Snowball's Chance (in) Helles
Brewed: 01/11/2015 Kegged: 01/25/2015
 If you follow my blog, you may know that SheppyBrew's 2013 goal was to have brewed all-grain batches of beer in all 23 of the BJCP categories (see SheppyBrew Styles). At the end of 2012, one of the missing categories was Category 1 Light Lager. I didn't really want to brew any of the American light lagers. I had been thinking of brewing a Munich Helles for quite some time. I like the crisp, clean easy drinking, low alcohol beer style with nice German malts. Every Helles that I have ever had has been very nice.
So, it was pretty much a no-brainer that my Category 1 beer would be a Helles. The name "Helles" has all kinds of pun possibilities with "hell". Most of them that I came up with already had beers associated with them. Surprisingly, though, "Snowball's Chance" didn't yield any results on untappd. Seems like an obvious one, so I am snapping it up. Maybe I should trademark the name, but that just seems like too much work.
"Snowball's Chance (in) Helles" was the first of a series of German lagers. I started with this one because it is the lowest in alcohol and lightly hopped. Next up was a Schwarzbier and then a Mailbock. I propagated the yeast from batch to batch. For this series I am used Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124), which Wyeast told me is appropriate for all three styles. By the time I got to the Maibock I had plenty of yeast to pitch into the high-gravity wort. For what it is worth, Helles in a Hand Bock-sket won a first-place award in a local competition.
I added Clarity-Ferm to this recipe to Kill the Glutens.
I bottled this batch, and somehow completely screwed up the carbonation. I tried to recover, but never really got this beer where I wanted it.
I did enter this beer into the 2013 National Homebrew Competition. It did alright, winning a "Silver Certificate", which basically means nothing, but I guess is technically an award so-to-speak.
 Batch 2 was exactly the same as batch 1 except that I kegged the batch rather than bottle it.
| Snowball's Chance Helles --- Batch 2 |
| Style |
|
Munich Helles |
|
Batch Size |
|
5.50 gal |
| Type |
|
All Grain |
|
Boil Size |
|
7.76 gal |
| Brewhouse Efficiency |
|
70.00 |
|
Boil Time |
|
90 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity |
|
1.047 SG |
|
Estimated FG |
|
1.010 SG |
| Recipe Bitterness |
|
21.5 IBUs (Rager) |
|
Alcohol by Volume |
|
4.8 % |
| BU : GU |
|
0.458 |
|
|
|
|
| Recipe Color |
|
3.8 SRM |
|
|
|
|
| Measured OG: |
|
1.046 |
|
Measured FG: |
|
1.008 |
| ADF: |
|
82% |
|
Measured ABV: |
|
5 |
Ingredients
Ingredients
| Amt |
Name |
Type |
# |
%/IBU |
| 4.00 g |
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins) |
Water Agent |
1 |
- |
| 9 lbs |
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) |
Grain |
2 |
90.6 % |
| 11.0 oz |
Munich Malt - 3L (3.0 SRM) |
Grain |
3 |
6.9 % |
| 4.0 oz |
Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) |
Grain |
4 |
2.5 % |
| 0.375 oz |
Magnum [15.20 %] - Boil 45.0 min |
Hop |
5 |
20.0 IBUs |
| 1.00 tsp |
Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) |
Other |
6 |
- |
| 0.50 tsp |
Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) |
Fining |
7 |
- |
| 0.500 oz |
Hallertauer [4.60 %] - Boil 5.0 min |
Hop |
8 |
1.5 IBUs |
| 1.0 pkg |
Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124) [124.21 ml] |
Yeast |
9 |
- |
| 5.00 ml |
Clarity-Ferm (Primary 2.0 weeks) |
Fining |
10 |
- |
Mash Profile
Mash Steps
| Name |
Description |
Step Temperature |
Step Time |
| Mash In |
Add 12.42 qt of water at 159.1 F |
148.0 F |
75 min |
Batch sparge with 2 steps
(1.97gal, 3.88gal) of 168.0 F waterRecipe Notes
A day or two
before brewing, make a 1 liter starter.
4g gypsum in the mash water. This
should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith)
to
Ca=59,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=116,Cl=23,HCO3=104
Brew as instructed.
Cool
wort to below 55 degrees before pitching.
Ferment for 1 week as close to 55
as possible. After 1 week, let temperature rise into mid to upper 60s for a week
or two.
Keg. If desired, save the yeast to use in another batch of beer.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: |
|
1/11/2014 |
|
Strike Temp: |
|
160 |
| Mash Temps: |
|
140 ... adjust to 150. 148 by end of mash |
| Pre-boil OG |
|
1.043 (1.038 SG) |
|
Pre-boil Vol |
|
7.75 (7.76 gal) |
| Actual Mash Efficiency |
|
|
|
Pitch Temp |
|
45 |
| Fermentation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Day 1: cold early. kraussen and bublling up to 50 by end of day |
| Day 3: still bubbling 58 |
| Day 5: Close to done bubbling out of cooler 64 |
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