Helles, Barke® Variation Recipe From Weyermann® Almanac

Weyermann® Almanac Beer Recipe

Beer recipe: Helles, Barke Variation

Beer recipe: Helles, Barke® Variation

We are lucky enough to have been granted permission to share this Helles Barke variation beer recipe from the Weyermann® Almanac of World Beers with our audience. Please try them out, enjoy and feel free to tag or contact Weyermann® with your finished brew.

We are lucky enough to have been granted permission to share this Helles Barke® variation beer recipe from the Weyermann® Almanac of World Beers with our audience. Please try them out, enjoy and feel free to tag or contact Weyermann® with your finished brew.

Hops in the Beer recipe

A Helles Barke variation highlights tradition and balance. First, Hallertauer hops contribute subtle floral notes with gentle spice. Meanwhile, Mittelfrüh hops provide herbal depth and refined smoothness. Together, these noble hops create harmony, showcasing elegance without overpowering malt sweetness. Consequently, the beer retains clarity, allowing malt character to shine. Moreover, the restrained bitterness ensures remarkable drinkability. As a result, each sip offers a clean finish with delicate hop complexity. Overall, Hallertauer and Mittelfrüh embody balance, history, and finesse. Therefore, this combination makes the Helles Barke variation refreshing, flavourful, and timeless, appealing to both traditionalists and modern lager enthusiasts.

MALT in the beer recipe

While any Helles brewed in Munich nowadays is exceptionally straw blonde, requiring the palest of Pilsner base malts of perhaps 2.75 EBC (1.5 °L) in the mash, it is not likely that pale malts in late 19th century, when Spaten released the first Helles, were quite as light in color. Here is a Helles recipe based on a Pilsner malt made from Barke®, one of the most intensely malty two-row spring brewing barleys ever developed in Germany. Released in 1996, it has a colour value of 3.5 EBC (1.75 °L). It quickly became one of the world’s most popular brewing barleys. But it virtually disappeared from cultivation about a decade later, as farmers switched to higher-yielding varieties. Genetically, Barke® has deep roots in the finest Central European heirloom brewing barley varieties all the way back to the time of the original Helles, which makes it a fitting variation for a Helles base malt.