Farm Table: Helles
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company
- From:
- Beau's All Natural Brewing Company
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Helles
- ABV:
- 4.7%
- Score:
- 84
- Avg:
- 3.65 | pDev: 5.75%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 11
- Status:
- Inactive
- Rated:
- Nov 25, 2019
- Added:
- Jul 17, 2015
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 5
SCORE
84
Good
84
Good
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Rated by ewpass from Canada (PE)
3.78/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.78/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Clear pale gold with a good head for style. Clean cereal malt nose. Light body with good dryness and great crispness. A good example of style.
Nov 25, 2019
Rated by Pmicdee from Canada (ON)
3.5/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
April 30 2019
May 01, 2019
Reviewed by biegaman from Canada (ON)
3.81/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.81/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
A Helles Lager should have a seemingly light-bodied, pale golden complexion - it's one of only a handful of styles that defines the appearance right there in its name (I don't speak German but I can tell you that 'helles' translates as 'bright', 'light', or 'pale'). It says nothing about head, and this has none.
A good Helles Lager begins in the field. You can't do this style justice without anything but the very best grain. Like any foodstuff, there exists many distinct varieties of barley, grown in different parts of the world by different producers, that come in varying degrees of quality with attributes that range greatly.
Arguably no style more strongly reflects the quality and character of its raw ingredients; Helles is a no-frills kind of lager that smells and tastes, by and large, only the grain from which it's made. Maybe a pinch of hops, but that's it. They're brewed to OCD-level cleanliness and drink without any by-products.
Hence this rather plain, very conventional aroma with its gentle malty sweetness and the clean grainy note that evokes images of golden fields, far as the eyes can see, casts in soft sunshine. The taste is dry and has hints of fresh bread and more notions of husks, straw, and seed.
Beau's has a real knack for German styles, as is exemplified by their flagship Lug Tread. Farm Table Helles is about as strong a foreign rendition you'll find, at least here in Canada. Mainstream consumers will love it, as will brewers (home- and professional) familiar with the challenges posed by beers like this. Craft drinkers that bleed C-hop green or sweat bourbon-oak vanilla, however, need not apply.
Dec 13, 2015A good Helles Lager begins in the field. You can't do this style justice without anything but the very best grain. Like any foodstuff, there exists many distinct varieties of barley, grown in different parts of the world by different producers, that come in varying degrees of quality with attributes that range greatly.
Arguably no style more strongly reflects the quality and character of its raw ingredients; Helles is a no-frills kind of lager that smells and tastes, by and large, only the grain from which it's made. Maybe a pinch of hops, but that's it. They're brewed to OCD-level cleanliness and drink without any by-products.
Hence this rather plain, very conventional aroma with its gentle malty sweetness and the clean grainy note that evokes images of golden fields, far as the eyes can see, casts in soft sunshine. The taste is dry and has hints of fresh bread and more notions of husks, straw, and seed.
Beau's has a real knack for German styles, as is exemplified by their flagship Lug Tread. Farm Table Helles is about as strong a foreign rendition you'll find, at least here in Canada. Mainstream consumers will love it, as will brewers (home- and professional) familiar with the challenges posed by beers like this. Craft drinkers that bleed C-hop green or sweat bourbon-oak vanilla, however, need not apply.
Reviewed by Phyl21ca from Canada (QC)
3.8/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.8/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottle: Poured a clear golden color helles with a nice pure white foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma of cereal notes with light bready notes with light sweet notes. Taste is a mix of cereal notes with light floral bready notes with some residual sugar notes. Body is about average for style with good carbonation. Well brewed with great drinkability.
Sep 14, 2015
Reviewed by TheDoctor from Canada (QC)
3.7/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
3.7/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
Service: Bottle
Bottled on: Aug-13-2015
A:
Pours a clear light straw with three fingers of pristine whit fluff that slowly drops to a film. Good retention; some lacing. (3.75)
S:
Doughy, soggy, spicy yeast. Bread, spicy yeast, grass, bruised herbal hops, garden hose. (3.75)
T:
Smooth bready with cereals a drying hop flavors. Cereals, green/spicy hops (not too strong), toasted barley, thick yeasty spice. (3.75)
M:
Light+ bodied with a clean finish, fine effervescence. (3.75)
O:
Very clean, doughy Helles.
This is a generally crisp, inoffensive beer. The yeast is pretty dominant in both the aroma and the flavor, but it doesn't necessarily take away from it. I was actually surprised at how clean it finishes considering. There is a little bit of German-tasting grassy hops in the nose, but not much in the taste. Decent beer. Not the hallmark of its style, but not bad.
Might have again; worth a shot, but I feel like they make better beers. There aren't too many people brewing Helles up here, though, so I can't be too picky. (3.5)
Sep 11, 2015Bottled on: Aug-13-2015
A:
Pours a clear light straw with three fingers of pristine whit fluff that slowly drops to a film. Good retention; some lacing. (3.75)
S:
Doughy, soggy, spicy yeast. Bread, spicy yeast, grass, bruised herbal hops, garden hose. (3.75)
T:
Smooth bready with cereals a drying hop flavors. Cereals, green/spicy hops (not too strong), toasted barley, thick yeasty spice. (3.75)
M:
Light+ bodied with a clean finish, fine effervescence. (3.75)
O:
Very clean, doughy Helles.
This is a generally crisp, inoffensive beer. The yeast is pretty dominant in both the aroma and the flavor, but it doesn't necessarily take away from it. I was actually surprised at how clean it finishes considering. There is a little bit of German-tasting grassy hops in the nose, but not much in the taste. Decent beer. Not the hallmark of its style, but not bad.
Might have again; worth a shot, but I feel like they make better beers. There aren't too many people brewing Helles up here, though, so I can't be too picky. (3.5)
Reviewed by peensteen from Canada (ON)
3.68/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.68/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Pale golden blonde colour, around 1 inch of white head, some lace. Smell is toasted and grainy/bready malt, grassy hops, and fairly clean with a light metallic tinge to it. Taste is lightly bitter up front, earthy, grassy and lemony hops, clean grainy malt, stays lightly bitter throughout, grassy finish with a bit of toasty malt aftertaste. Medium carbonation, prickly medium body, slightly syrupy. A fine lager, easily drinkable however it is fairly unremarkable compared to some of the top entries of the style.
Sep 09, 2015
Reviewed by EricVonStein from Canada (ON)
3.39/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
3.39/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
Pale watery yellow, almost greenish. Moderate stark white head that's vanishes quickly. Well carbonated. Looks light and fresh.
Light biscuit malts, dried prairie grass, some floral notes, glacial mineral water on the nose.
Slightly tart at first in the mildest way, then lightly malty graininess and meadow florals before a herby earthy bitter finish. Crisp and bubbly on the tongue.
Overall a light bodied and stock lager with the added benefit of the florals. Bitter ending makes it sessionable. If you've picked this up I'm guessing you want drinkability, which this offer, with a little more flavour than your average lager.
Sep 07, 2015Light biscuit malts, dried prairie grass, some floral notes, glacial mineral water on the nose.
Slightly tart at first in the mildest way, then lightly malty graininess and meadow florals before a herby earthy bitter finish. Crisp and bubbly on the tongue.
Overall a light bodied and stock lager with the added benefit of the florals. Bitter ending makes it sessionable. If you've picked this up I'm guessing you want drinkability, which this offer, with a little more flavour than your average lager.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
4/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
600 mL bottle from the LCBO; packaged July 30 2015 and served well-chilled.
Pours a clear, sparkling golden-yellow colour, with one cm of loose, soapy white froth situated at the surface. It fades away rapidly over the next minute or so, leaving behind a bubbly collar and some scant swaths of lace. The aroma is clean and altogether pretty neutral, insofar as everything about it seems understated. Some grainy, doughy malt sweetness comes through, along with slight hints of grassy hay and citrus.
This is actually a pretty impressive, exceedingly clean-tasting German-style pale lager. The malt backbone is dominant at first - lots of grainy, pale barley malt, along with notes of doughy, crackery sweetness. The classic continental hops used (Perle/Hersbrucker) come through on the back end, imparting flavours of grassy hay, lemon pith and a lightly floral, earthy bitterness that lasts through to the finish, along with a faint suggestion of peppery spice. Light-medium in body, with crisp carbonation that assertively agitates the palate. Highly refreshing - this is the sort of beer that all beer drinkers should be able to appreciate to some degree, whether they be macro swillers or hardcore beer geeks.
Final Grade: 4.0, just eking out an A-. Beau's Farm Table Helles Lager isn't an attention-grabbing beer, but its quality is undeniable. This is every bit as good as the stuff that gets imported into Ontario from Germany (in fact I would say it's better than a lot of those). My only real complaint with this one is the price - which does not affect the grade, but it does affect my likelihood of actually buying the beer again. $4.50 isn't absurd, but it's a tough sell in this lager category when the quality German imports cost about half that. Griping aside, I'll probably get this again at some point next year, and would encourage pale lager fans to seriously consider giving this one a shot.
Sep 06, 2015Pours a clear, sparkling golden-yellow colour, with one cm of loose, soapy white froth situated at the surface. It fades away rapidly over the next minute or so, leaving behind a bubbly collar and some scant swaths of lace. The aroma is clean and altogether pretty neutral, insofar as everything about it seems understated. Some grainy, doughy malt sweetness comes through, along with slight hints of grassy hay and citrus.
This is actually a pretty impressive, exceedingly clean-tasting German-style pale lager. The malt backbone is dominant at first - lots of grainy, pale barley malt, along with notes of doughy, crackery sweetness. The classic continental hops used (Perle/Hersbrucker) come through on the back end, imparting flavours of grassy hay, lemon pith and a lightly floral, earthy bitterness that lasts through to the finish, along with a faint suggestion of peppery spice. Light-medium in body, with crisp carbonation that assertively agitates the palate. Highly refreshing - this is the sort of beer that all beer drinkers should be able to appreciate to some degree, whether they be macro swillers or hardcore beer geeks.
Final Grade: 4.0, just eking out an A-. Beau's Farm Table Helles Lager isn't an attention-grabbing beer, but its quality is undeniable. This is every bit as good as the stuff that gets imported into Ontario from Germany (in fact I would say it's better than a lot of those). My only real complaint with this one is the price - which does not affect the grade, but it does affect my likelihood of actually buying the beer again. $4.50 isn't absurd, but it's a tough sell in this lager category when the quality German imports cost about half that. Griping aside, I'll probably get this again at some point next year, and would encourage pale lager fans to seriously consider giving this one a shot.
Reviewed by BGDrock from Canada (ON)
3.8/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.8/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Appearance: golden, clear body with a bleach white head - gives a "clean" feeling; good retention and persistent lacing; solid appearance as usual for Beau's
Aroma: lemon, grapefruit, spice, pepper, bubblegum
Taste & Mouthfeel: buttery mouthfeel, balanced by crisp, clean malt flavour, of white bread and wheat; you can see the fields as you're drinking this one, it feels pure and natural, quiet and simple - just right; medium dry finish, with a fair bit of candy sweetness; goes down ridiculously easy; over time the sweetness builds, becomes dominant
Overall: a great tasting, simple beer, although too sweet for my taste in the end, as it starts to become reminiscent of those mass produced brews....
Sep 05, 2015Aroma: lemon, grapefruit, spice, pepper, bubblegum
Taste & Mouthfeel: buttery mouthfeel, balanced by crisp, clean malt flavour, of white bread and wheat; you can see the fields as you're drinking this one, it feels pure and natural, quiet and simple - just right; medium dry finish, with a fair bit of candy sweetness; goes down ridiculously easy; over time the sweetness builds, becomes dominant
Overall: a great tasting, simple beer, although too sweet for my taste in the end, as it starts to become reminiscent of those mass produced brews....
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