57 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

ken, which recipe is this one?

[johnpreuss]

I hate you Ken Lenard...... Just sayin... I would like some gold lager bier right about now.  Yes please post the recipe.

Edited by johnpreuss, 09 August 2014 - 07:04 PM.

[Big Nake]

So this is pretty much the helles recipe from my site (Brauhaus Helles). I brewed this beer on 5/1 so a little over three months ago. It sat cold in the keg for about 8 weeks. This is not only one of the best helles I've made but also one of the clearest gold beers I have made. Those pics are maybe glass 2 and 3 from the keg. Recipe... 8 lbs Best Malz Pils 12 ounces Best Malz Vienna 12 ounces Best Malz Munich 10 4 ounces Belgian Aromatic 25 IBU (5.8 AAU) of a mixture of Spalt, Hallertau and Opal for 60 mins Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager yeast OG: 1.055, FG: 1.013, IBU: 24, SRM: 5, ABV: 5.3% Maybe the OG and ABV were what MTN had in mind... not sure. Maybe a little low for his tastes. This was 100% filtered tap water with 3.5g of CaCl added to the mash along with about 2.5ml of lactic acid. Mash pH was 5.2. Mash temp was 150.2°... single infusion for 60 mins. Final water numbers were: Ca 66, Mg 12, Na 13, Cl 77, SO4 27, Bicarb 113. Really nice character to this beer and if you've ever had a pale beer made with 2124, you know the nice aroma it gives off. Looking forward to enjoying the rest of this keg. Cheers Peeps.

Edited by KenLenard, 09 August 2014 - 07:45 PM.

[johnpreuss]

So, I don't have any aromatic.... what if I just subbed a full pound of Munich and Vienna?  Would that be sufficient or should I just drop it and go with out?

[Big Nake]

The aromatic was a way to introduce 'maltiness' and 'rounded-flavor' to the beer... which the Vienna and Munich are supposed to do as well so you could up one of those to a full pound and forget the aromatic. CaraHell might be another way to get 'fullness' in this style and I have another batch of helles in secondary right now that has some. Remember that a REAL helles appears to be made with only pilsner malt so I'm already cheating. When they say that the beer is supposed to be rich & malty yet balanced with a dry finish, that's a tall order for a beer with only pilsner in it. So I used some Munich, Vienna and aromatic and then I mashed on the low side to try to get some dryness. Cheers.

[johnpreuss]

I'm going to be using Rahr pilsner so the munich and vienna will probably help this beer.  Also I will only be using Hau. Mitt. on this one along with 2124.

[Big Nake]

I'm going to be using Rahr pilsner so the munich and vienna will probably help this beer.  Also I will only be using Hau. Mitt. on this one along with 2124.

Sounds like a good plan. The Rahr Pils plus the Munich and Vienna should be good and Hallertau Mitt by itself should be stellar. This beer came out nicely but I wonder if I should have even mashed lower. It's got a good overall character but reading that description I posted earlier, I'm not sure I got it as dry as it should be. Keep us posted JP!

[positiveContact]

to make this even more basic i'd consider lowering the amount of aromatic and replacing the munich 10 with a greater amount of regular munich (that most people keep on hand).

 

ps - no idea if that made sense.  been rinkin'.

[MyaCullen]

to make this even more basic i'd consider lowering the amount of aromatic and replacing the munich 10 with a greater amount of regular munich (that most people keep on hand).

 

ps - no idea if that made sense.  been rinkin'.

regular Munich? at both of my LHBSs that's 10L

 

as to the Aromatic, I personally would leave it alone 4 oz is about right

[positiveContact]

regular Munich? at both of my LHBSs that's 10L

 

as to the Aromatic, I personally would leave it alone 4 oz is about right

 

my best malz munich is listed at 7L I guess so you are correct.  I thought it was more like 4-5.

[MyaCullen]

my best malz munich is listed at 7L I guess so you are correct.  I thought it was more like 4-5.

Vienna is usually in that range IIRC

[Big Nake]

The Munich Light is usually in the 6-7 range and the Dark is usually in the 10-11 range. Vienna I think is 5-6, typically. My guess is that a helles that is made properly (by an expert German brewer) is all pils but has some rests and/or decoction as a part of the brewing process so that they can get more flavor out of just pils and then still get a relatively dry finish. The Hofbrau Original is a work of art in my opinion because it's very satisfying, very flavorful and very drinkable. It has more color (I think) than something in the SRM 4 range (like a New Belgium Summer Helles which is quite a but lighter than the beer in my pic) which could come from a decoction, I don't know. What I do know is that the idea of using just pils malt to get that character suggests that there is some voodoo going on and I'm not willing to go there. That's where the Munich, Vienna and a pinch of something like aromatic or melanoidin would come into play.

[positiveContact]

The Munich Light is usually in the 6-7 range and the Dark is usually in the 10-11 range. Vienna I think is 5-6, typically. My guess is that a helles that is made properly (by an expert German brewer) is all pils but has some rests and/or decoction as a part of the brewing process so that they can get more flavor out of just pils and then still get a relatively dry finish. The Hofbrau Original is a work of art in my opinion because it's very satisfying, very flavorful and very drinkable. It has more color (I think) than something in the SRM 4 range (like a New Belgium Summer Helles which is quite a but lighter than the beer in my pic) which could come from a decoction, I don't know. What I do know is that the idea of using just pils malt to get that character suggests that there is some voodoo going on and I'm not willing to go there. That's where the Munich, Vienna and a pinch of something like aromatic or melanoidin would come into play.

 

hofbrau original was the first beer I ever had that I actually liked.  many, many moons ago.  I think you are on the right track with the recipe although I'm not sure I believe decoction could make up for the non-pils grains you are putting in.  that's all second hand information though.

[MtnBrewer]

Time to circle back around to close the book on this beer. In short it was very tasty and was a hit at the O'fest party. They drank an entire keg of it while there was a pony keg of H-P Marzen being served from an adjacent tap. I took that as a good sign. I thought that was a little hoppy and a little bitter so next time around I will cut back on the hops a bit. I might go for a little more maltiness too and I'd love to try it with Augustiner yeast. Considering that I was going off other people's descriptions, it didn't turn out too bad.

[Big Nake]

Time to circle back around to close the book on this beer. In short it was very tasty and was a hit at the O'fest party. They drank an entire keg of it while there was a pony keg of H-P Marzen being served from an adjacent tap. I took that as a good sign. I thought that was a little hoppy and a little bitter so next time around I will cut back on the hops a bit. I might go for a little more maltiness too and I'd love to try it with Augustiner yeast. Considering that I was going off other people's descriptions, it didn't turn out too bad.

Good to hear. Did you ever post the recipe for what you did? Did you take a pic?!?!?

[MtnBrewer]

Good to hear. Did you ever post the recipe for what you did? Did you take a pic?!?!?

No pics. I seem to have misplaced my brewing session but the malt bill was 81% pils, 14% Vienna and 5% CaraHell. I think the hops were as posted in the recipe on pg. 1.

[djinkc]

 Considering that I was going off other people's descriptions, it didn't turn out too bad.

 

 

You should have had some.

[MtnBrewer]

You should have had some.

With a pony keg of Hacker-Pshorr Marzen right next to it?