Snowball's Chance (in) Helles
Brewed: 1/11/2015 Kegged: 1/25/2015
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.
For more about this beer on my blog see: http://blog.ericshepard.com/search/label/Snowballs%20Chance
| 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 |
|
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| Measured OG: | 1.046 | Measured FG: | 1.008 | ||||
| ADF: | 82% | Measured ABV: | 5 |
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
| 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 | ||||||
Brewing Notes
1/9/2015 Bought ingredients today at the Brew Hut. Should brew Sunday.
1/11/2015 Brew day today. Everything went well. 1.046 OG. Over cooled the wort. For down to around 40. Let it warm up a bit at room temp. We'll see how it turns out.
1/12/2015 Bubbling. Has kraussen. 50.
1/14/2015 End of day. 58. Still going.
1/16/2015 Bubbling practically stopped. Took out of ice bath. Still very cloudy. 66.
1/17/2015 Forgot to mention 1.046 came to 11.1 brix.
1/25/2015 Kegged today. FG 1.008 puts this beer right at 5%abv. Very good. May be a bit hoppy for style, but delicious. Still a bit of a yeast haze. Put keg in beer fridge. Hopefully it will clear up soon.
2/5/2015 First taste. Good light German lager.
2/20/2015 Really been a great beer. Like the Nobel hop flavor. Nice pilsner malt character.
4/12/2015 Don't think this will last too much longer. Clarity on this is awesome. Flavor too. This batch is so much more awesome than the last.
4/19/2015 The keg blew. Bummer.
1/9/2015 Bought ingredients today at the Brew Hut. Should brew Sunday.
1/11/2015 Brew day today. Everything went well. 1.046 OG. Over cooled the wort. For down to around 40. Let it warm up a bit at room temp. We'll see how it turns out.
1/12/2015 Bubbling. Has kraussen. 50.
1/14/2015 End of day. 58. Still going.
1/16/2015 Bubbling practically stopped. Took out of ice bath. Still very cloudy. 66.
1/17/2015 Forgot to mention 1.046 came to 11.1 brix.
1/25/2015 Kegged today. FG 1.008 puts this beer right at 5%abv. Very good. May be a bit hoppy for style, but delicious. Still a bit of a yeast haze. Put keg in beer fridge. Hopefully it will clear up soon.
2/5/2015 First taste. Good light German lager.
2/20/2015 Really been a great beer. Like the Nobel hop flavor. Nice pilsner malt character.
4/12/2015 Don't think this will last too much longer. Clarity on this is awesome. Flavor too. This batch is so much more awesome than the last.
4/19/2015 The keg blew. Bummer.