All-grain · 20 L (5.3 gal)
Munich Helles Recipe
BJCP 4A · Munich Helles
Munich's golden lager: clean, with a soft bready, grainy flavor and almost no bitterness. It looks simple, but because it's so clean it can't hide any flaws.
Munich Helles recipe by the numbers
- Batch size
- 20 L (5.3 gal)
- Original gravity
- 1.047
- Final gravity
- 1.009
- ABV
- 5%
- Bitterness
- 20 IBU
- Color
- 4 SRM (8 EBC)
- Mash
- 65 °C (149 °F) for 60 minutes
- Boil
- 60 minutes
- Fermentation
- 12 °C (54 °F) for 2 weeks, 3 days at 18 °C (64 °F) and 5 weeks at 1-2 °C (34-36 °F)
- Bottling
- 6.1 g of sugar per liter (0.8 oz/gal)
About 145 kcal per 330 ml (11 oz) bottle, worked out from its original and final gravity.
Munich Helles recipe: ingredients and steps
Batch size
Recipe for 20 liters (5.3 US gallons) into the fermenter.
Malts
| Malt | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Pilsner malt4 EBC (2 °L) | 3.90 kg (8.60 lb) | 90.7% |
| Munich malt15 EBC (6 °L) | 0.25 kg (0.55 lb) | 5.8% |
| Carapils malt4 EBC (2 °L) | 0.15 kg (0.33 lb) | 3.5% |
Hops
| Hop | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Magnum13% alpha acids | 9 g (0.32 oz) | 60 minBittering |
| Hallertau Mittelfrüh4% alpha acids | 20 g (0.71 oz) | 20 minFlavor |
| Hallertau Mittelfrüh4% alpha acids | 15 g (0.53 oz) | 5 minAroma |
You will also need
Yeast: Dry lager yeast, such as W-34/70: two 11.5 g (0.4 oz) packets. At 12 °C (54 °F) the yeast works slowly, so you need twice as much.
Water: About 28.5 L (7.5 gal): 13 L (3.4 gal) for the mash and 15.5 L (4.1 gal) for the sparge.
Priming sugar: 6.1 g of white sugar per liter bottled (0.8 oz/gal): about 115 g (4.1 oz) for 19 L (5 gal).
Hops: pellets, kept in the freezer until brew day.
Step by step
- Heat 13 L (3.4 gal) of water to 71 °C (160 °F), add the crushed malt and stir until there are no lumps. It should settle at about 65 °C (149 °F): hold that temperature for 60 minutes, covered.
- Lift out the grain and sparge it with 15.5 L (4.1 gal) of water at 76 °C (169 °F). You should collect about 24 L (6.3 gal) of wort at 1.040.
- Boil for 60 minutes, uncovered and vigorously: pilsner malt needs a strong boil so it doesn't leave a cooked-corn flavor. The 9 g (0.3 oz) of Magnum go in at the start, 20 g (0.7 oz) of Hallertau with 20 minutes left and another 15 g (0.5 oz) with 5 left.
- Chill as low as you can, down to 12 °C (54 °F) if you can get there; if not, chill to 20 °C (68 °F) and put the fermenter in the fridge until it drops to 12 °C (54 °F) before pitching the yeast. Transfer about 20 L (5.3 gal) to the fermenter, aerate well and take a gravity reading: it should be around 1.047.
- Pitch both packets of yeast and ferment at 12 °C (54 °F). When the gravity drops to 1.016-1.018 (about 10 days), move the fermenter to 18 °C (64 °F) and leave it there for 3 days: this is the diacetyl rest, so the yeast can clean up the diacetyl, which tastes like butter.
- Once the gravity sits at 1.009 for three days in a row, lower the temperature by 2 °C (about 4 °F) a day down to 1-2 °C (34-36 °F) and leave the beer there for five weeks. That cold storage is the lagering: it clears the beer and rounds out the flavor.
- Bottle with the priming sugar dissolved in a little boiled water and leave the bottles for three weeks at room temperature: after so long in the cold, there's little yeast left in suspension and it takes longer to carbonate. Then into the fridge.
In a Helles there are no hops or roast to hide behind: clean and sanitize more carefully than ever, and don't skip the diacetyl rest.
If your Magnum isn't 13% alpha acids, use 9 × 13 ÷ your percentage, in grams, to keep it at about 20 IBU.
If you can't ferment cold, you're better off brewing the Kölsch on this site: with ale yeast at 15-16 °C (59-61 °F), you get a similar golden beer that's much easier to make.
The style: Munich Helles (BJCP 4A), with its history, its numbers and other ways to brew it.
Different setup? Recalculate with the water calculator, the IBU calculator and the priming sugar calculator.
Rating recipes and keeping a brew log need an account, which is only available in Spanish for now. English accounts are coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
How strong will this Munich Helles be?
About 5% ABV: it starts at 1.047 and finishes at 1.009, and (OG − FG) × 131.25 gives that percentage.
How long until it is ready?
One brew day, fermentation at 12 °C (54 °F) for 2 weeks, 3 days at 18 °C (64 °F) and 5 weeks at 1-2 °C (34-36 °F) and about two weeks in the bottle: give it a little over a month.
Can I use a different bittering hop?
Yes. What matters is keeping the bitterness: if you use another hop instead of Magnum at 13% alpha acids, work out the grams from its alpha acids (or with the IBU calculator) to stay at about 20 IBUs.
What if my system does not get 72% efficiency?
Your gravity will come out different. Scale the base malt up or down (or add a little dry malt extract to the boil if you fall short) and recalculate the water with the calculator.
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Reference style: Munich Helles in the BJCP guidelines, 2021 edition. Original recipe by Hacer Cerveza Casera, designed for a homebrew setup.