Helles Bells
Mother Earth Brew Co.

the latest in their small batch series, i think a testing ground for future larger scale projects, so some of these have been a little less than polished, and while this one isnt bad, it lacks the clean refinement and easiness of their all purpose pils, and is almost overly german to me on the grain side in a way that heavies up a lighter beer, bready and somewhat sweet, that husky hully side of the malt thats past earthy to almost dusty, and while it does fit as a helles, i dont love the proportions on it, and find its drinkability only moderate. very attractive pour, maybe its finest feature, resplendent yellow with a short but lasting white head on it and visibly high carbonation, very bright. the nose is doughy and pils malty with some honey sweetness, lightly floral hops, and some of that full grain profile that bogs it down slightly, nice minerality to it, simple really. the flavor has that robust graininess, obvious old world lager yeast, and a surprisingly drier back end after this starts and runs a little sweet for awhile. trace spiciness to the hops, but its the grain that lingers, a touch of soapiness too as it warms. i dont think the execution here is poor, but it doesnt quite come together as well as i hoped it might, im sure by the time they scale this up it will be more dialed in, but it seems like their new pils is doing the same thing this one does, but quite a bit more effectively. a pleasant enough summer pint, but i prefer the pils...