Helles Other People
Tired Hands Brewing Company

 

NO EXIT
6/17/2022

Massive bony white head takes shape over the palest of pale yellow bodies. Head has impressive staying power and leaves sticky gobs of lace. 'Tis a pretty beer. Smells like warm bread from the oven with a low-level, generic cereal grain sweetness. There's a mildly spicy hop presence half-buried in there too. Tastes largely as it smells, though the bready-ness on the nose kind of takes a backseat. There's a hop-born (I assume) spiciness without much in the way of accompanying bitterness. I like it. Subdued and well-balanced. Crispy as fuck. I need more Helles lagers in my life. Bonus points for having a great name.

 

Pours a straw yellow, crystal clear. Head like a bubble bath, big and irregular, crackling as it dissipated.

Great hop aromas, and cracker malts. Very well balanced, with a very gentle malt bill. German Pilsner malt is made exactly for beers like this where it’s the main contributor of flavor. Off flavors have nowhere to hide with a beer this simple, and it’s just super clean with just enough hop and yeast presence to provide balance. Outstanding example of the style.

It’s good. It just is. What else do you want the Raul man to say? In a world with gold medals and participation trophies for the wiener kids, this one is just a straight up bronze for giving a hell of an effort. And sometimes it’s the effort that counts.

See ya.

Pours a pale golden with fluffy white head and effervescent carb. Noble hop floral aroma. This is incredibly creamy. It's malt character is driven by a lightly toasted bread/saltine cracker flavor. There is a light noble hop floral character that breaks up the sweetness nicely. This is a solid helles.

 

Pours a crystal clear straw color. Nice thick three finger head dissolves really quickly and ultimately leaves no residual head on the beer. Some partial film covers the top of the beer, but not completely. Minimal lacing is left on the glass. Aroma has rich dominant notes of sweet bread, with some light grain-y notes, and just a fleeting whiff of spicy hops on the nose.

Taste follows the nose with notes of sweet malts, white fresh baked bread, a hint of grannies underneath the beer giving way to a slight spicy hop note on the back end. Its very nicely put together and works well - I do think its a bit hoppy for a helles, but thats a minor quibble - this is still one of the top few American brewed helles I've had. Feel is light but chewy and doughy. Easy drinking, crisp with vibrant carbonation.

Overall a lovely helles - I am really impressed with Tired Hands' lagers - all of the ones I have had have been outstanding, and this was no exception.

A: The beer is crystal clear yellow on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that left a narrow collar around the edge of the glass and lots of specks of bubbles on the surface.
S: Light aromas of grassy and spicy hops are present in the nose along with notes of biscuit malts.
T: The taste follows the smell, with the hops contributing a light to moderate amount of bitterness.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and very clean on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I this beer wasn't overly hoppy or malty and was very easy to drink.

Serving type: can

 

16 oz can, canned on 8/19/2020. Picked up from St. Oner's.

Brilliantly clear and pale gold in color. Large, frothy head that hangs around for a while. A really nice looking Helles here.

Grainy malt aroma with plenty of grass and earth from the hops. The flavor is a little heavy on the malt. Something about the finish just doesn't totally agree with me. It's clean but a little too dry and not soft enough. Medium bodied with a sticky texture.

Overall, this is a solid Helles but the finish holds it back from being an excellent version of the style. It's a difficult style to nail down. All of the parts are there though, and with some minor tweaks this could really be something special.

 

Aggressive pour down the middle yields a small but thick and frothy head that dissipates quickly.

Straw colored and clear enough to read Hemmingway through.

Nose is earthy, spicy, sulfur.

Just a clean crisp balanced lager with a hint of earthy funk

 

 

Golden yellow in color with just a touch of haze that clarified as this warmed up. Poured with a moderate, creamy, bright white foam with excellent retention clean pilsner malt aroma with light crackery notes. No hop aromas. Medium light bodied with medium carbonation, a light smooth feel and crisp finish. Pilsner malt and bread crust flavors followed by light grainy notes. Medium light bitterness with light herbal notes and bready malt flavors to the end. Finished with a light crisp bite along with light bready and herbal notes. Malty, tasty, and refreshing.

Pours a clear straw yellow with a quarter inch white head that left little lacing, ample visible carbonation. Smell is very grain/cereal forward, grass, honey and mild citrus. Taste follows the nose with additional notes of pear, lemon and rice. Light bodied, medium to high carbonation, slightly dry mouth feel, light bitterness.

A very nice looking Helles. Straw golden body, bubbles racing upwards throughout the near perfect clarity to support a pillowy bone white foam. Excellent retention and very respectable lacing.

Aroma is full of crushed cereal grains, a drop of honey, and a mellow, damp grassy finish.

Honey Nut Cheerios meets dried grass and rice cakes for a light, but full flavored beer.

Light carries on in the feel, with a crisp and bubbly presence. Starts sweet, ends slightly bitter, with a mineral water, even slightly metallic feel to it. I guess that might be better used as a flavor descriptor, cuz there's nothing "hard" about the actual feel.

This is a pretty damn good Helles. Ironically, I think the flavor is the weakest point if this beer, but the sum is as good, if not better than the individual parts.

Cheers and thanks again Arthur!