Brülosophy has partnered with Love2Brew to release a series of kits, the first of which is this Munich Helles recipe!
Love2Brew produces some of the cleanest all grain, partial mash, and extract kits I’ve ever seen, I’m proud be affiliate with such a rad company. Purchases of this kit and other products from Love2Brew.com serve to support the efforts of Brülosophy!
Munich Helles
| Batch Size | Boil Time | Est. IBU | Est. SRM | Est. OG | Est. FG | Est. ABV |
| 5.25 gal | 90 min | 17 | 4.5 | 1.047 SG | 1.009 SG | 5.0% |
Fermentables
| Name | Amount | % |
| Belgian Pilsner Malt | 8 lbs 2 oz | 87 |
| Munich Light | 1 lb 2 oz | 12 |
| Melanoidin Malt | 2 oz | 1 |
Hops
60 Min
| Name | Amt/IBU | Time | Use | Form | Alpha % |
| Any Noble Hop | ~ 17 IBU | 60 Min | Boil | Pellet | 3-5% |
Yeast
| Name | Lab | Attenuation | Ferm Temp |
| WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch | White Labs | ~80% | 58°F/15°C |
Process
– Mash at 150°F/66°C for 60 minutes (~4 gallons)
– Sparge with 170°F/77°C water (~5.25 gallons)
– Chill, pitch, and ferment for 4-5 days
– Ramp temp to 68°F/20°C and allow beer to finish fermenting (usually 3-5 more days)
– Cold crash for 12-24 hours then fine with gelatin (optional) and let sit for another 12-24 hours
– Package, carbonate, enjoy!
144 thoughts on “Munich Helles”
I brewed Brü’s Munich Helles on May 24th. Due to local availability (or lack thereof) I substituted Melanoiden with Dark Munich and used all Canadian (Gambrinus) malts. I used the BIAB method.
It was ready by my daughter’s 4th birthday party on Saturday (June 14th), so exactly 3 weeks from grain to glass. I followed the suggested fermentation profile very closely.
This Helles has a great malty flavour with a smooth clean finish. Very refreshing with a pleasant medium body. It has a rich gold colour with a bit of chill haze that clears up after a few minutes and the head is pure white (c.f. http://imgur.com/WFCSadf)
Possibly one of my best beer to date. It definitely impressed our guests on Saturday. I highly recommend it!
Hi,
Do you recommend to ramp the temperature down to cold crasch, or can I just go there directly from 65°?
Thanks in advance,
/Niklas
Theoretically, slow ramps in either direction will stress the yeast less and thereby reduce the risk of off-flavors. Since I use The Black Box, this is a cinch since it is setup to ramp. But I’ve done a quicker crash in the past with no ill effects.
Ale, lager or hybrid pitching rate?
Hybrid has always worked well for me.
You weren’t kidding, this beer is fucking good! Thanks man!
What water profile did you use for this beer?
I believe I aimed for the “Yellow Balanced” profile in Bru’n Water, which looks like…
Ca: 50
Mg: 7
Na: 5
SO4: 75
Cl: 60
Thanks for this recipe, this Kolsch yeast is a beast.
I already hit FG in only 3.5 days after pitching a decanted starter, mostly followed your temperature profile, slightly ramping between 58 to 60 over this period…White labs says some people have problems with WLP029 under 62F, I sure didn’t have any. Can’t wait for this thing to clean up, carb, and drink.
What are your thoughts on the differences between this Kolsch version and your recent Munich Helles using the WLP838 southern german lager strain?
I prefer WLP029 fermented cool to any traditional lager strain in every lager style I’ve brewed so far… which is quite a few 😉
Nice, that is good to hear. Its my first attempt at a “lager”. Cant wait to taste this one in its final form, and just from the gravity sample after a few days I’m already thinking about going for a firmly hopped Czech style pilsener next with the same yeast….digging Firestone’s Pivo right now.
The fermentation profile listed here is a little different than your hybrid profile on your black box post, and the one here is a bit vaguely specified. Are the profiles both useful for different things, or do you consider one to be out of date? If you were going to brew this today, how would you program your Black Box?
This is my hybrid fermentation profile, it might be a little different, but they’ll both work fine, neither is better than the other.
How do I determine how many OZ of hops is need to ~17 IBU? Also if I am doing BIAB how much water I need to start my mash with? I have the 14 gallon More Beer Kettle same as you.
Using any recipe calculator, I prefer BeerSmith, you can plug in your AA% then add enough hops to get you to the proper IBU. I’d recommend the same for determining your brewing liquor volumes.
I feel like an idiot for asking this… When you say in the first two steps of your process:
– Mash at 150°F for 60 minutes (4 gallons)
– Sparge with 170°F water (5.25 gallons)
…does that mean mash with 4 gallons at 150 for 60 minutes, or mash with whatever volume will drain to 4 gallons at the end after absorption?
Same question goes for the sparge, sparging with 5.25 gallons seems a bit excessive, but I’m still learning. I *think* you’re suggesting to mash to produce 4 gallons, and then sparge to bring the volume to 5.25, am I reading that right, or just missing it?
I love the blog, and I’m excited to try this recipe, just want to make sure I understand the process.
Thanks!
No need to feel like an idiot, that’s a good question! I mean use 4 gallons of water in the mash, which will result in less sweet wort; same goes for the sparge. Another option, one I’ve been using for all my 5 gal batches of late, is to use the No Sparge method, which involves mashing with your entire volume of brewing liquor. Hope that helps, cheers!
So if I were sparging, I’d mash with 4, and then sparge with 5.25, right?
If I were no-sparging, 9.25 gallons would just all be heated and mashed at the same time?
That’s exactly right! You’ll need to calculate your strike temp based on whatever method you choose as well as your grain temp, etc.
Thanks! That’s what I wasn’t clear on. Sometimes (especially when the tolerances are too close for what should be common sense), I need to ask. I’m looking forward to brewing this, and I’ll be sure you let you know how it turned out.
Maybe I’m missing something, but that sounds like a lot of water.
My grain absorption factor is only about 0.15, so I would aim for
a total 6.65 gallons of water for this recipe, whether I was sparging
or not. With a mash thickness of 1.5 quarts per pound, that would mean
about 3.5 gallons of mash water and 3.15 gallons of sparge water. With
a 4 gallon mash, I would just do 2.65 gallons of sparge water.
Are you calculating your boiloff rate, shrinkage, etc? It may be that on your system you can get a full 5 gal of wort using the volumes you mentioned, which is great!
@Jim – that was my thought, but I’m going to be using very similar equipment to our author, so I figured I’d just go with his measurements and adjust in the future if need be. I also have some dead space/loss in my setup. I realize everyone’s system and calculations are going to end up giving them different results.
Additionally, I’ve just upgraded my burner to the KA-B4(I think), and made the jump to Natural Gas (link that blog post here, that’s what made me jump over), so I’m hoping I end up with approximately similar results.
I’ll be sure to post what I end up learning from my experience here in a few weeks.
Would the grain and 9.25 gallons of water fit in a 10 gallon drink cooler? If not, could you do a modified fly sparge with the gallon or so that didn’t fit by adding that last gallon or so as the volume in the cooler dropped?
Oh yeah, whoops. I forgot about boil off. My boil off rate is low because I brew indoors. Just 0.5 gal per hour. So I’d add another 0.75 to that.
Just brewed this today and trying to set up my Black Box with your fermentation schedule. When you say 10-14 days for final gravity to be stable, is this this total time fermenting, or after the initial 4-5 days?
Thanks brotha!
As is, I have it set up the following way:
sp0: 58
dh0: 120 (5 days)
sp1: 58
dh1: 24 (1 day)
sp2: 68
dh2: 216 (9 days)
sp3: 68
dh3: 48 (2 days)
sp4: 33
dh4: 0
Really, it’s whenever SG is stable. Now hat I use gelatin, I’ve gone grain to glass with this beer in 2 weeks (kegging). Cheers!
Is Belgian Pils specifically required/advised or does any base pilsner malt work with similar results. Thanks for the recipe and the work you do. Love the site. One of the best
Any Pils should work fine with this recipe, I just prefer Belgain because it seems to me to impart more of a crackery/bready character, which I really enjoy.
One more question. Just ordered the ingredients. What was the size of your starter for this batch (5.25 gallon)
It depends on the yeast manufacture date and whether you plan to harvest yeast for later use. I’m a fan of the HomeBrewDad yeast calculator.
Thanks again for the recipe and pointers. Brewed up a batch 2 days ago (5.6 gallons at 1.048). 50 hours post pitch its at 58F, 53% attenuation and 1.022. I started a passive ramp of the temperature. Will bring it up to 68F over the next two days and let it do it’s thing. Do you think that is a little late/early in the process to ramp it up?
At 53% attenuation, a rapid ramp to 68F may produce more esters, which probably won’t be a bad thing.
“At 53% attenuation, a rapid ramp to 68F may produce more esters, which probably won’t be a bad thing.”
Just took a sample of this, it’s done fermenting. First time brewing this style. I had glanced at the guidelines and noted “no diacetyl or esters” mentioned.
But I had just turned on my brewpi build. there was a hiccup while I was gone and the temp was a bit high for a bit long. I’d say two things from my sample. One is I love this beer, and two my only “defect”, if it is that, is a slight banana like note but it is not at all disagreeable with the beer.
So… wondering if this yeast produces a bit of that character, or was my brew a little off?
Just checked my Final Gravity. 1.010. The beer looks beautifully clear and have just started cold crashing it now. It is 11.5 days post pitching.
Looking forward to hearing about the finished beer!
Hey Marshall. Thanks again for the recipe in particular the fast layering method. I have been wary of making a lager up till now, (1 year in to by career as a home brewer thought I should try one). In short, really happy with the beer. Great for the hot Texas weather right now (only going to get hotter) OG 1.048 FG 1.010 Clean and crisp and very refreshing….AAAHHH. (sounds like a toothpaste commercial). Banked some of the WLP029. Maybe going to have a crack at an Alt or another lager soon. Again, thanks for all the great work you are doing. Sainte!
Yum! Just had the first one. Great recipe! Cheers!
I love the blog, and I’m excited to try this recipe, but my LHBS doesn’t carry the Hallertauer Hersbrucker, so I’m subbing with 37g Mittelfruh to get the 17 IBUs.
I know how much you like the WLP029 yeast, but my LHBS doesn’t have that, is WLP029 specifically required/advised or could you recommend a similar yeast to give similar results? I’m fairly limited with the fact that they have this strange love affair going on with “Mangrove Jack’s Craft Series Yeasts”..:
– MJ Caft Series Yeast – US West Coast – M44
– MJ Craft Series Yeast – British Ale – M07
– MJ Craft Series Yeast – Bohemia Lager – M84
– MJ Craft Series Yeast – Bavarian Wheat – M20
– MJ Craft Series Yeast – Burton Union – M79
– MJ Craft Series Yeast – Cider – M02
– MJ Craft Series Yeast – Newcastle Dark Ale – M03
– MJ Craft Series Yeast – Workhorse – M10
– MJ Craft Yeast – Belgian Ale – M27
– Saf US-05
– Safale S-04 Yeast
– Safbrew WB-06
– Saflager S 23
– Saflager W-34/70
I don’t just want to sub with Saflager W-34/70 and hope for the best, and no amount of googling has given me a good comparison to any of the MJ Series yeasts…
Thanks for the recipe and the work you do!
I actually prefer Mittelfruh to Hersbrucker but ran out when I designed this recipe, I’m sure it’ll work beautifully. I’ve made the same recipe using a couple traditional lager strains, including 34/70, and it always comes out great. I’d recommend going with that!
Hey Werner, did u brew this with any of those dry yeast? How it turned out?
Sorry for the late reply, only got around to bottling it this weekend, was forced to leave it in the primary for a third week due to not having the time to bottle!
Ended up using the US-05 as my LHBS was out of W-34/70, fermented at 16C & had a FG of 1.006. Tastes thinner than I had hoped, but the taste is still great! Planning on giving at least a month or two before I open the first bottle…
Love your blog. I think I’ve read it complete. I’d like to try this recipe, but my local shop only carries Wyeast yeast. Would you recommend a Wyeast alternative to WLP 029? Thanks.
Thanks, Sean! I’ve never used either of Wyeast’s Kolsch strains, but I’ve heard they’re different than 029. Still, I’m sure they’ll work great!
Hey Marshall – I’m new to AG (BIAB) brewing and have been thinking about trying this recipe. Quick question – Why do you boil for 90 minutes as opposed to 60 when it seems like your first hop addition is 60 anyhow? Thanks!
I designed this recipe before I’d done any boil length xBmts, hence I appealed to authority and boiled for 90 minutes since I used a large amount of Pils malt. I’ve a hunch this will be changing sometime in the near future (hint: a 60 minute boil will likely work fine).
Hey Marshall, love your site and will try to brew this beer next week. Any recommendation for a dry yeast? I live in china and is not so easy to get liquid yeast. Thanks
If dry is your only option, I’d recommend 34/70, especially if you have ferm temp control.
Making this tonight. Going on a lager kick for a while and looking forward to some malt in my keezer and not pallet punching hops.
Although not a style I usually drink, this was my first attempt and making a clean light flavorful session beer. During fermentation, I was only able to maintain 64-66 degrees using my insulated fermentation bag with a couple of frozen 2 liter bottles, and I did not cold crash (due to lack of refrigerator space). The result was one of the leanest beers I’ve ever made. I mashed at 152 and found this to taste nearly identical to Hacker-Pschorr Edelhell. This is now my new favorite beer!
Fantastic!
Mine started at 1.046 and finished at 1.010 and it’s much lighter and tastes thinner than I expected. It’s only on day 2 (of 10) for force carbing up, so I’m hoping the carbonation adds to the mouthfeel a bit. I mashed at 150, so I’m wondering if maybe it’d have more malty flavor with a higher mash (like 153-154)?
I brewed this 2 weeks ago. FG is stable, but when I take a sample, the sulfur aroma in the glass is still very intense. In your experience, what can be done to make this dissipate quicker?
At 2 weeks, I’m usually at 68-72F and have never noticed sulfur. Have you bumped the temp yet?
I bumped the temp up to 68 after 4 days. I thought I would only be around 50% attenuation at that point, but I was already at 1.014! Could the fact that it almost completely finished before I bumped it up be part of the problem?
You used WLP029? I’ve never gotten sulfur from that strain, though I’m becoming more and more convinced sulfur is at least somewhat a function of water quality, particularly with certain strains. If you haven’t already, you might consider giving the fermentor a gentle swirl, then let it ride until the sulfur dissipates. If you keg, you can purge the keg a few times to drive off the sulfur as well.
Yes, I used WLP029, pitched at 56 F. Water was RO water treated with gypsum, CaCl, and kosher salt. Approx ion concentrations: Ca 64 ppm, SO4 52 ppm, Cl 92 ppm, Na 12 ppm.
I’m paranoid about sulfur now because I just got results from a Kolsch entry to a comp (also made with WLP029), and the judge commented on noticeable sulfur aroma. I always pitch big starters, wondering if maybe I need to start using yeast nutrient in the boil.
I swirled up the fermenter yesterday. I still have at least a few days before I’ll even have an empty keg to put it in, so I’m in no hurry. Thank you so much for your response.
Did this recipe today halved via stovetop BIAB. Got about a gallon of trub, I know you’re a big proponent of BIAB, do you generally get a ton of trub doing BIAB, and any ill effects?
I’ve yet to notice any ill effects from kettle trub at all. Check these out for more info:
xBmt 1
xBmt 2
If I wanted to BIAB this…whats the easiest way to convert it for full volume mash? This would be only the second batch I have ever done. Thanks.
Honestly, just combine the strike and sparge water, heat it to about 156F for dough in, and you should be good.
Will do! Thank you.
Hi,
Quick question as I am in the process of switching from partials to all grain. Will it make a difference if I don’t have the ability to cold crash? I do not have a fridge that is available for it at the moment.
I’ve never made this beer without crashing, but I trust it’s not totally necessary.
Hi!
I’ve been brewing all grain for about two years, but due to lack of space I’ve never had the possibility of temperature control for fermentation. I recently heard about Kölsch beer, and that it’s possible to brew at fairly high temperatures… I live in Sweden, so right now we have around 13-14°C (55-57°F). Do you think I should go for the WLP029 (which could have trouble starting at those temperatures) or go for the Wyeast 2565 which has a lower fermenting temperature?
Thanks!
I’ve pitched starters of WLP029 at 56°F many times and have yet to have an issue. If ambient is close to that temp, you can expect the fermenting beer to be between 58°F-63°F, which is perfect for that strain!
Thanks for a quick answer! Will try this recipe out next weekend!
My LHBS has Munich (not light) and the Weyermann melanoidin malt can be as high as 34L. Is the color of my beer if I used these malts going to be a little dark for the style?
Unless it says “dark,” it’s likely the typical light stuff. You should be good!
I’ve brewed this beer a few weeks ago and it turned out great! A real crowd pleaser.
I do however question the effect of the 1% melanoidin malt… It’s such an tiny amount, would you really taste the difference if you’d just skip it..? Maybe a nice one for when you’re out of xBMT ideas… 😉
Thanks for all the work you guys put in this website – it an awesome source of information and I really like the ‘fresh and curious’ approach towards brewing!
We have an xBmt planned! I’ve been leaving it out on my last few batches and I’m not personally able to detect much difference.
Ha, great stuff – looking forward for that one, keep up the good work, cheers!
I notice that the fermentation profile is a bit different from your “quick lager” method, which I assume is due to the WLP029, correct?
Yeah. However, lately I’ve just been fermenting with 34/70 at 66F, works great!
Thanks, Marshall. I already have the WLP029, so I’ll proceed with that, but good to know about the 34/70 for future brews.
I brewed two batches of this a little over a week ago. My boiloff rate was a little low on the first, so I only hit 1.042. The second batch I nailed the OG. It will be interesting to compare the two. I used Hallertau Mittlefruh for the hops.
I did a 90 minute boil for both batches, but I’ve noticed that in one or two recent xBMTs you’ve brewed this recipe with a 60 minute boil. Any perceptible difference?
I can’t tell at all, tasters haven’t seemed to be able to tell a difference either. xBmt findings for fun:
https://brulosophy.com/2015/09/14/boil-length-pt-2-pilsner-malt-exbeeriment-results/
Excellent, looks like my new brew day using this recipe will be 30 minutes shorter.
I bought the ingredients for this and plan on making it for christmas, the only problem was I couldn’t get the right yeast, ended up with ‘Wyeast 2124’. I’m hoping I have something nice in the end, think I’ll use the quick lager method.
I’m sure it’ll be fine, though these days, I just use 34/70 and ferment at 66˚F.
Made this and just tasted today. Beautiful tasting brew, and as clear as an azure sky…thanks for the recipe, will definitely brew this again.
Maybe I’m just blind but I can’t see where you say what you initial fermentation temp is on this before your ramp up.
Originally, 58F with WLP029. However, I’ve fermented this beer multiple times with Saflager W-34/70 at 66F and actually prefer it over the original.
Do you start it at 66F and continue that throughout fermentation the same as you would in an ale?
Going to brew your Helles this week with Saflager W-34/70 at 66F. Should I pitch two packets of yeast, or will one be fine at this OG (~1.050)? Also, what does your temperature profile look like for 34/70? Any temperature ramping (up or down)?
Love your blog – keep up the good work!
1 packet is more than enough in my experience. What I’ve been doing lately is pulling off about 500 mL of wort from the mash tun (after collecting my boil volume), boiling it in the flask for 5 minutes, chilling it, then pitching the pack of yeast and letting it roll for 4 hours (vitality starter) prior to pitching into the full batch of wort. I’ve observed activity within 3-4 hours pretty regularly using this method.
Great, thanks! I’ve never done a vitality starter but will consider it for this batch.
Would you still use 1 packet without doing the vitality starter?
I have and it works great. Yes, 1 pack is all I’d use for a 5 gallon batch.
Here is the result. Turned out fantastic. Smooth and malty. I fermented at 66F and added an extra 1% Dextrine malt. Initially there was a bit of a sulfur nose, but it went away after about 4-5 days in the keg. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
http://imgur.com/a/sja45
Right on, that’s great!
If you’re doing a 5 gallon, or as a sensible guy would say, 20 liter (;-)) batch, I’d use 2 packets. Follow the ‘lager fermentation’ temperature profile and you’ll be fine!
Marshall, just want to thank you on this one.
Made this with 1 re-hydrated packet of W34/70 for 5.5 Gallon batch. Fermented at 64. It has only been in the keg for a week and already tastes fantastic. If someone served this to me and told me it came from a commercial bottle or can I would not even know. For anyone else skeptical just give it a shot.
Treated RO water with the Yellow Balanced profile in Bru’n Water which may have helped.
Awesome!
I brewed this a couple of days ago. Pitched a rehydrated pack of Saflager W34-70 (I only had one). Fermenting at 18 C (65 Fahrenheit). The blow off tube gives a sulphury smell (rotten cabbage). Is this normal? I never used this yeast before nor have I fermented lagers at ale temperatures 🙂
Haha, totally normal, in my experience.
Just a feedback!
I kegged this beer today and used a carbonation lid (which carbonates the beer perfectly in just one hour). 12 days grain to glass for a helles. I could swear this beer was fermented at 10 degrees Celsius and lagered for 2 months. It’s clean, crisp, beautiful. The only thing that is not perfect yet is the clearness, it’s still a bit cloudy. 2 weeks in the keg and this beer will be the perfect helles.
Thanks Marshall!
Right on!
Stumbled across your site – its fun and fantastic read.
I’m going to attempt this recipe as my first ‘larger’ this weekend (hopefully!). I’m a BIAB’er, and I bottle my beers. For simplicity, ill using W-34/70 dry yeast. Couple of questions if that’s ok, I cant see them above –
1) Pitch yeast at 66F, after 4-5 days do I ramp up the temperature to 68F, or as my starting temp is higher for this yeast (compared to a cooler fermentation of WLP029) do I need to ramp higher?
2) After cold crashing for a couple of days, you say to “let sit for another 12-24 hours”. What temp will this be at? Room temp?
3) After the couple of days rest, ill transfer to my bottling bucket with some sugar then fill my bottles. Do these then need to be “cellar’ed” at a low temp for a couple of weeks?
Thanks again in advance – keep up the good work!
Hi!
1. I ramp to 72F just to really drive attenuation and clean-up. I actually rarely use WLP029 for lagers anymore these days since 34/70 works so well fermented warm.
2. Cold crash to ~32F and keep it there for 12-24 hours.
3. After bottling, store the bottles at room temp for around 2 weeks or until they’re fully carbonated, then you can chill and drink when cold! I’m personally a fan of fresh beer flavors, so I avoid long term conditioning/lagering for the most part these days.
Cheers!
Marshall
I never expected such a quick reply Marshall – Thanks!
One last one, I have always boiled for 90min with my BIAB – purely based one something I read when I first started. Is there an advantage for the extra boil time? (I’m sure there must be a exBEERiment if I looked!
There are 2 xBmts, in fact!
https://brulosophy.com/2015/03/11/the-impact-of-boil-length-ale-exbeeriment-results/
https://brulosophy.com/2015/09/14/boil-length-pt-2-pilsner-malt-exbeeriment-results/
Aaaaaand we even had beer from the Pils malt xBmt analyzed for DMS, here are the results:
https://brulosophy.com/2015/10/08/update-lab-data-on-pils-malt-boil-length-exbeeriment/
Hi Marshall – i made this beer a while back, but had problems with carbonation… well lack of carbonation to be precise!
I used some hydrated W-34/70 yeast (1 pack from memory) for a 13 liter batch. I presume this was not enough and the yeast got killed off with the cold.
Do you add additional yeast in during bottling? or do you add more at the start on the basis that some will survive for carbonation?
Many Thanks
Hey Chris, I’ve never bottle conditioned this beer but wouldn’t add any additional yeast if I did, there should be plenty in suspension for carbonation.
Can’t wait to brew this one with a warm fermented and W34/70 and piss off the other german homebrewers 😀
Especially for the summer this and a hoppy pale ale should be enough.
Brewed the Helles with 34/70 @ 66*F, ramp to 72*F, then a cold crash…had to leave town so it sat at ~ 32*F for a little over a week before kegging. After burst carbonating the first few pulls have extreme sulfur odor. I expected some a little sulfur aroma, but this is over the top. Is this expected? Does the stench ever go away?
Thanks.
I’ve never had sulfur issues with 34/70 in any style of beer, curious what your water profile was?
I used tap and add Gypsum, Calcium Chloride, and Lactic Acid according to Bru’n Water with Yellow Full…in theory the finished profile:
Ca: 61, Mg: 4, Na: 49, SO4: 56, Cl: 73
I’ve brewed this beer with 34/70 at 66F and I did get a mild sulfur aroma, typically strongest 3-4 days after high krausen and then a little in the keg. It usually dissipates completely after purging the keg 3 or 4 times.
Cool, thanks. Since perception of the intensity of things like sulfur is fairly subjective, I’ll submit it’s possible its been present and I just didn’t notice it. I do recall Malcolm noticing some sulfur, not too much, in the Short & Shoddy Pilsner he made for our talk last year at HBC, but it was absent when serving during the presentation. I might recommend a couple purges, my guess is that will take care of it.
Sorry I didn’t follow-up sooner…I did some purges and with some lagering the sulfur dissipated. My next batch was a Hefe and it had more sulfur than the Helles! I then noticed a faint sulfur smell from the tap…I believe my water changed…time to start using RO!
Thanks for the help.
OK, did not read through all the threads – why Kolsch yeast? Why not 830/833/860? Help.
I’ve made this recipe with 830, works great, tastes surprisingly just like 029.
Hey Marshall,
I’m gonna brew this Munich Helles. But..How do you think it would work substituting the Munich for Vienna malt? My lhbs only has Vienna! Im thinking maybe need to increase % if I go with Vienna? Maybe 20%?
I’m only a few all grain brews in. Your site has truly been an inspiration. I’ve produced some awesome beers with the knowledge I’ve gained from your fresh no b/s approach. Truly great work.
It’ll be great, I’m sure! I actually prefer Vienna Malt to Munich Malt for the most part, just plan on a somewhat paler beer, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Cheers mate, looking forward to it.
I’ve always had an issue with nailing my volumes with BIAB. If I were to make this batch to be 5 gallons into the fermenter, how much water would I start with? Do you squeeze the bag?
About 7.5 gal without squeezing, around 7 if you squeeze. I used BeerSmith and it’s spot on.
My BIAB’s usually always turn out a bit sweet. I don’t think my yeast is attenuating and it get stuck often. I can never seem to reach FG. Help!
A couple things to consider:
1. Mash temp – make sure your thermometer is calibrated and that you’re mash temperature isn’t too high, I prefer 152F for most beers. If thermometer is calibrated and you’re already in the range…
2. Water chemistry – we’ve found that a lower mash pH tends to yield a higher FG. Oddly, this hasn’t produced a sweeter beer, per se, but if you’re looking to reduce the FG, make sure your mash pH is around 5.2.
Hope that helps!
Do you think 34/70 is a good yeast for this beer? Re hydrate 2 packets and pitch?
I’ve used 34/70 in this recipe maybe times, 1 pack fermented at 66F works great, even scored a 41 in a large competition.
Do you pitch it dry or do you re hydrate?
If it’s fresh, I’ll pitch dry; if it’s a couple months out, I’ll actually use real wort for a vitality starter.
Hi!
I brewed this Brulosophy/L2B Helles recipe a few weeks ago. The beer is beautifully clear, tastes great, but head retention is next to nothing. I get a half inch that disappears in 30 seconds but it’s still nicely carbonated (2.5 vols is what I calculated).
I bottle my beer. I’m well over 200 batches but brand new to lagers.
I want to do this recipe again but any ideas on head retention? Is that a common-ish complaint among us bottlers? Bump up my CO2 vol closer to 3, maybe? Anyone?
I have brewed the same and mine was very flat. First time I had done a larger and I possibly should have put more yeast in before bottling I guess. A while ago now and not hand the chance for another play
Just brewed this Helles as my first lager recipe and it turned out awesome! Also used the Brulosophy Lager Method as well. Cheers!
Just brewed this Helles and used the Bootleg Biology Brulosophy yeast. Should be interesting
I must be totally blind but I cannot see at what temperature to start the fermentation process.
Thanks!
66F all the way through works great, even with traditional lager yeast 🍻
Do you think a similar recipe with Kolsch – Wyeast (2565) or Kolsch II – Omega Yeast OYL-044 would be fine at room temp? Do not have controlled temp fermentation chamber. Thanks!
I’d just used lager yeast and ferment warm. But sure, try Kölsch yeast!
Ah, think i just got sidetracked by the German ale/Kolsch decription of the yeast listed above. I’ll stick with lager. My LHBS has Bayern Lager – Omega Yeast OYL-114 so maybe I’ll give that a shot. Thanks for all the info. Just really got going into brewing and have started to make my way thru your back catalog of pods. Keep up the great work!
Marshall, I am making this and really want it to work (I love Helles!). I have lager and Kolsch yeast, what would you personally use if given the choice? I have temp control. Cheers,
Lager yeast… fermented at 66F if you’re feeling risky.
Dear Marshall, I have another quick question if I may…I am fermenting the Helles at 66F like you suggest. I am thinking of brewing an Oktoberfest batch split in 2 to ferment with Lager and Kolsch (mOktoberfest) yeast both at 66F. Do you recommend this temperature for this style/yeasts? The Brulosophy mOktoberfest recipe recommends 58°F for 4-5 days then 65° for the remainder of ~10-14 days, but the experiment Lager v. Kolsch ferments at different (recommended proper) temperatures. Thanks, cheers!
66F for everything!!!! I prefer Imperial L17, but whatever floats your boat.