Leave No Trace
Great Basin Brewing Co.

 

Like another reviewer below me, I was at Yosemite this past summer and found this at the gift shop in Yosemite Village. I've had a few beers from these guys that before but "Leave No Trace" was fitting given that I visited 10 National Parks on my run. While I don't have this style often, this was a textbook example of what a Helles Lager should be although there wasn't anything particularly memorable about this!

Indeed, the pour to this was nice as the beer appeared golden and bright, with a few steady streams of bubbles present throughout. Enough head topped this off as the lacing left behind was quite layered and voluminous with sagging rings easily bleeding down into the ones below them. Lots of Lager yeasts, grain in the understate nose with a bit of cereal and sulfur coming through in the taste as this was very basic and even-keeled from start to finish. Some bread spice, hints of apple and pear, and cracker rounded out the taste as this was plenty chewy and somewhat reminiscent of the outdoors with a bit of Belgian and Czech haracteristics thrown in for good measure.

Booze? Don't bother looking for it as barely noticeable since this was the perfect session beer. No date was written on the bottom of the can although if someone told me that this was canned the day before I bought it, I would have believed it. Beers of this style aren't rated terribly highly on here but if you were to camp out and needed something to have after a long day, this would be a wonderful choice. The label art and moniker of this beer were fitting for the brew itself, as this was a worthy addition to the beers that I picked up for my recently-concluded run. Reach for this if you're camping with a group of friends who can never agree on which beer to bring along for the great outdoors.

Found a single can of this at Total Warm.

Pours kind of bright yellow. Mild cloudiness, it almost makes it to that upper appearance score with a bit more clarity. 1/2" white head. Mild notes of grain and not quite hops, but vegetal/green. Maybe its some new proprietary blend of hops and iceberg lettuce. Oh wait, that is the lager yeast.

Taste is decent, little lager yeast sulphur in a mild way, everything is in a mild way as designed. A bit less of a bready pilsner malt bill than your average helles. Hopping is relatively inconsequential here. These guys flagship is an ipa that is in the English vein, so hops have never been their thing and they aren't here, which is fine and relatively within style guidelines. Light grassiness. Easy to drink. Does nothing wrong.

Its better than being relegated to a palate cleanser. Worthy of river time, softball time or any time really. Can also be used in a pinch on your picky beer friends who only like BMC.

The last of the beers we grabbed at Tuolumne while backpacking in Yosemite earlier this summer.

Pours a clear golden colour. Classic appearance. Not much head, but what little there is lingers nicely, and leaves a few thin lines of lacing to track my consumption.

Nose is crisp and refreshing and just about what I would look for in a nice basic lager like this. Grains, some light graham cracker and honey, a touch of grassy hops just brushing along the back end. Nothing earth shattering, just basic, clean, pleasant and refreshing on a hot late-summer day.

Same impression here: mostly clean, slightly grassy hops, some roundness to the malts, less sharp and distinguished than the nose, but still pleasant and refreshing. Seems to have maybe a touch of diacetyl, but I'm also still kind of getting my feet under me with lagers, so I could be misinterpreting something else providing that touch of roundness to the backside. Doughy side of breadiness, and more in the biscuity side of the malts.

Mostly crisp, with a hint of light sweetness and some mild earthy/spicy hops, this seems pretty spot on for a basic, enjoyable lager. Nothing that's going to rock your world, but it'll sure hit the spot, and I'm glad to have picked it up. Cheers!

a relatively clean german tasting lager here, light but not boring, not overly interesting, but about as well made as most of their other stuff which is to say above average but short of epic. this has nice balance, all the elements are in play, maybe the yeast being the lightest of them, its drying and adds a bit of emphasis behind the grain, but is very mellow overall. the hops are probably next, subservient to the pils type malt and minerality of the water here, at least to me, but not without adding some peppy finishing bitterness thats on the higher end but still in line with style guidelines. the grain is the most robust here, still pale and light in body, but decidedly german, crackery, slightly doughy even, nutty, and bringing just a quick pop of honey sweetness in the early middle of this. it rounds into form nicely as it moves along, is well carbonated, and drinkable without being minimal to a fault as sometimes american takes on these european lagers end up being. maybe it could be a little more tidy overall, but its nice for summer as a sort of mindless drinker, a good lawn games sort of beer.

edit: a little different on tap, not holding hardly any head and perhaps a little less carbonated than the can, but at the same time its a little more flavorful, on tap at the brewery, a little fuller, a little more malt nuance, maybe more european and bready now, but not heavy overall. a great companion to their impressive pizza here, still just a basic lager, but a bit more happening than in most of these. leaving the scores the same but i think i like the draft a half step better...