Tiny smash Helles

Right before the lockdown hit my community, I rushed to the homebrew store to buy some grain. I intended to try making a Kolsch-like beer with US-05 yeast, but unfortunately I never got around to brewing it. Since then, my kegs have emptied and with plans to make an Oktoberfest beer, I decided I would use this grain to make a small Helles-like lager. 

I went to two different shops looking for a German lager strain, and the only one I could find is Wyeast 2633 Oktoberfest. I had intended to use Wyeast 2308 as I had good luck with it two years ago. I would have settled for 2124 as well, but both were out of stock. I've never used 2633 before and could not find a lot of information about it, but some posts I read on forums indicated it works well.

This is the first beer in my new house and the first non-Pickwick beer I've ever made. Overall, things went pretty smoothly, but I did have a few mishaps. The output end of my wort chiller somehow got in the wort for a second, so that increased the volume. I think I ended up with 5.5 gallons and an OG of 1.040 instead of 1.043. My wort chiller also came apart after one of the clamps evidently loosened. So I had to take it out and put it back together. 

In the end, this beer is a warmup for some Oktoberfest beers I'll be brewing in the coming weeks. Wort tastes pretty good. A little thin. But a good grainy, bready flavor. 

Recipe:

7.5 lbs Weyermann Pils

1 oz Hersbrucker at 60 minutes

2633 Oktoberfest yeast