whiteboard.
 
I've been looking for a good recipie to try out decoction mashing with and this looks like it might be a winner. These are all medium to highly modified malts so I could get away doing a single decoction, boiling for 20-40 min and still get ask the flavor benefits of the decoction. I don't see a single decoction changing the color that dramatically, and certainly not enough to push this out of style. Just re-read through the thread and it doesn't look like we got feedback on the only decoction brew of this so far. Any one tried it and had results yet?

Also, the name Notty as Helle is just too good to pass up.
 
I made this 3 months ago, per the recipe, BIAB method and used Notty.
I fermented low 60's and it came out very nice.
My best light beer so far, my BMC loving dad wants to drink the whole keg.

To me, the few brews I have used so far with nottingham all have a flavor to them that I dont care for, this brew has the least of "that yeast flavor" that I can not put my finger on exactly that comes from nottingham I believe....(all were fermented 60-62)
I have tried others brews with s-05 and lighter grain bills that have not come close to this.

The first few batches of beer I did with notty I did not hydrate or use oxygen on the wort.
This Helles brew I did both, hydrate the dry yeast and hit it up the wort with pure oxygen.

I want to make this same recipe with a lager yeast and see how it changes things or even my new favorite,super clean yeast, pacman. WLP029 Kolsh yeast is in my future plans also.

good luck to all
thanks Kevin
 
I made this 3 months ago, per the recipe, BIAB method and used Notty.
I fermented low 60's and it came out very nice.
My best light beer so far, my BMC loving dad wants to drink the whole keg.

To me, the few brews I have used so far with nottingham all have a flavor to them that I dont care for, this brew has the least of "that yeast flavor" that I can not put my finger on exactly that comes from nottingham I believe....(all were fermented 60-62)
I have tried others brews with s-05 and lighter grain bills that have not come close to this.

The first few batches of beer I did with notty I did not hydrate or use oxygen on the wort.
This Helles brew I did both, hydrate the dry yeast and hit it up the wort with pure oxygen.

I want to make this same recipe with a lager yeast and see how it changes things or even my new favorite,super clean yeast, pacman. WLP029 Kolsh yeast is in my future plans also.

good luck to all
thanks Kevin

Great to hear. I've found Notty to have a touch of tartness that I don't find objectionable. Is this the 'yeast flavor' you are talking about? With the right beer it seems to make it more 'crisp', but have never tried it outside of American hopped APA's. WLP029 comes off fruity to me on the two beers I've brewed with it - which isn't a lot to reference. Never used pacman, but it's on the list to try!
 
Well I brewed this on 6/30. My pump clogged mid mash on the Braumeiester and had a very interesting last 20 minutes of mash. Then i improvised on my new unregulated e-kettle and had a very violent boil. Seems to have worked out ok in the end, other than darkening the beer more than what it was targeted by recipe. Despite a trainwreck of a brew day - I hit my numbers with some water addition to primary and pitched Notty at 58-59F. Dropped to 1009 when checked at 7 days and bumped up to 61F for 4 more days for cleanup before racking into keg today on gelatin. Have it sitting at 30PSI and will leave it there for 24 hours or so before backing down to serving pressure to get a jump start on carbonation. Hope to pull my first sample from the tap this Sunday and will let everyone know the results. The hydrometer samples were good but was hard to judge the malt character given how green/yeasty it was - which is expected at this point. No diacytl or apple going on and shows signs of promise.
 
Initial samples are promising. Still green and a bit of carbonic bite at this point, so the malt is a bit 'hidden' as of now, but expect that to change over a couple more weeks in the keg. Will post final thoughts in a few weeks but it's looking very promising!
 
Very nice beer. On my second mug of "Notty as Helles" and it's highly quaffable. Thanks BM!

image-3218189146.jpg
 
Hey fellow fermenters! I'm working on a recipe for a Sam Adams porch rocker clone which is a Radler style. It's based on a helles beer mixed with lemonade however I know that this is not what Sam did. I believe their recipe is hops, malt, yeast, lemon purée and high fructose corn syrup.

Heres what ive worked out so far for a 5g batch;

1 lbs briess Pilsen DME, 60m
1 oz hallertauer, 60m
4.75 lbs pilsner LME, 15m
1oz hallertauer hersbrucker, 15m

Now I'd rather not add HFCS to my brew so I was thinking of adding 1lbs candi sugar, clear, right at the end of the boil so it will retain some sweetness.

Here's my questions. Would the sweetness retain or would that diminish during the fermentation?

Also how much lemon purée should I use and should I add it after fermentation, at the end of the boil or during the boil?
 
Brewed a double batch of this 3+ weeks ago... I added 1.5 lb of white wheat malt and split the 11.5 gallons with two different yeasts - WLP029 & WY1338(sloooow!). Once we racked off the WLP029 at two weeks, I transferred the other WY1338 half onto the WLP029 yeast cake so it'd finish off sooner. Kegged that second half today with this half going to our friend's annual Oktoberfest party at the end of the month... and the other half to satiate the thirsty masses ;) A very tasty drinkable beer at this point that everyone loves!

My thanks to BierMuncher for sharing this recipe...
JP
 
I have had this in primary for 7 days and it is down to 1.012 using Wyeast Kolsch yeast. I wanted to rack it to a smaller fermenter only for the reason I need the bigger one it is currently in for a brew I would like to do this weekend + I would like to use the yeast cake for this weekend's brew (without doing a starter).

I was planning to leave it in the smaller fermenter for about another 3 weeks then bottle.

Are there any likely issues with moving it at this early stage?
 
el_caro said:
I have had this in primary for 7 days and it is down to 1.012 using Wyeast Kolsch yeast. I wanted to rack it to a smaller fermenter only for the reason I need the bigger one it is currently in for a brew I would like to do this weekend + I would like to use the yeast cake for this weekend's brew (without doing a starter).

I was planning to leave it in the smaller fermenter for about another 3 weeks then bottle.

Are there any likely issues with moving it at this early stage?

What temp are you fermenting at? The kolsch yeast takes a while to clear so if you are fermenting the primary at room temp and you are going to cold crash the secondary and lager I'd let it go at least one month in the secondary. If you are doing everything at room temp I suppose it could be ready in three weeks but that's awfully fast even for a hybrid yeast. If you are fermenting the primary at 52 degrees f I'd let it go at least another week before a diacetyl rest/transfer/cold crash.
 
I have been using WLP029 yeast a lot lately, I just got a little cocky and racked off my Kolsch after a week into a secondary, then Keg, and drinking after 13 days.
So Now....
And now I am learning a lot about Diacetyl and how nasty it smells and tastes.

Today - I have the kegged/carbed beer back into a primary with a big WLP029 starter and hoping this starter will eat the Diacetyl so I dont have to dump 5 gallons of beer that I was really looking forward to drinking.

Lesson learned, dont rush it too much and make sure there is no Diacetyl before you rack it off.

thanks Kevin
 
I think it best that I use another fermentation vessel for the brew I am doing at present and leave this one for a couple more weeks in the same container.
 
Just brewed this today. Added double the carapils by accident. Collected 8.5 gallons of wort and boiled for 90mins, ended up with 5 gallons at 1.049. So I added the half gallon back in water and ended up at 1.043. Pretty close! Mash was right on 154 for 90.
 
Just brewed this today. Added double the carapils by accident. Collected 8.5 gallons of wort and boiled for 90mins, ended up with 5 gallons at 1.049. So I added the half gallon back in water and ended up at 1.043. Pretty close! Mash was right on 154 for 90.

Double the Cara is fine. You'll have rock solid head retention. :mug:
 
Wanted to post my results with this recipe. First, it's been awhile since I've brewed, between family and a couple of moves and job changes it's been a crazy year. This is the second brew that got me back into home brewing after four good years of brewing my own.

Anyways, I brewed this on 12/13/12 using White Labs 029 (kolsch) yeast. Primary for about 21 days, an average temp of around 62-64. Kegged and stored around 50 degrees on average in my garage for the last month. Carb'd and tapped for about a week now... What a great beer! It's wonderful to look at, clearest beer I have made with a thick white head. A "bready" taste, it's light at first but the malt really gets you after the initial taste. It's an excellent version of a good Munich Helles. I spent a week in Munich last September and drank plenty of Helles during Oktoberfest, this reminds me of my trip.

I have another 5 gallons kegged for the last month of this same recipe, although I used a lager yeast for this one, WLP838 Southern German Lager. Primary around 50 degrees for 30 days. I'm very excited to try it after the success with this version.

Cheers!

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It's wonderful to look at, clearest beer I have made with a thick white head.

Looks really good. Mine was like that for a few weeks in keg, then I added Gelatin Finings about a week ago. Since then it has been super clear, which matches the crisp taste. Great brew, glad I did 10 gallons as well.

ForumRunner_20130213_170537.jpg
 
Looks really good. Mine was like that for a few weeks in keg, then I added Gelatin Finings about a week ago. Since then it has been super clear, which matches the crisp taste. Great brew, glad I did 10 gallons as well.

View attachment 100959

That's a good looking beer, incredibly clear. I have gelatin finings in the fridge but failed to put them in this batch.
 
Just kegged and tapped this. Waited overnight to let the beer settle, but its still pretty cloudy. Can see particles floating around in there. It tastes great though. Has somewhat of a lemony flavor. Is this from the hopps? I fermented for 2 weeks and then lagered for a week or so.
 
Munich Helles is a very light German beer that was created in Munich in 1895 at the Spaten brewery by Gabriel Sedlmayr to compete with Pilsner-style beers. It is a malt-accentuated beer that is not overly sweet, but rather focuses on malt flavor with underlying hop bitterness in a supporting role.

This is the kind of beer I expect to taste when I see those pictures of huge mugs at a German beerfest. Very pilsner like in color, but the head retention suits this malty beverage just perfect. I added some Vienna to really bring out the malt profile.

A very simple recipe, this beer is also easy on the hops budget. For a 5.5 gallon batch, just divide everything in half.

View attachment 3780


Batch Size: 11.50 gal
Boil Size: 13.16 gal
Estimated OG: 1.041 SG
Estimated Color: 3.7 SRM
View attachment 3779
Estimated IBU: 16.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

View attachment 3778

Ingredients:
------------

15.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)

3.00 oz Tettnang [3.20%] (60 min)

1 Pkgs German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029) Yeast-Ale

Irish Moss, 15 minutes

Mash at 154 for 90 minutes.


I've brewed this twice in the last 5 weeks and it's a real favorite. At only 3.8%, you can imagine filling a few large mugs and quaffing this on a cold afternoon.

Here's mine, second from the left...Clearer than the picture shows...

View attachment 3781


I did something similar, only I used 5 pounds of Pils and 3 pounds each of Munich and Vienna. For hops I used all of the "Noble" hops and made a medley of all 4 and it turned out awesome:

Photo%20Feb%2019%2C%207%2054%2007%20PM.jpg


I want to enter this into NHC and had planned on entering it in the Kolsch category, but should it be in the 1D Munich Helles category?
 
Brutus Brewer said:
I did something similar, only I used 5 pounds of Pils and 3 pounds each of Munich and Vienna. For hops I used all of the "Noble" hops and made a medley of all 4 and it turned out awesome:

I want to enter this into NHC and had planned on entering it in the Kolsch category, but should it be in the 1D Munich Helles category?

I wondered the same. Could you enter it in 1D if you didn't you a lager yeast? It's closer to a Helles than a Kolsch but you are using a Kolsch yeast.
 
I wondered the same. Could you enter it in 1D if you didn't you a lager yeast? It's closer to a Helles than a Kolsch but you are using a Kolsch yeast.

I used the Wyeast 1007 German Ale Yeast, but it comes across more like a Helles like you said.
 
And would this come out similarly if the Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast is used? This looks like fun to do. Especially when I don't have the temperature control set-up to do lagers.
 
And would this come out similarly if the Wyeast 2565 Kolsch yeast is used? This looks like fun to do. Especially when I don't have the temperature control set-up to do lagers.

I don't know about the 2565 and how it would end up. I bought a smack pack of both and ended up using the 1007, I may brew this up and use the 2565 since I have it to see how it differs.
 
Brewed this a few weeks ago and split the batch. Fermented half with WLP029, and the other with WLP080. Decided to bottle them for the true German feel, but calculated my priming sugar based on 10 gallons and only actually had 8. It will probably wind up at about 3.5 volumes :eek:

On bottling the two tasted a lot different. WLP080 was much clearer, and also more bitter. The 029 was very malty and smooth. I'm very interested to see how they compare once they've brightened up.
 
Brewed 11 gal of this recipe Sunday night. Since I don't have the capability to lager, I used US05 one one bucket and S04 on the other. While not a lager, I am sure it'll taste great. Being an ale, I am planning to have it on tap by Oktoberfest! Thanks for sharing!
 
Last night, I kegged the US05 batch. OG was 1.048, FG was 1.006 making it 5.6% ABV. This was my first pilsner and though it's an ale, the hydro sample tasted amazing. While flat, it was clean and balanced.
 
Last night, I kegged the US05 batch. OG was 1.048, FG was 1.006 making it 5.6% ABV. This was my first pilsner and though it's an ale, the hydro sample tasted amazing. While flat, it was clean and balanced.

What did you mash at to get it to finish at 1.006?

thanks Kevin
 
Kevin,

154 for 115 min (getting kids to bed took longer than anticipated!). I think between the long mash and the use of US05, it got me down that low. I haven't checked my other bucket, where I used S04 but I suspect that it would be have a higher FG.
 
I used the Wyeast 1007 German Ale Yeast, but it comes across more like a Helles like you said.

I've got a spare pack of old 1007, was thinking of making this to use it up. How would this beer fare at 16deg in primary and no lager for a summer brew?
 
I'm planning on making this within the next few weeks. I've never really made a lager (i know this is psuedo-lager). Following completion of fermentation, I only have space to lager 1 keg at a time. Will it hurt the beer, or make it funky, if i cold condition for a week or two prior to drinking and let the other stay at room temperature in the keg? I would then cold condition the other prior to drinking. Any harm in leaving one at room temp until consumption?
 
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