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Styles · Munich Helles

Beer style · BJCP 2021 4A

Munich Helles

Pale Malty European Lager

Published ranges These are the ranges the BJCP 2021 guidelines publish for this style.

Original gravity
1.044–1.048
Final gravity
1.006–1.012
Bitterness
16–22 IBU
Color
3–5 SRM (6–10 EBC)
Alcohol
4.7–5.4 % ABV

What it is

Munich in a glass: soft bready pilsner malt in the foreground with just enough noble hop to dry the finish. No caramel, no roast, no fruit — malt-forward yet still quick and clean to drink. Every flaw is naked here, so technique matters more than recipe.

Flavor

What a Munich Helles should taste like, on the three wheels the studio scores every recipe against. The shaded ring is the style’s range on each axis, from 0 at the center to 5 at the edge.

Hops

Floral, with room for herbal or spice.

Malt

Grainy, bready/biscuit and sweet/honey.

Fermentation

Clean, with room for sulfur.

Hops that suit it

The traditional choice

What Munich Helles has classically been brewed with.

Also right on character

Varieties whose loudest notes all sit on this style’s hop wheel, best fit first. How much to use is the recipe’s question; these are the ones that taste right.

And 2 more hops whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

Yeasts that suit it

Strains the lab made for beers like this one, whose fermentation character sits inside the style’s wheel. A strain sold by several labs is listed once; its page names the others.

And 32 more yeasts whose character fits. These are the 24 that fit best.

Style numbers, names and vital statistics are from the BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines, where you will find the official descriptions. The descriptions and flavor wheels here are Beerwright’s own. Beerwright is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BJCP.