Hells Lager
Camden Town Brewery

Hells LagerHells Lager
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From:
Camden Town Brewery
 
England, United Kingdom
Style:
Helles
Ranked #302
ABV:
4.8%
Score:
80
Ranked #26,295
Avg:
3.48 | pDev: 12.93%
Reviews:
37
Ratings:
119
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jan 21, 2024
Added:
Nov 14, 2011
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  31
What the hells? Thanks for asking.

Hells is the lovechild of our two favourite German beer styles - helles and pilsner. Clean, crisp and dry, it's the beer we always wanted to drink and the reason we started our brewery.
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Ratings by aztraz:
Photo of aztraz
Rated by aztraz from Sweden

3.25/5  rDev -6.6%

Jun 06, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of AronRobinson
Reviewed by AronRobinson from England

3.85/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
A good helles-style lager. Drinking it draught in The Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London. A rich lager noticeably different from a pilsner style, but still refreshing. Great lacing, tasty enough to last a while, so the ABV suits it very well.
Jan 21, 2024
Photo of BurtonRed
Rated by BurtonRed from England

3.51/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
A solid lager, tastes more like a Czech Pilsner than a Helles though, with it's crisp bready malty profile
Nov 17, 2023
 
Rated: 4.02 by Eman17 from Illinois

Aug 14, 2023
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.29/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Draft at Ibis Heathrow. Clear, light golden with a tight, creamy head. All is on target for a Helles lager, light graint aroma, a bit of sweetness and bready malts in the taste. Nice, creamy mouthfeel too.
Mar 01, 2023
Photo of jlindros
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev +19.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Draft at 3 crowns pub in Piccadilly
Frothy creamy head with good retention and lacing, clear pale color

Nose cereal, grainy sweet malt, straw, pilsner malt, clean lager, light herbal hop

Taste more grainy sweet pilsner malt, cereal, straw, grain, fair herbal hop with med light bitterness, drier crisp finish with touch of spicy hop bitterness

Mouth is med to lighter bod crisp lager

Overall nice Helles
Dec 29, 2022
 
Rated: 3.5 by jlmontague from Connecticut

Dec 07, 2022
Photo of TheSchnork
Reviewed by TheSchnork from Connecticut

4.8/5  rDev +37.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Drank pints on tap throughout my stay in London as the consistent contrast choice to cask ales. Severely underrated on BA IMO.

Perfect cracker biscuit flavor, mouthfeel superb with - as other reviews have said - a most delightful and surprising carbonation that is refreshing in all temperatures. Grassy and unobtrusive hops typical of the style.

Best enjoyed in cylindrical branded glasses.
Nov 29, 2022
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

3.89/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Had on tap. Clear yellow body with a full eggshell white head and plenty of lacing. Grassy hops dance on the helles malts and german yeast. Taste has moderate yeast with light malts before the grassy hop finish. Crisp feel that goes with the higher carbonation, somewhat pale and light.
Oct 06, 2022
Photo of KleinSchwein
Reviewed by KleinSchwein

3.79/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Look :- Light amber-gold . Medium foamy head . Average look for the style .

Smell :- Hops and Malt .

Taste :- Good background hops and a good strong malt . Very little sweetness if any . Full flavoured with a nice dryness .

Mouth feel :- Pretty mouth coating without being oily . Tongue prickly carbonation.

Overall:- Rather nice , refreshing and tasty . I was a little worried after the uninspiring look and smell but the taste more than makes it up .
Sep 22, 2022
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3
330 ml bottle at The Wild Boar, Aberdeen. ABV is 4.6%. Hops are Perle and Hallertauer Tradition. Extremely pale straw colour, white head. Strong aroma of newmown grass. The flavour is slightly sweet with some bittering hops. Not great.
Aug 08, 2022
 
Rated: 3.44 by Eychung from New York

May 29, 2022
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

3.75/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
this is decidedly better than its ratings, not sure if it has improved over time or what, but the beer i had was levels above what this is showing here. its more german than english sure, but its supposed to be. gorgeous clear honey color to it, over an inch of lasting white head, great carbonation through the whole drink, and a distinctive german lager yeast characteristic that really defines this, especially in the absence of much of a hop profile. its simple beer, light in body but not watery, and seemingly built for spicy food. a slightly toasted depth to the malt base, but mostly pils malt it seems, not dusty and old but agricultural and fresh, from the earth. good balance from just some bittering hops that come on late, not much flavor to them, but i dont miss it, its pretty classically styled overall, and the yeast is bready, traditional, and unifying. love how dry this finishes and the rush of carbonation was a little unexpected in this part of the world, but i dig it. this was both refreshing and flavorful and i thought it was very well made. deserves a little more love here on BA in my opinion.
May 18, 2022
 
Rated: 3.61 by Dave1999 from North Carolina

Apr 24, 2021
Photo of James94
Reviewed by James94 from England

4.09/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
L: Light straw colour with some green, three finger initial head that disappears fairly quickly, good lacing
S: Light toffee, light biscuit, grassiness, rice
T: Spices, brown sugar, green vegetables
F: Refreshing, complex for a lager

O: 4.25
Mar 11, 2021
 
Rated: 4.15 by Goity from Scotland

Feb 17, 2021
 
Rated: 3.69 by Keananmichael5 from California

Dec 27, 2020
 
Rated: 3 by vladn from England

Dec 20, 2020
Photo of xander10
Reviewed by xander10 from England

3.36/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Look: Pale Straw with a lot of visible carbonation, decent white one finger head that does not last.
Smell: not a very strongly fragrant beer, but it does smell malty and slightly citrusy.
Taste: the sweet malt definitely helps bring forward the hints of lemon and general citrus vibes I have from this beer.
Feel: pretty light mouthfeel, properly carbonated though for the style.
Overall: its an alright lager, but by no means is it exceptional. Nice to see it in the pubs though rather than Peroni or Bud Light.
Oct 29, 2020
Photo of Steve555
Reviewed by Steve555 from Wales

2.99/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Golden dark slightly murky colour, not like the helles I know. Small but persistent head with good lacing. Smell of hay, some grass and skunk. It's like a helles with a tiny bit of oomph. It is quite sweet and has some metallic off notes. Tried since before and after the takeover and to my mind it's definitely not as good now. Review based on post takeover. Not a beer worth seeking out.
Jul 07, 2020
Hells Lager from Camden Town Brewery
Beer rating: 80 out of 100 with 119 ratings