Smoke Without Fire
By Arthur Olcot
Recipe is part of Recipe Index
BJCP 2021 Style - 32A Classic Style Smoked Beer
Smoked Helles
Around a year ago I purchased on a complete whim 1kg of smoked beechwood malt. Not entirely sure why as I’m not really a huge lover of smoked beers! Anyway, after it being sat around for a few months the time came to actually brew something with it. This recipe is a simple smoked Helles with a light smoke to the aroma and flavour, so it is a good gateway beer into the world of smoke beers. I did a single infusion mash but a decoction could take this to another level
Awards
Scottish National Homebrew Competition 2024 (Edinburgh)
2nd - Seasonal, Smoked and Wood Beer
Measures
- IBU 23
- ABV 5%
- OG 1.045
- FG 1.0075
- EBC 8
- Batch size 19 litres
Ingredients
Water
- Ca2+ 52; Mg2+ 7; Na+ 25; Cl- 99; SO42- 70; HCO3- 0
- 5.3pH using around 3.5ml of lactic acid to adjust
- I used distilled water as a base and added salts to get to the profile.
Malt
- 68.2% — Crisp Europils Malt — Grain — 3.4 EBC
- 19.5% — Smoked (Beech) — Grain — 10 EBC
- 9.8% — Dingemans Munich — Grain — 10.8 EBC
- 2.5% — Simpsons Dextrin Malt — Grain — 1.5 EBC
Hops
- 20 g (19 IBU) — Perle 8% — First Wort
- 15 g (5 IBU) — Perle 8% — Boil — 10 min
- 15 g — Perle 8% — Boil — 0 min
Yeast
- White Labs WLP830 German Lager - 2.5L starter
Process
Mash
- 60mins at 66 degrees
Boil
- 60 minute boil
Ferment
- Fermented at 12 degrees for a few days, ramping to 16degrees when fermentation tailed off.
- Held for a few days until no further sign of activity.
- Cold crashed for a couple of days then transferred to keg. Lager for at least 4 weeks
Serving
- Final beer carbonated to around 2.5 vols.