I spent a few days in Munich this summer and I drank a ton of helles. Augustiner, Paulaner, and Hofbrau were the main culprits. Such a beautiful beer by the Maß when fresh from the source. Knowing you just can’t get those beers here in California in good condition I finally decided to bite the bullet and brew my own.
Let’s be honest, most homebrewers don’t have the patience for lagers in general when you can pump out really great tasting ales from grain to glass in 2 weeks. I have tried the two week lager method with decent results and rapid lagering also with good results. By no means nothing stellar however, with my guess is that the beer could use a bit longer lagering. So, with that in mind I set out to create a helles that uses the ideas of rapid lager fermentation with a bit longer lagering period and using 100% RO water to keep the profile soft. S-189 seemed a good choice for low sulphur output and optimal fermentation temperature on the high side for a lager yeast which fits the bill perfectly for a rapid lager fermentation.
6 gallons
Estimated OG: 1.053
Estimated FG: 1.011
Estimated Color: 4.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 23 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.5%
Grain
12 lbs Wyermann Pilsner(1.7 SRM) 92.3%
1 lb Wyermann Carahell (13 SRM) 7.7
Schedule
60 minute Boil
7.00g Perle [8%] – First wort 6.7 IBUs
7.00g Perle [8%] – 45 min 5.6 IBU
28.00g Hersbrucker [3%] 30 min 6.4 IBUs
14.00g Perle [8%] – 10 min 4.4 IBU
Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min
Mash and Sparge
100% RO water
2g Calcium Chloride added to mash water
1g Gypsum added to mash water
2g Calcium Chloride added to sparge water
1g Gypsum added to sparge water
Mash in 5 gallons water 157F and let stabilize to 148F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.5 gallons cold
Yeast
Saflager S-189 Dry Yeast (Hürlimann strain)
Fermentation
Ferment at 58F 5 days
Raise temp to 62 1 day
Raise temp to 65 1 day
Add gelatin(optional) and rack to keg
Lager at near freezing as possible at least 2 weeks
(Optional) force transfer to new keg
Force carbonate