Helles
Port City Brewing

12oz bottle, stange glass, bottled 3/27/24.

Perfectly golden, I got two fingers of white head off of a decently vigorous pour.

Gristly, corny grain, doughy, green floral spice.

Sweet, corny, and full balanced by moderately bitter, green herb, and pepper. It’s Helles nice.

Full body, moderate carbonation. It has a creamy crispness to it.

Good, like every beer I’ve had from Port City.

Pours golden with light chill haze; nice dense sticky perfectly white head, above average in retention, really sticks around leaving a nice cap for a while.

Nose is lightly sweet pale malt; white bread that has seen a few seconds of toaster time, a very light floral note.

Great taste to this beer, all about the pale malt, ever so slightly sweet and bread like, white bread crust, lightly hopped finish; little grassy.

Light body, incredibly drinkable, drinkable to the point of being refreshing; it drinks as clean as water, light bitterness.

From the shoulder of the bottle in yellow letters: "BOTTLED ON 03/27/24 104956"

Appearance: It has a light gold body with a slight bit of haze. A ton of visible carbonation leads to a short white head that retains pretty well. There's not much lacing but a few spots remain. It's a decent looking beer.

Aroma: There is a light herbal hop aroma that can be picked up while the beer is on a table, and that aroma gets just a touch stronger as it approaches the nose. Closer to the nose there is a bit of a yeast scent with a bit of flour character.

Taste: It has a good spicy and slightly herbal hop flavor that hits the palate straight on and it is strong enough to be noticeable but the edges of the hop character are mellowed out so that there is flavor without it being invasive to the tongue in any way. There is a bit of a biscuit flavor towards the middle which works nicely with the hops.

Mouthfeel: It is a medium bodied beer with a somewhat strong hop bitterness. The bitterness feels like it's high for the style but it still sits within the realm of what's pleasant to drink.

Overall: It is a flavorful beer with a pleasant aroma to match. It has a lot more hop flavor and bitterness than what is typical of most Helles Lagers but it tastes and feels good. I would recommend it more to those who want something on the stronger side of things when it comes to hops. I could drink it again from time to time. It would pair well with a nice sandwich or a clam chowder.

From the bottle, it pours a clear light yellow-golden color with a modest white head that diminishes and leaves lacing. The nose gets some floral and spicy scents. The mouth gets a light bitterness, followed by light malt.

12oz bottle poured into a SA glass

A- pours a clear goledn color with a one-finger foamy white head that has good retention

S- sweet cereal grains, bread dough, honey, floral and peppery hops, hint of grass

T- slightly sweet up front with doughy and cracker malt. Mid-palate brings our some floral and spicy hop undertones. The finish gives honey and more doughy malt

M- light body with medium carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that continues into a slightly creamy, biting finish

basic but good, the lighter side of an already light style. shiny golden body, lots of bubbles but just a short white head fading slowly, this is real lively still even without a big or long lasting crown of foam. the nose is a little muted on this, slightly dusty german pils malt to me and little else, some light minerality as it warms, but less yeast and hops than expected, unexciting but tidy enough. the flavor has a little more going on, a crisp and minimalist grain foundation, an undercurrent of grassy hop bitterness slowly ramping toward the finish, and a cold and clean lager profile that i cant hardly smell at all but really enjoy in the flavor, it adds a needed element to this, keeps it from being one dimensional, and absolutely dries this out at the end, its quick finishing, light bodied, and real easy to drink. i found this appealing in the morning and on a hangover, and thats a tough space to be appealing in, its mellow, an easy beer to deep the toe back in with, and just beer flavored beer overall. certainly not the most robust or dynamic take on helles lager, but it hits most of the marks for me anyway.

Pours a semi hazy golden color with a nice head and lacing
Aroma has floral and hop hints
Taste has a floral and hop flavor
A light bodied decently carbonated beer
A good Helles

 

This is one of the best American representations of a Helles I’ve had the pleasure to quaff. Holy shit this stuff is delicious.

Just purchased a sixer of this and I can say for a fact that this truly is a great crushable take on this style of beer. From first pop and taste this reminded me of some great German lagers. The best take apart from its great mouthfeel is it’s nice clean finish. This is now going to be in my regular lager purchases. A real winner for Port City!!

Pretty good, July 2020

Pours a bright golden. You can clearly through it. You're not going to see a helles better, but you may see one as good. Some breadiness on the nose, a little floral hop character. It's grainy, with a touch of white grape. It is beautifully effervescent. It's that grapeyness that defines this beer and really one of the notes I look for in Helles. This is an excellent one. This one disappears fast.

 

 

 

 

Poured from a bottle into a weizen glass. Has a nice 1-1.5 inch white foam head with small and fluffy structure. Color is a a very pale straw color that is pretty transparent. Scent is a bit spicy -- reminds me of some white ales (e.g. White Ale from Alewerks). Taste is crisp with a bit of maltiness (light caramel flavor) and a bit of hoppiness (citric-like), along with a bit of spiciness that tastes a bit like pepper (the shaker, not the veggie). Feel is a bit light an overall the beer is very pleasant -- nothing lingers too long or overwhelms.

5 oz pour on tap. Looks like a helles lager, but the aroma and flavor are far hoppier with much more citrus than expected from the style. My least favorite offering from Port City to date.

Bottle, 6/2019:
A mostly clear golden beer is very classically beautiful. Streams of carbonation can be seen supporting a moderate cap that falls from a decently sized opening head. A little more full head and some lacing would bump this to a 5.

Nose is light, with a little sweetness from the pilsner malt and the impression of bread cooling in a window, though it's from the neighbor halfway down the block. Little bit of grass, sulfur, and spice mix in.

Little more definitive Pilsner malt in the taste, though still not as bready as many Pilners. A light sweetness opens and fades into a floral note before the noble hop bitterness tips the beer slightly bitter. There's a hint of spice that seemed stronger, though it might have been aided by the carbonation on a fresh pour.

A clean, light beer with a minor swing from just over the dividing line from sweet to bitter. Noticeable but not aggressive expected malt and hops profile are present, and I appreciate the effort as a tasty brew.

Solid helles with good Pilsner maltiness, a little more sulfur than it probably should but not obscene, and background noble hopping. Light bodied and medium carbonation. Solid effort by Port City.