Munich Helles - brew day - April 23, 2016

My drinking experience began with lagers. I imagine that's the case for most Americans. But as my interest in and knowledge of beer has increased (largely in the past 2.5 years, which coincides with the inception of my homebrewing hobby), I've largely dismissed them. That's for a number of reasons. I hadn't drunk too many of them, because I assumed they were mostly flavorless, in the vein of an Anheuser product. I never attempted to brew one, either, owing to my assumed dislike for them, but also because lagers are more technically challenging, or at least that's the conventional wisdom.

A year ago, I happened to visit Grünauer in Kansas City for the first time. Being frugal minded, I chose KC Bier company's helles, the least expensive draft beer on the menu. I really enjoyed it. I can't recall if I had had that particular beer before then, but it's possible, since I had a flight at KC Bier Company some time before that.

I didn't give the style much thought after that. In March of this year, though, I ran across this post, which got me thinking about lagers. I did a bit more research, reading blogs and what not. Somehow, helles caught my attention, maybe because the name is curious, but also, I think, because I read this other post. The author mentions Weihenstephaner. I set out over my lunch break to buy that beer, and I did. I drank it later that night and was extremely impressed. There was that same bready, slightly sweet flavor that I associated with KC Bier company's version.

But I recognized those flavors, I think, from prior drinking experience, in the 2000s, before I relaly got into craft beer. I used to drink Stella Artois from time to time, so maybe that is why. And the occasional import. Incidentally, I had Stella on draft last weekend, and there was that same bready, sweet flavor, with just a touch of grassy hopiness.

Why had I forgotten about these beers? Why was I so quick to dismiss them? I think it's because, also in the mid 2000s, I got into pale ales, the first, as I recall, being Boulevard Pale Ale. From there, I seemed to really focus on drinking that style. But again, prior to homebrewing, I dabbled in all kinds of styles. For example, I had a Sierra Nevada Summerfest this week, since I've been exploring lagers, and I have drunk that beer before. I was enjoying a Czech Pilsner many years ago without even realizing it.

Around the time I started homebrewing, though, I began drinking, and brewing, almost singularly ales. Especially pale ales and IPAs. I've tried almost every IPA I've come across at the liquor store. And there are tons. IPA, as most beer enthusiasts know, and perhaps lament, has exploded in popularity in recent years. This explosion of popularity in IPA has been accompanied by a general increase in flavorful ales in general. So now the shelves are dominated by hops, stouts, belgians, and even sours.

At the same time as this massive increase in popularity for ales, there seems to be a general disdain for lagers among craft beer drinkers. Myself included. I'd look past even craft lagers, assuming they must taste like Budweiser.

After trying several lagers, however, I feel that my beer drinking has come full circle. I've recently been seeking out and tasting all kinds of lagers, including dunkel, helles, dortmunder export, and pilsner. After consuming many different examples, I have an idea of what I like in these beers, and the way they should taste.

The next step was to try to craft my own. I knew I wanted to brew a helles after reading the Meek Brewing post, and I felt confident that I could do so after reading the Sui Generis blog, as well as doing a lot of research on fermenting lagers at higher temperatures. As part of that research, I read the articles on the Brülosophy lager experiments. All of this combined to make feel confident that I could attempt my first lager.

Everything finally came together yesterday. I had all my ingredients together. More research in the intervening time lead me to create and tweak a helles recipe. For example, I initially thought I'd use Saaz hops, since I had a large amount on hand, but realized Saaz is more appropriate for pilsner. Then I recalled that Yakima Valley Hops, in my last order, sent me two ounces of Hersbrucker for free. So I used those instead. I believe I intially planned to use two pounds of Munich and seven pounds of pils, but I reduced the Munich to one pound. Ultimately, I settled on the one written out below.

Brew day went smoothly, and I was finished in just under five hours. Mashed at around 149-152; the temperature varied depending on where in the mash I placed the thermometer, but in the end I just went with it. OG was 1.056-58, which was unexpectedly and frankly disappointingly high. After researching Avangard Pilsner, though, I've found that this malt is associated with a higher specific gravity than you might anticipate. But that's ok, I'm sure this will still be a tasty batch of beer. Pitching temp was 64 F.

prior to pitching

I'm fermenting in a swamp cooler. I'm trying to keep the water in the upper 50s to low 60s. So far that is working as planned. I simply add frozen bottles every 12 hours or so.

As for taste, I think I have a pretty good idea of how it will turn out. The wort tasted just like the finished beer does. Bready, a touch of corn, low bitterness, perhaps just the slightest tinge of hoppy, herbal, grassiness. Which makes me wonder: what does lager yeast add to a beer, aside from alcohol, if, as they're supposed to do, they ferment a beer so cleanly? Perhaps just a touch of residual diacetyl and sulfur?

wort sample

In any event, now it's time to wait. As I write this, nearly 24 hours after pitching (i.e., sprinkling, per the instructions, the yeast on top of the wort), there is no activity to be seen. In fact, the yeast seems to have decided to simply float on top of the wort, despite my best efforts to shake the better bottle slightly in an attempt to sink it. This has happened before, though, and I must remember that old homebrewing adage: relax, don't worry...

Recipe:

8 lbs Avangard pils
1 lb light Munich

1 oz Hersbrucker at 60
1 oz Hersbrucker at 30

Saflager W-34/70

Update 4/30/16:

I babied this beer all week. I exchanged frozen water bottles as often as I could in an attempt to keep the temperature in the 50s. The temperature varied throughout the week from about 49 to as high as 62. It was in the 50s the majority of the time.

beginning to show signs of fermentation

The krausen had started to settle out by Thursday and is pretty much gone now, save for a thin layer of bubbles on top.

I removed the fermenter from the swamp cooler today to start a week-long diacetyl rest. I also couldn't resist sampling it. I took my thief and drew off a bit of it and checked the gravity as well. Gravity is around 1.012-14. Very cloudy. Clean flavor. I initially thought of a saison I brewed a couple years ago with English hops, either Fuggles or EKG. It tasted a bit corny, which made me wonder if that's a normal attribute of the pilsner malt, or if it's DMS and I didn't boil long enough. On the other hand, the commercial examples I've been drinking lately have a touch of that corny, grainy flavor.

Body is a bit thin. Will it seem thicker after carbonation? There's maybe a touch of a savoriness in the finish. Is that diacetyl? I've never tasted actual diacetyl, so I'm not sure what to look for.

In any event, this beer needs to sit for awhile. I imagine resting in a keg in a cold fridge will really round out this beer, just as it does the IPAs that I make.