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You can make a very enjoyable version of the style using simple methods. All the extra details come in to play when you’re trying to elevate your beer to the next level. Don’t let all that deter you. Dip your toes in, and if you like what you make, then consider taking some steps down the rabbit hole.
Thanks to all who replied. My brother and I are going to Morebeer today. He wants to brew tomorrow, so maybe I will get some ingredients and give it a try. Why not, right? LOL.
Anybody have any recipe’s that they like or have tried and enjoyed?
I have found that the “extra details” might take my beer to the next level. Or they might not. Or, in some cases, they might drop my beer down a level. ;D
Adding my two cents worth…I have made several great Helles beers with one first wort hop addition only. Like 3 ounces of Hallertau Mittelfruh for a 5 gallon batch.
i believe it, i heard that a famous and good quality german pils brewer does one addition like that, just the bittering, not sure if FW or not.
i think people are eager to overcomplicate german beer. saying this not having ever visited germany or a german brewery, but i have drunk a LOT of german pale lagers/exports/pilsners (not helles so much), and as an experienced, intermediate homebrewer i can make a pilsner that tastes really great and hits the key notes i desire in a great german pilsner with single infusion mash and otherwise a normal boil i’d do for any other beer.
A German Helles typically doesn’t have any finishing hops, so the single addition in the mash makes sense.
The Helles is a simple and elegant beer, but that simplicity comes from very tight brewing techniques. Any flaw stands out. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done on a home brewer level, but any sloppiness in the brewing will have an impact on that simple beer.
I would try that 95% pilsner malt with 5% munich light. I would add about 20 IBUs of a good German hop like Hallertau, Tettnanger, Spalt or a suitable (and fresh) American variety like Liberty or Sterling. You can make it with dry lager yeast like Diamond Lager or Fermentis 34/70. Good luck.
‘Helles’ means light. …as in Blonde. Think of it as nothing more than a Blonde beer.
Tradition says Continental Pilsner Malt but I throw in some Munich, Vienna, or both. Some use a bit of Carahell and/or acidulated malt as well. I don’t.
80%+ light colored base malt (Pils, Brewer’s Malt, Pale Malt, etc)
up to 20% darker colored base malt (Munich, Vienna, etc or a combination of both)
20-25 IBU(s) traditional German Saazer-type hop varieties or you might try something different like Madarina Bavaria, Hull Melon, Cashmere, Loral, Edelweiss, etc. Or put a ‘down under’ spin on it and use Pacifica, Southern Cross, Wai-iti, etc.
Tradition says neutral German lager yeast but Mexican lager can be really clean as well. Nothing fruity or phenolic IMO.
Awesome thanks all. I am going to take a look and see what I can find. Keeping it simple sounds great to me. Rock On!!!
This is pretty close to mine. I use 5 lbs Pilsner and 1 lb of either Vienna or Munich for a 3 gallon batch, and generally just use a bittering addition of Sterling in the low-20’s IBU range. I generally use 34/70, but I’m just starting to play around with Diamond in my lagers and like the results so far.
Also, I’d recommend Lactic acid (or acidulated malt) if you are making pH adjustments, rather than a more neutral-tasting acid like phosphoric. Most German lagers have a subtle lactic flavor to them. This is not strictly necessary, but it will get you more of an authentic flavor.
So true
I drank a fair amount of Helles in Germany last fall. If you’re competing I would go lower on the IBUs to be most like a Munich Helles. The Helles around Franconia usually has more bitterness, and to emulate those go higher. The judges are looking for the Munich type as in the title. Not sure how many have traveled around other parts of Bavaria.
Brew what you like, the way you want to brew it.
Edit on the lactic acid thing. The German brewers can’t use straight industrial lactic acid. The make Sauergut, which is wort inoculated with barley grains. The lactic bacteria strains on the barley will give a more flavorful acid character. Straight Sauergut is lightly tart and on the lemony side. I pick up the lemony character in Munich. That and some Sulfur, the Sulfur is fleeting, and looked on as a preservative.
I’ve walked past the Sauergut reactors at Ayinger on a tour, and got a whiff of a lactic fermentation. The pipes going from it were labeled Sauergut, so I know that was it.
I haven’t tried Sauergut, as it seems like I would need to have a separate dedicated vessel to keep up with regular additions and fear of other bacterium invading. I appreciate others who can do so, however. I just use acidulated malt for pH adjustment.
Acid malt is malt sprayed with Sauergut to be Rheinheitsgebot compliant. I have seen arguments that fresh is better as to aromatics and flavor. I’ve only tried making and using it once. I decided I needed more reading on how to do it best.
I use Spalt in my Helles. I read somewhere that a lot of breweries in Germany used it (maybe Dornbush’s book).
I do too. The Spalt Select I have been getting from Hop Heaven have been righteous. Really fresh and aromatic and they absolutely make the beer. That variety is common in the “Italian Pils” recipes you see out there so I have been in the habit of getting them and they work beautifully in a helles. Hallertau and Edelweiss have been used too.