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.