To Helles with this

[Kold Brygg]

1 would depend on what you are after, altough I would go with pils and vienna. Not sure if the toasty flavour of victory would be appropriate in a beer of this type.
2 if you decoct the melanoiden malt is kinda reduntant, it is time consuming and make sure to get your calculations right. Also can be rather messy.
3 I'm not really a big lager brewer, but good old 34/70 should work fine in this.

@Erik the Anglophile I've noticed you're a big fan of the Brewly English Ale, have you tried the Brewly version of the 34/70?

It's supposedly cleaner and produces less sulphur than Fwrmentis version. There is a long thread at the Norwegian Homebrew forum.
https://forum.norbrygg.no/threads/brewly-w-34-70.44395/

 

[Kold Brygg]

1. A little Victory malt will make great beer, but if you want a true helles, then it doesn't belong at all. Same with Munich. Helles only needs pilsner malt and nothing else.
2. Decoction can darken the beer slightly, if deeper color matters to you. Otherwise, skip it. Other supposed benefits are very debatable.
3. Wyeast 2308 will make a great helles. I've had the best success with Wyeast 2206, Lallemand Diamond, and Fermentis S-189.

Enjoy.

I've never come around to brew Helles yet, maybe next winter?

Multiple Norwegian champion highly recommends Weyermann Barke in Helles.

Link in Norwegian ( non Norwegian could use Google translate if interested).
https://www.holmentoppen.no/blogs/news/er-dette-verdens-beste-lyse-lagerol-3f
The recipe
https://brewgr.com/recipe/74426/helles-angels-munich-helles-recipe

 

[Broothru]

I've never come around to brew Helles yet, maybe next winter?

Multiple Norwegian champion highly recommends Weyermann Barke in Helles.

Link in Norwegian ( non Norwegian could use Google translate if interested).
https://www.holmentoppen.no/blogs/news/er-dette-verdens-beste-lyse-lagerol-3f
The recipe
https://brewgr.com/recipe/74426/helles-angels-munich-helles-recipe

That's a very nice recipe for a Helles, and likely very similar to what I suspect less traditional German brewers may be doing, like Magnum for the bittering charge vice Mittelfruh. Probably some CaraHell vice Victory as well. Either way, should make a wonderful beer in the style of Helles.

 

[friarsmith]

Treating myself to a liter pour of my Helles brewed in late October. I kegged this after 7 days at 54*F and it was a few points north of FG. It then rested at 60* for a week before chilling for almost two months. No CO2 added other than a bit to keep the head pressure steady when pouring. Big ole tight & creamy head. Good clarity w/o keg fining. Just time. This batch was a 2-step BIAB per my post early in this thread. Liquid Wonder Bread. Prost!

 

[beerisyummy]

Treating myself to a liter pour of my Helles brewed in late October. I kegged this after 7 days at 54*F and it was a few points north of FG. It then rested at 60* for a week before chilling for almost two months. No CO2 added other than a bit to keep the head pressure steady when pouring. Big ole tight & creamy head. Good clarity w/o keg fining. Just time. This batch was a 2-step BIAB per my post early in this thread. Liquid Wonder Bread. Prost!View attachment 754746

Beautiful beer, nice mug!

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

@Erik the Anglophile I've noticed you're a big fan of the Brewly English Ale, have you tried the Brewly version of the 34/70?

It's supposedly cleaner and produces less sulphur than Fwrmentis version. There is a long thread at the Norwegian Homebrew forum.
https://forum.norbrygg.no/threads/brewly-w-34-70.44395/

I have not, I am wanting to try my hands on a doppelbock someday, might go with that one for it.

 

[jdauria]

I know everyone's set that L17 is the ultimate yeast for a Helles. That's why I used it to brew my first - and, to date, last - Helles last year: 100% Weyermann floor malted Bohemian unicorn tears, decoction, cold fermentation at 5 celsius (which took quite a long time btw). The aroma at bottling day was great, but by the time it was fully conditioned, all the lager stink was gone, and there was an unfitting aroma of red apples.

5 celcius seems real low, I have done 9 celcius (48F) for a Helles based on recommendations from low oxygen brewing site, but you need to pitch a ton of yeast when pitching that low. Like 2 million cells per mL per degree Plato, which would be 469 billion cells for a 1.050 5 gallon batch. The good thing with that amount of yeast and the cool temp is the precursor to diacetyl does not form, so no d-rest is needed and you can ferment at that temp the whole way until FG.