Easy Does It -- Munich Helles

Easy Does It -- A Munich Helles Recipe and Process
All Grain
5 gallons into keg

Parameters
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.016
ABV: 4.6%
IBUs: 22 (Tinseth)
SRM: 4.4

Grain Bill (exact amounts should be based on system efficiency)
80% Weyerman Pils (2 deg L)
20% Weyerman Light Munich (8 deg L)

Hops
Hallertau Mittelfruh 4.4% AA, 1.5 oz, 90 min
Hallertau Mittelfruh 4.4% AA, 0.5 oz, 10 min
Hallertau Mittelfruh 4.4% AA, 0.5 oz, 0 min

Yeast
White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager)
Pitch rate: 1.6 mil/mL/deg P (calculated)

Water
9.4 gallons RO total, treated as indicated
Mash: 4.9 gallons RO treated with 3 gm CaCl2 plus 4.2 oz Weyermann Acid Malt.
Predicted mash pH is 5.40 (using MpH Calculator)
Sparge: 4.5 gallons RO treated with 2.5 gm MgSO4

Process
Single infusion mash, 149 F, 60 min
Mashout at 169 F
Continuous sparge with 190 F water for 45 min
Boil 90 min total
Aerate the wort (I do this by rocking the fermenter for 5 minutes)
Ferment 50 F for three days, then linearly raise temperature to 64 over 10 days. Hold at 64 for 7 days. Cold crash to 45, then keg. Lager for 6 weeks (if you can stand it!)

Notes
I strongly recommend either (i) adding gelatin at packaging or (ii) lagering a sufficient amount of time to make sure this beer is very clear. Any residual haziness from the yeast most definitely interferes with a clean malt character, which is the hallmark of Munich Helles. The 20% Munich malt gives this beer a great (IMHO) malt character without the need for decoction. The finishing gravity of 1.016 (that I got the one time I made this beer) might raise an eyebrow or two, but the beer was definitely not on the sweet side, and the body was awesome.

If only corporate macrobrewers would make something like this rather than their typical adjunct swill, there might have been no need for the craft-beer movement. Well, maybe not.

Cheers!

 

Good question; I should have been more clear. It is 190 F to start, but I periodically use a transfer vessel (sauce pan) to transfer the water to a rather small (1 gallon) uninsulated container from which the sparge water slowly drains into the mash. The sparge water cools quite a bit during this process. Also, my stainless mash tun is uninsulated during sparging, so it tends to lose heat. For my system, then, sparge water initially at 190 F is what works to keep the grain bed temperature where I want it. In the summer time (vs winter) I'll set the initial temperature a bit lower, also.

I do monitor the grain bed temperature during sparging; it stays below 170 F. I don't monitor pH, but I always use low carbonate water for sparging. I do take a gravity reading of the last runnings. For this beer they were 1.007, a bit on the low side of the standard recommendation of 1.010, but given the small level of alkalinity in RO, I don't worry about it. I've not had issues with astringency.

 

I'm 100% with you on changing Munich to 10%. I happen to like some hop flavor, so I prefer some late hop additions in favor of authenticity. Cheers!

 

I rather liked the recipe as written, but I like it even better with the Munich at 10%, as suggested by @TheBeerery. I guess it comes down to preference of taste. Cheers!

 

I would follow OldBrewer’s advice. Cheers!