Helga
Matilda Bay Brewing Co.

HelgaHelga
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From:
Matilda Bay Brewing Co.
 
Australia
Style:
Helles
ABV:
4.7%
Score:
74
Avg:
3.01 | pDev: 19.93%
Reviews:
27
Ratings:
33
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Nov 21, 2021
Added:
Oct 06, 2009
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
Helga was inspired by the Munich “Oktoberfest” lagers — also known as Helles lagers.

Helga pours to a golden amber hue, slightly deeper than mainstream lagers and is capped with a densely packed white head.

23 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by dgilks:
Photo of dgilks
Reviewed by dgilks from Australia

3.18/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Quite sulphury with a crisp, clean malt aroma. A moderate amount of spicy noble hop comes through.

Fairly clear amber colour with a big, fluffy off white head. Decent head retention.

The flavour falls down a little bit. The malt profile is too laid back lacking the forwardness expected of a good Helles. The bitterness is about right. The main problem is that there are far too many fruity esters which lend the beer an almost candy-like character. There are some nice late hops which add interest. The finish is very dry.

The body is medium-light with moderate carbonation. It is actually quite smooth.

Look it is drinkable but in reality that is due more to a lack of flavour that anything else. This seems to be a cross between an Australian Lager and a Munich Helles which is okay but disappointing really.

EDIT: A second bottle proved disappointing coming across with the grainy, dull malt profile reminiscent of an Australian Macro Lager. The score has been tweaked down to reflect this.
Feb 11, 2010
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.53 by Daneve76 from Australia

Nov 21, 2021
Photo of Andrewharemza
Reviewed by Andrewharemza from Australia

3.08/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pours a bright copper color with a head that fades quickly with no real lacing. Aroma of malt, bit of honey and a bit herbal. Tatse of malt with a bit of honey. Mild bitterness and a clean finish. Light body and quite smooth. Drinkable beer good for a couple.
Jun 17, 2015
Photo of SmashPants
Reviewed by SmashPants from Australia

3.5/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Format: a solid very dark brown 345mL bottle with a standard Matilda Bay label. Decent.

Appearance: a solid golden copper colour with plenty of carbonation across the profile. A finger of white head hangs about for a time. Leaves decent lace as it drops to a thin cap.

Aroma: smells of nice floral hops and some very clean grains. Smells pretty good.

Taste: again clean and crisp grains with decent floral hops and a touch of pepper. A nice refresher.

Aftertaste: more the hops and pepper on the finish rather than the grains. A dry finish.

Mouth feel: light to medium in body with a moderate carbonation. Quite nice.

Overall: a decent Munich Helles, a touch Australian lager-orientated yet still quite a decent beer. AU$58 a case.
Dec 15, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by Mosant from Australia

Jun 29, 2014
Photo of Breeza
Reviewed by Breeza from Australia

3.7/5  rDev +22.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
A: Clear gold with thin white bubbly head.

S: Sharp sweet smell like honey, hoppy.

T: Sweet, slight hops and bubblegum. Has a lovely bitter finish.

M: Nice amount of carbonation, good body and well balanced feel.

O: Rich beer, very satisfying. Would drink again.
Feb 12, 2014
Photo of soju6
Reviewed by soju6 from Missouri

3/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
A: Pours a bright copper color with a head that fades quickly with no real lacing.

S: Aroma of malt, bit of honey and a bit herbal.

T: Taste of malt with a bit of honey. Mild bitterness and a clean finish.

F: Light body and quite smooth.

O: Drinkable beer good for a couple.
Jun 02, 2013
 
Rated: 2.5 by magpieken from Australia

May 25, 2013
 
Rated: 1.5 by pin from Australia

May 21, 2013
 
Rated: 3.25 by hopnerd from Australia

Jun 06, 2012
 
Rated: 2.5 by DrNo from Australia

Jan 13, 2012
Photo of joecast
Reviewed by joecast from Australia

3.35/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Deep golden color, medium carbonation. Struggles to form a head. Thin white and wispy.

Light sweet malt aroma. Maybe a touch of spicy hops but only just.

Mild malt sweetness up front met with a nice enough hop character to clean things up. Malt profile could use some beefing up but otherwise not too bad.

A nice enough beer. Won't knock your socks off, but it's probably not meant to.
Dec 27, 2011
Photo of heygeebee
Reviewed by heygeebee from Australia

2.81/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3
Pours a straw colour with a one finger head that dies quickly - leaves some lacing.

Aromas of macro lagers, mainly sweet, some hops, crisp n light.

Taste is euro lager, but with an initial big hit of sweet malty flavour that subsides quickly leaving just a dry aftertaste. Some hint of shandy.

Mouthfeel is zingy, very sharp, small bubbles on tongue - almost like lemonade.

Cold summer refesher maybe at best.
Sep 09, 2011
Photo of Stew41
Reviewed by Stew41 from Thailand

2.96/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Pretty good beer but I’m not well qualified to opine on whether it’s true to style. Really nice core of Belgian-like sweetness running through the middle of the palate. There’s a sweet mineral / freshly cut river stone note as well that is quite attractive. Munich lager with a touch of steriods I think but works well.
Aug 12, 2011
Photo of JohnnyBarman
Reviewed by JohnnyBarman from Canada (ON)

3.11/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
On draught at PJ O'Reilly's in Canberra. Sort of a fallback brew, since the only other Australian options were Carlton and VB. Might as well try something else.

Looks like a lager - pale golden, frothy head, decent lacing, usual suspects.

Nose is pale malts - lighter than I would have expected from one that claims to be a Helles - a bit of lemon, floral hops. Still, not unpleasant.

This brew turned out to be fairly drinkable, in that it was mild enough not to be offensive in any way. But as far as Helles lagers are concerned, this was pretty weak. The malt profile was too subdued, and it ended up tasting a great deal like a mass Aussie lager with a little bit of citrus and floral hops to set it apart. Drinkable? Sure. Won't seek it out though.
Apr 21, 2011
Photo of philphilphil
Reviewed by philphilphil from Australia

3.03/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Appearance was good with good helles colour and decent head.
Smellt of hops, not really in the vein of the style.
Taste was the same as smell, not enough malt and too much hops.
Mouthfeel was fairly average.
Overall, not to style, real helles' focus on the bready malts.
Apr 15, 2011
Photo of doktorhops
Reviewed by doktorhops from Australia

3.41/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Another Matilda Bay brew, I first had this on recommendation of a customer when I was doing a stint working at a bottleshop (I know - a recommendation from a customer!).

Poured from a 345ml bottle into a Guinness glass.

A: Golden with a slight copper colour to the body. The blonde head began at around 2cm and dissipated to fine lacing.

S: There is a sizable stone fruit aroma from the hops, the malt adds a slightly sweet fragrance but obviously is going to be taking a back seat on this ride.

T: There's a rich sweet malt character that surrenders to the stone fruit hops, but the finish is dry and gives off that "one more drink" sensation. It's not a complex tasting beer by any stretch of the imagination but it works well. As far as it compares to the style; it's been a while since I've had a Helles (last Oktoberfest I believe) but it's a decent enough imitator.

M: A bit light on carbonation from what I was expecting... in fact too light, however I've had this beer before and it's been much fizzier so I'm not sure what happened to this bottle.

D: I wouldn't mind drinking this on occasion, though it's not my favourite style I much prefer it to most other ales out there. It's easy to drink with enough flavour to know it's not your average lager.

Food match: Seafood is a perfect match for this lager - calamari, shellfish and lightly battered hoki would go great with Big Helga.
Feb 19, 2011
Photo of maddux91
Reviewed by maddux91 from Australia

2.16/5  rDev -28.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Bought a six pack of this from the local bottleshop, had seen this Matilda Bay brew on sale for a while now, and hadn't given it a shot til now.

Drank this around 3 months back, so I can't give a full review, but I will outline some key things I remember about this beer.

A - Looked very nice of the bottle, I remember being impressed.
S - Still alright.
T - Tasted terrible, dry as hell, no flavour.
M - No noticeable smoothness, or pop, just flat.
D - Had to struggle through this 6-pack.

I don't know if it was just the 6-pack I purchased, or if this is how this beer is meant to taste.

Would not buy again.
Dec 28, 2010
Photo of jarmby1711
Reviewed by jarmby1711 from Australia

4/5  rDev +32.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This beer is hard to categorise, as it had some strange qualities.
Each mouthful taken seemed to deliver up a slightly different experience , ranging from really quite pleasant to 'thats sort of ok.
Overall there is a yeasty sourdough flavour with an undertone of ginger.
It is rounded in the mouth.
Happy to try this again as it seems to give one a bit to consider
Oct 12, 2010
Photo of lacqueredmouse
Reviewed by lacqueredmouse from Australia

3.2/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a bright deep golden colour, with lively carbonation forming a frothy and solid head of fluffy white foam. Lacing is good, sticking to the edges of the glass in frothy globs, just like a good helles should. Very decent look to it, overall.

Nose is light, with just some fresh grain character and a moderately sharp noble hop fragrance. Very clean, however, with a slight lift of pepper. Quite nice overall, and not a bad replica of the style, if a little heavy on the spice.

Taste is a bit of a letdown. Carbonation becomes too lucid on the palate, overwhelming much of the other sensation, some clear light grain notes and a touch of spicy phenols to it. Quite clean, but almost getting too clean and light by the end.

It's like an Australian macro lager masquerading as a Helles, in essence. Good look to it, no doubt, and there's some stylistic characteristics on the nose, and hiding on the palate, but it ends up just a little too bland.

Drinkable enough for what it is, but certainly missing something.
Aug 04, 2010
Helga from Matilda Bay Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 74 out of 100 with 33 ratings