My first Lager - Munich Helles

General Homebrew Discussion
1

Well guys, I started carbonating my Munich Helles yesterday morning.  Should be ready to try tonight or tomorrow.

I used JZ’s recipe from Brewing Clasic Styles.  Fermented primary for two weeks at 50 degrees, transferred to secondary and let it sit three more weeks.  Then, transferred to kegs (10 gallon batch) and gased it just to pressure.  Then let it sit at 40 degrees for another two weeks.  And now it’s carbonating.

I sure hope it is worth all this…  Lagers are a bit of a pain.  But if it’s good, then all is good.

2

I made two batches of Helles last year and I think it’s now my favorite lager.

3

Well, I’m now on my fifth pint of this Helles.  Very nice malty flavor, not too sweet.  OMG.  (It was worth it)

4

micsager, did you pitch @ 44F like Jamil does?

5

Have you tried going directly into the keg after primary ferment is complete?

Try it sometime. I think you’ll be happy with the results.

6

+1 - once you get your slurry built up for gen 1, its really not that different than an ale if you have adequate temperature control.  For me, I have to have dedicated temp control for even ales (no basements in south florida) so its simply a matter of 15 degrees or so.  keep saving, splitting and re-pitching the yeast after that, and I can often get 8 or so batches off one original slurry.

7

Nope, I pitched at about 55.