Bavarian Helles History Brewing Techniques Recipes – Horst D Dornbusch

(The workings of a typical German brew sys- tem are explained in appendix G.) From the guidelines in this chapter, you can compose your own brewing process tailored to the capabilities of your system, the availability of ingredients in your locale, and the pref- erences of your taste buds.

Mashing When calculating the total amount of grist for your mash tun, consider the inherent extract efficiency of your brewing efforts (for an explanation of extract efficiency, see appendix D). The objective of milling, mashing, lautering, and sparging is to convert and then extract the grains’ soluble materials, which are mostly starches that are converted to sugars, as well as proteins and traces of such elements as tannins and gums.

The amount of extract a brewery can produce may be influenced by such factors as the character- istics of its brewing system, the characteristics of the grains it uses, and the mashing processes it employs. The mashing process for helles takes about 90 to 120 minutes for a step infusion mash, depending on the starting temperature of the mash and on the number of rests you employ. A traditional decoction mash takes about 5 to 6 hours.

Whether or not to employ decoction for German-style beers is a hotly debated issue among brewers. Proponents of decoction argue that it greatly improves the maltiness of the beer, because the decoc- Bavarian Helles tion boil favors the production of melanoidins, com- pounds that are created by the reaction of amino acids with carbohydrates under the influence of heat.

Detractors of decoction argue that a properly man- aged infusion mash and kettle boil can yield the same results. As a commercial practice, though, decoction mashing is increasingly giving way to step-infusion mashing nowadays, even in Germany, because of the availability of grains with high enzymatic strength. One drawback of decoction lies in the progressive destruction of mash enzymes as successive portions of the mash are boiled in the cooker.

The lauter tun geometry is another consideration in the decision to opt for decoction or infusion. Decoction tends to result in a “gummier” mash, which requires a relatively shallow grain bed and hence a rather wide lauter tun for efficient sparging. Because of equipment constraints, decoction is often not even an option in many breweries. Economic reasons also tend to enter the debate over the relative merits of decoction in a commercial environment: The infusion process simply requires less time, labor, and energy and is thus cheaper.

Here is a quick summary of the standard tempera- ture/time schedule for a typical helles infusion or decoction mash cycle, followed by detailed explana- tions of these steps.

© 2000 by Horst D. Dornbusch All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Brewers Publications, a division of the Brewers Association. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. The author, editors, and publisher assume no responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book.

Interior images scanned by Mark Duffley Cover: Bavarian Pretzels courtesy of Pretzelmaker, Boulder, CO Printed in the United States of America 5 4 ISBN-13: 978-0-937381-73-1 ISBN-10: 0-937381-73-X Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dornbusch, Horst D. Bavarian Helles: history, brewing techniques, recipes / Horst D. Dornbusch. p. cm. — (Classic beer style series ; no. 17) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-937381-73-X 1. Beer — Germany — Bavaria. 2. Brewing — Germany — Bavaria. I. Title.

II. Classic beer style series; 17. TP577.D67 2000 641.2’3’09433—dc21 99-098180 To a kid named Erik, who has given me riches I never knew existed. The Classic Beer Style Series is devoted to offering in-depth information on world-class styles by exploring their history, flavor profiles, brewing methods, recipes, and ingredients.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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