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

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BierMuncher

...My Junk is Ugly...
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
12,440
Reaction score
952
Location
St. Louis, MO
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WLP029
Yeast Starter
Yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
11
Original Gravity
1.041
Final Gravity
1.009
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
16.4
Color
3.7
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 Days at 66 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
Racked to kegs and chilled
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.

Helles_Mugs.jpg


Batch Size: 11.50 gal
Boil Size: 13.16 gal
Estimated OG: 1.041 SG
Estimated Color: 3.7 SRM
Helles_Color.jpg
Estimated IBU: 16.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Helles_Ratio.jpg

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...

Sample1.jpg
 
My LHBS only sells wyeast. What would you suggest as a substitute? Would a kolsch yeast work or am I better off ordering WLP029 online?
 
drunkatuw said:
My LHBS only sells wyeast. What would you suggest as a substitute? Would a kolsch yeast work or am I better off ordering WLP029 online?
Any Kolsch yeast will do. I've used the Wyeast Kolsch in the past and it is good. The WLP just happenned to be a slurry that the guys at a local micro pulled off for me when I was visiting there.
 
I saved a "Helles Bells" recipe here about 9 months ago... it has finally been born.
 
Hey BM, I just brewed this a week ago and plan on bottling. How long do you usually age it chilled before you start drinking it?
 
Ice9 said:
Hey BM, I just brewed this a week ago and plan on bottling. How long do you usually age it chilled before you start drinking it?
It's a light grain bill and a low IBU.

I believe I keg conditioned in the garage (40 dgrees) for 1 week then right to the chiller and within 3-4 days it was pretty brilliant. It did get two full weeks in the primary though.
 
I fell a little behind in brewing (it was too cold to brew outside in MN from Jan and most of Feb), and I now have this in my kegerator after only 6 weeks. It's still pretty cloudy. It was in primary for 1 week, secondary for 2 weeks and kegged and on gas for 3 weeks. How long does it typically take for kolsch yeast to clear up?
 
As you might've noticed from my sig, this style is on my to-brew list. I have a vial of southern german lager yeast waiting for it. I haven't crafted my recipe yet, but it'll probably be much like this one. Mostly pilsner, a touch of munich, maybe a smidge of melanoidin (I'd do a decoction mash, but I'm afraid it might affect the color too much, so melanoidin malt is the next best thing). Looks like JZ's recipe is about the same as that. I'll probably use Crystal hops as I don't have any Tett. I'm psyched to try this style...it'll have to wait until after the France trip, but I think I'll brew this the same day as the XXX Old Ale. A couple of new styles for MHBC...helles yeah!
 
drunkatuw said:
I fell a little behind in brewing (it was too cold to brew outside in MN from Jan and most of Feb), and I now have this in my kegerator after only 6 weeks. It's still pretty cloudy. It was in primary for 1 week, secondary for 2 weeks and kegged and on gas for 3 weeks. How long does it typically take for kolsch yeast to clear up?
I'm assuming it's chilled?

Kolsch is a slow, thorough yeast.

It can take up to 5-6 weeks at cold temps to clear. REgardless, the flavor will be awesome regardless of the clarity.
 
So I think I mistook "green" beer with DMS. This was my first brew with pilsner malt and I assumed a 60 min boil and now that I look back, I should have boiled for 90 min. I definitely have a corn flavor to my beer. Will this diminish with time, or will I always have this off flavor? I have noticed that with a slice of lemon the corn flavor isn't very noticeable and will still make a good summer beer.
 
drunkatuw said:
So I think I mistook "green" beer with DMS. This was my first brew with pilsner malt and I assumed a 60 min boil and now that I look back, I should have boiled for 90 min. I definitely have a corn flavor to my beer. Will this diminish with time, or will I always have this off flavor? I have noticed that with a slice of lemon the corn flavor isn't very noticeable and will still make a good summer beer.
Others probably won't notice the DMS as much as you did. Unfortunatley, it's a rather permanent flavor characteristic (in my experience).

AS long as others enjoy it...no worries.

A few rules about Pilsner:
  • Boil hard for 90 minutes
  • Never cover as long as the wort is over 135 degrees.
  • Cool to below 140 as quickly as possible.
 
Hey BM.

I have read other recipes for the Helles and it calls for a lager yeast.

I like the idea of a kolsch. Do you ferment a a little lower temp at all?
Or just like all of your other ales?

Thanks
T
 
So I'm back in the game. Made 2 starters on Friday, one with some cleaned/harvested Forbidden Fruit yeast, the other with a new vial of WL Southern German Lager. By the time I was ready to brew yesterday, the FF was chugging along nicely, but the lager hadn't started anything. So I just brewed the wheat and figured I'd see what happens with the lager yeast. This morning, the starter had started (and the Forbidden Wiezen was chugging nicely), so I did brew session #2 for the weekend---the Munich Helles I'd been planning. Somehow I had insane efficiency, though, and my OG is like 1.057 or so. I'm thinking I'll just add some boiled/cooled topoff water, though. I've got it chilling in my fridge right now and when I get down to about 50f I'll pitch.

BM, I like the looks of your recipe. I used 9 lbs pilsner, .5 lb Munich 10L and 2oz Victory (I ordered melanoidin but it didn't get here in time so I subbed the next closest thing I had). I also did a mini-decoction...after 60 mins @ 150f, I pulled a stiff 1/3 of the mash and boiled it for 10 mins, then added it back to the mash to finish conversion for a few mins. I'm not sure if that accounts for my high efficiency...but it'll hopefully add a little malt flavor that the melanoidin would have added.
 
I'm brewing this on Saturday. Quite excited to actually. I have a question if this recipe is to be bottled. What are some thoughts on how best to bottle it with also being able to chill it for clarity? My usual process goes something like this:
Primary for a few weeks in the basement at ~65deg. Once bottled I move them to a warmer location ~70-75 for conditioning. After a few weeks of that back to the basement for storage. I move small batches to thr fridge as I need them.
Any thought are appreciated if someone has bottled this beer with decent results.:mug:
 
Pulled the first pint today. I brewed this beast at 1.047 and fermented with WLP830 for 6 weeks; 2 weeks at 52, then 4 weeks at 42 (Jamil's method). Pulled the first pint today... hasn't even lagered yet, and it's already wonderful!

DSC01699.JPG


I'll definitely have to re-brew this one every year for Oktoberfest. I wouldn't change a thing. It's as good as a Spaten without the skunk. :mug:
 
I was thinking about brewing this later this week, but I'm out of tettnang. I could stop by the LHBS and pick some up, but I have quite a bit of crystal and liberty on hand. Would either of those as a substitute? I looked at byo's hop reference chart and neither of them were substitutes, but I figured since there was just a 60 min addition, you wouldn't get too much flavor from the hops.
 
I was thinking about brewing this later this week, but I'm out of tettnang. I could stop by the LHBS and pick some up, but I have quite a bit of crystal and liberty on hand. Would either of those as a substitute? I looked at byo's hop reference chart and neither of them were substitutes, but I figured since there was just a 60 min addition, you wouldn't get too much flavor from the hops.

I'd lean towards the Liberty. Hops don't play much of a role in this style, except to balance the beer. As long as you maintain a 2.5 to 1 (OG to IBU) ratio and keep this puppy malty (sweet), the hops really don't matter. :rockin:
 
brewed this about a month ago, just got around to bottling it, and can't wait to try the result. in typical tranceamerica fashion, I didn't do the exact recipe, but used nugget hops (don't ask...) and nottingham yeast. Yeah, not exactly the same but I'm a dry yeast kind of guy. excited about the results, with the sorta warm seattle summer coming...
 
brewed this about a month ago, just got around to bottling it, and can't wait to try the result. in typical tranceamerica fashion, I didn't do the exact recipe, but used nugget hops (don't ask...) and nottingham yeast. Yeah, not exactly the same but I'm a dry yeast kind of guy. excited about the results, with the sorta warm seattle summer coming...
 
I brewed this about 6 weeks ago, fermented 2-3 weeks and kegged one fermenter, the other fermenter is still sitting....tastes realy great...cant wait to see how it will taste in another couple months...i am definately brewing a 15 gallon batch of this next march or early April to have for the warm months of June, July, and August (along with 15 gallons of my orange wheat that my friends seem to never get enough of...im brewing an oatmeal stout tomorrow to have ready by the colder months....and definately 15 gallons of my irish red and maybe a 5 gal batch of an oktoberfest to try it out, even though its pushing it time-wise for it...
 
Man, just pulled my first hydro after < 10 days and it's already fantastic!

I ended up doing a split batch (1/2 Kolsch and 1/2 Notty) and fermented between 58-60F. I raised the temp to 65F after 7 days and raised it again today to 70F to finish things up. I still can't get over how clean WLP029 is. When fermented this low, it really is almost lager like w/o the extra trouble. I remember it being somewhat of a ***** to clear, but that's not a huge concern to me when it tastes this freaking good!

Thanks again for another fantastic recipe BM!
 
Just wanted to update now that both batches have had time to "lager".

The Kolsch batch isn't quite as clear and has a little bit of a bready/yeasty aroma, but overall tastes really clean and is quite tasty. It definitely came out a little more malt forward than the Notty batch.

Surprisingly, I think I actually like the Notty better though. It cleared better, has little/no aroma, and came out a little drier/crisper/cleaner tasting than the Kolsch IMO. I was unhappy w/ the last beer I made w/ Notty, but this is probably the best beer I've made to date. Really, really close to the real thing and slightly better IMHO.

I highly suggest giving Notty a try for anyone not wanting to deal w/ liquid yeast...and if you do, definitely keep the temps really low if possible. I kept mine at 58F and it still fermented out almost completely within 72 hours.
 
I highly suggest giving Notty a try for anyone not wanting to deal w/ liquid yeast...and if you do, definitely keep the temps really low if possible. I kept mine at 58F and it still fermented out almost completely within 72 hours.

Rodger that. Can't wait to brew it up this weekend. Should I skip 5 gallons and just brew 10?
 
BierMuncher

How critical is the Carapils to this recipe in terms of flavor? I assume it imparts very little and can be ommitted? I'm brewing it this weekend.
 
BierMuncher

How critical is the Carapils to this recipe in terms of flavor? I assume it imparts very little and can be ommitted? I'm brewing it this weekend.

Cara imparts an important "malt" characteristic...but if you don't have it you can just mash higher...say 156 for 45-60 minutes and you should get that full-bodied mouthfeel. :mug:
 
Thanks for the advice! I'll try and find some locally. I've never used it before so I'm excited to see how it turns out.
 
How much of a difference would there be substituting Pale 2-Row for Pilsner?

Also, according to this guy, should this really be classfied as a Kolsch (as opposed to a Munich Helles)?

A Kolsch and a Munich Helles are very similar except for the yeast, which essentially defines the styles. So if you are using a Kolsch yeast you should call it a Kolsch.
 
Brewed this right at the beginning of january. Pretty much followed the recipe except for using german bock yeast (WLP833). Kegged this a bit over a week ago, I don't think I'm going to be able to give it a proper lagering period, it already tastes too damn good. So far every one of BM's recipes that I've brewed have been a winner.
 
I'm thinking about brewing this next week. I don't have a kegging system yet, I bottle everything, so I'm thinking about primary fermenting it for 14 days at about 65 then secondary fermenting in my basement (about 58 degrees) for another 14 days before bottle conditioning in the fridge for a week or so. I've had success using that method with this yeast. This recipe looks fantastic though, I can't wait to try it.
 
I'm pretty excited about this recipe. German Helles is one of my favorite styles, and I've always wanted to brew some, but have no means of making a lager, so this might help me get around that! I'm just curious, though, does it still taste like the real deal despite using Koelsch yeast instead of lager yeast? Or is it really more like a Koelsch?
 
Im bottling mine tomorrow (brewed three weeks ago). I have the same question - I originally called it a Munich Helles as per the recipe but as it uses Kolsch yeast is it not a Kolsch ? Minor detail I know but technically what is correct ?
 
Just stopped by my LBHS yesterday and picked up ingredients for this one.

I'm doing a little tweak... I'm using WLP838 and fermenting/lagering in what will become my keezer. Probably going to keep the rest of it the same (mash schedule, etc) besides doing a 5 gallon batch.

Can't wait... thanks for the recipe! :mug:
 
i would like to give this a try but first does anyone know of a comercial version that is similar so i can give it a try and see if i like it. Im in the columbus OH area so it cant be anything to difficult to find.
 
Back
Top