1.75 L starter made w/ 3 vials whitelabs munich helles 860.
Actual OG 1.051
Cooled w/ wort chiller to 65, racked to carboy and chilled further in chest freezer to 45 (achieved 7 hours later). Aerated and pitched the decanted (chilled) starter. Let temp slowly rise. Krausen activity 24-30 hours later @ 48 degrees. Hit 50 degrees about 36 hours after pitching. Hold at 50.
Down to 1.023 on day 5. Bumped temp up a degree.
Day 6 bumped temp to 53.
1.016 on day 8 and bumped up to 60. sample tasted good. No diacetyl as far as I can tell. Still planning to keep it at 60 for a couple days before lagering, just to be safe.
Transferred to secondary and dropped temp a couple degrees a day until it hit 34. Kept it there 4 weeks, then bottled w/ corn sugar and a bit of washed yeast (probably not necessary).
06/13/14 (4 weeks in bottle) - The beer lacks the maltiness that I was expecting from a munich helles. It's actually pretty fruity, especially in a side by side comparison w/ Andechs Vollbier Hell. Not sure why. Maybe I didn't aerate it well enough, or perhaps I didn't lager it long enough. I enjoy drinking it, but it definitely has a more American flavor profile than I was hoping for. I thought the sample at bottling time was more malty, but can't be certain. KEEP BETTER NOTES!!!