KC Bier Helles Lager

Drop a 1L 1.040 starter on yeast cake from small beer 24hrs before fermentation

Mill the grains and follow these steps for a decoction mash: Mash pH 5.3
Mash in at 144°F (62°C) and hold 20 minutes; raise the temperature to 149°F (65°C) and hold 20 minutes; raise the temperature to 162°F (72°C) and hold 20 minutes; remove one-third of the mash and boil it for 15 minutes (or remove two-thirds and boil the remaining one-third, depending on what works best for your system); return the boiled portion to the main mash, which should bring the temperature to about 171°F (77°C).

Vorlauf until runnings are clear, then run off into kettle. Sparge the grains and top up as necessary to obtain 6.8 gallons (25.7 liters) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, following the hops schedule. After the boil, chill the wort to 46°F (8°C), aerate, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 50°F (10°C). When the gravity has dropped to about 1.018 (4.5°P), increase the temperature to 54°F (12°C). When beer has fermented completely, decrease the temperature by about 4°F (2°C) per day until you reach 39°F (4°C). Hold there for 4 days, then decrease the temperature to 32°F (0°C) and lager for at least 3 weeks—preferably longer.

BREWER’S NOTES
Use German malt varieties, or this beer will not taste right. Our supplier is IREKS, based in Kulmbach, Bavaria. Our house yeast is from Klosterbrauerei Andechs in Bavaria (and WLP835 may be from the same source). We pitch 22–24 million cells per milliliter.