What the Helles Brew Day (244)

This past weekend, I brewed my 19th batch of beer for the year.

244th batch of beer all-time.

It was my 13th new recipe this year. My 6th lager.

Last week, I gave you a little heads-up that it was coming in What the Helles.

The beer name is What the Helles Dortmunder, and you can take a look at the recipe by following the link.

It is actually very similar to the Schreck Gartenzwerg Pilsner that I made a couple months ago, but should be richer, more bready, with a more substantial mouthfeel and a maltier, less bitter flavor.

Anyway ... I got started brewing very early in the morning.

When I went out, I startled a skunk that was wandering along my fence. Luckily, it was far enough away that I wasn't in danger of getting sprayed, but it did get my heart pumping a bit early in the morning.

As you can see in the pictures, my patio wasn't clear of snow. We've gotten more snow in late fall than I remember getting in quite awhile. We might be in for a fun winter.

My mash was about perfect. My strike temperature was pretty much right on to get my mash temperature exactly where I wanted it.

My pre-boil gravity was a bit low. I boiled 10 minutes to get the gravity up to the expected pre-boil gravity.

There was nothing I remember unusual about the boil.

Got everything chilled fine.

The beer was very light colored and clear by the time we transferred to the fermentor. I actually got the wort cool enough that I pitched the yeast right as I was transferring.

And I finished brewing before 10AM and was completely cleaned up before the Broncos game started at 11.

I tried something new with my Anvil Cooling System, which I'll tell you about in a future blog post. See Sheppy's Blog: Anvil for more on that.

The beer was rocking sometime over night. It has been going strong for a few days now.

I'm looking forward to drinking the beer in mid to late December.

As always, you can keep an eye on the regular SheppyBrew Channels to see what is happening with beer and other things: SheppyBrew's Facebook Page; Sheppy's Twitter Feed;SheppyBrew's Instagram Page; and SheppyBrew's Website. Of course, don't forget to visit this blog often as well!

Go Blackhawks!