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Helles Belles

Nice light lager. Cheated on some maltiness with aromatic added, but made it "German-y".

Brewer: Christo Email: -
Beer: Helles Belles Style: Münchner Helles
Type: All grain Size: 5 gallons
Color:
4 HCU (~4 SRM)
Bitterness: 21 IBU
OG: 1.049 FG: 1.012
Alcohol: 4.8% v/v (3.8% w/w)
Water: My water is close to Munich characteristics
Grain: 9 lb. German Pilsner
.25 lb. Belgian aromatic
Mash: 70% efficiency
156F - was a few pts higher than planned, but what the heck.
Batch sparged.
Boil: 70 minutes SG 1.041 6 gallons
Forgot the IM - and in a light beer at that. Drats. Extra cold conditioning planned.
Hops: .25 oz. German Magnum (13.6% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Saaz (3.75% AA, 12 min.)
Yeast: WL833 bock yeast. 1.5L starter. Used yeast cake for a traditional bock
Log: Big ferment for a lager - yeast was extra fresh. 4 weeks at 44F, 3 days at 65F for d-rest, 4 weeks at 41F, then to keg where it has sat for an addtional 3 weeks. Planned for 1.010 FG, but ended at 1.013.
Carbonation: medium carbonation
Tasting: Continue having some minor DMS aroma issues (corn/celery) - planning stronger/longer boil and some extra keg cleaning. Otherwise a nice German malt aroma, minimal hops. Flavor has accentuated grainy malt (aromatic??) character. Hops almost balance but then fall off - a little sweet in aftertaste. Body a little thick for style, probably from a higher mash than planned. All in all, a nice light summer lager that unfortunately won't probably make it to spring even.

Update: Did a side-by-side comparison with Weihenstephaner, and results were encouraging. Mine was less effervescent/carbonated, a tinge darker, and the body was thicker. Otherwise, flavor and aroma profile were almost identical. A success!

Recipe posted 03/05/09.