Helles Belles

5 gallons, partial mash

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. pilsner malt
• 0.5 lb. Vienna malt
• 0.5 lb. cara-pils malt
• 3 lbs. extra-light unhopped dry malt extract
• 2 oz. Tettnanger hop pellets (4% alpha acid), for 45 min.
• 2 cups shelled whole, unsalted pistachios
• 4 oz. grain alcohol or vodka
• 1 qt. Munich lager yeast slurry (Wyeast 2308)
• 3/4 cup corn sugar for priming

Step by Step:

A few weeks before you brew, finely crush pistachios and soak in vodka in a tightly sealed jar. Heat 1.5 gal. water to 167° F, and add crushed grains to water in mash tun. Mash should settle near 156° F. Hold 90 min. Begin runoff and sparge with 2 gal. of water at 168° F. To kettle add dry malt extract and bring to a boil. Boil 30 min. and add hops.

Boil 45 min. more for a total boil of 75 min. Remove from heat and cool. Top off in fermenter to 5.25 gal. with chilled, pre-boiled water. A 68° F, pitch yeast slurry and cool overnight to 50° F. Ferment near 50° F for 10 days, then rack to secondary. Add half of the liquid from the pistachio jar (strain particles out, returning them to the jar) and chill to 38° F. Lager at 38° F for six weeks. Prime with corn sugar, add remaining pistachio tincture (straining out particles) and bottle. Store at room temperature for three to four days, then age cold (33° F) for four more weeks.

Brewing Notes:

All-grain brewers: Instead of the dry malt, mash 6 lbs. pilsner, 1 lb. Munich, and 1 lb. cara-pils in 3 gal. water (same temperatures, same time) and sparge with 4 gal. water. Plan boil to condense to 5.25 gal. and hop as above.

All-extract brewers: Steep 0.25 lb. toasted Vienna malt (toasted on a cooki sheet at 350° F for 10 min.) and 0.25 lb. cara-pils in kettle until water reaches 170° F, then remove. Use 6 lbs. extra light dry malt extract. Follow hopping and boiling schedule as above.

And sure, you could use any nuts you like in this recipe.

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