Brewing a Bavarian Helles

[KenLenard]

It may have actually been one of our members in the FB forum that mentioned this. I guess I'm wondering if I have a mountain to climb to get everything in place to do this properly and then once I get the procedure down... do I have really great, fresh-tasting German beer with great character that lasts... 3 days before the character fades?

[Kit_B]

Like with most things worth doing, you'll get out what you put in.
If you follow what we have outlined & take precautions, you are likely to have that freshness last for several months.
If you take shortcuts or omit pieces, all bets are off.

[Bryan R]

Right, That's what I thought.. We need to not have the confusion about this.
So if you follow our guide to a T we have yet to lose that character(months +). However, if you don't it's a very fragile and easily oxidizable compound, depending on o2 levels it can be gone from immediately to 4-6 weeks. Only DO readings can verify this. But the beauty of the paper is you don't need to get a DO meter to try this. Follow the guide, and you will win.

[Roachbrau]

The character is fragile, not fleeting. It takes a miniscule amount of oxygen to ruin it, but if you follow our guide, that won't happen.

I had a pale ale I just finished this weekend that was kegged on February 8th and tasted like it was "dry hopped yesterday" all the way to the last glass.

[Brody]

[Roachbrau]

[Bryan R]

I have dry hopped in the fermenter about a day or so before I transferred to spund. I have a pale ale keg that is about 12 weeks old that has the same insanely fresh dryhopped yesterday flavor.

[KenLenard]

Well, I'll just say this... there are a lot of THE EARTH IS FLAT! people on my board and I guess I just don't understand it. Is it an admission that the way they are currently making beer is not as good as this one or is it just wrapping your brain around a new idea or what? I know you guys aren't trying to cram this down anyone's throat so the opposition to the idea is alarming. I, for one, am always looking for good information and the optimist in me wants to think that the low-O2 process is worth a try. I'll be passing some information back and forth with Brandon on how to best adapt my system to this process. I better clear my calendar too! Cheers.

[Brandon]

Ken, Ancient Abbey just put this together...go play and give it a try before making any major investment. Let us know what you think.

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And yes, as they are asking, Campden tablets work fine. You're better off using Sodium Metabisulfite instead of Potassium, but we all started with Potassium version.

[Owenbräu]

Here is the tutorial on mini-mashing. Keep in mind, it is absolutely essential that you get the DO out of the strike water before you add the SMB.

viewtopic.php?f=49&t=301