Wolfsburg Helles
Reuben's Brews

Can from Uptown Market.

A clear light golden yellow with a dense white head with good retention and lacing, this looks solid. The nose is soft, grainy, mildly honey like with a soft, earthy and lemony hop character. The palate opens crisp, clean, earthy and mildly lemony with a soft yet snappy grain character with honey, a little dough, and finishing crisp andlightly bitter. Light in body, crisply carbonated, this is a little sweeter than ideal, but very good.

I had this beer on tap in a pub glass at the Reuben’s Fremont taproom.

Appearance: light golden hue with a finger of eggshell foam. Body is clear and there’s a good effervescence.

Smell: somewhat yeasty with a dry malt character. Not too bad.

Taste: grainy malt flavor that’s a little on the dry side but still pretty balanced. Herbal hops are relatively low in the mix.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a decent carbonation and creaminess.

Overall: maybe a little grainy for my taste, but still, this is a very crisp and drinkable lager.

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a 20 ounce wine glass. I threw this in as a ringer in a recent blind AAL tasting. Abv. was in the same range as the macros, but even so, this was a very easy beer to pick out in a flight of BMC swill. That's despite the fact that this is not a particularly outstanding or flavorful helles, IMHO. In any event...

The beer pours a fairly light golden amber color with pretty good head retention and lacing. This beer looks nice enough. Tasted blind against the macros, the nose in this beer really stood out. I picked up the expected cookie dough aroma and light honey, as well as some unexpected dank earthiness. Tasted by itself, this isn't a particularly hoppy lager, but in comparison to the macros this was virtually a hop bomb. The flavor profile replicated the nose pretty closely (but with some baked apple as well), though with a far more complex array of flavors than what I picked up in any of the AALs I tried side by side with this beer. That being said, there's not a huge amount of flavor in this helles, at least when compared to other craft helles I've sampled over the years. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, with a moderately long, lightly bitter finish. Alcohol is undetectable, and so drinkability isn't bad.

This is a decent helles lager from Reubens, but one gets the impression that maybe lagers aren't their thing. This isn't a beer I'm apt to look for again in the future (as there are plenty of superior style versions on the local market), but I'm glad I had the opportunity to try it.

Can received in bif14/15 shenanigans from @snaotheus

Breweries Notes: Traditional Helles style lager with clean, crisp malt flavors of bread crust with floral and grassy Noble hop character.


Can poured into a footed pilsener glass

Three finger, rocky fluffy, white foam cap, good retention, good lacings over a clear light golden liquid with big carbonation bubbles

Aroma is malty, grassy, floral

Taste is grassy, cracker malts , floral n hint of hops

Mouthfeel is clean, crisp, quaffable

Very good beer , recommended

Reuben’s Wolfsburg Helles Lager. As an owner of a couple of Volkswagens - one manufactured in Wolfsburg - this beer spoke to me. As disconcerting as this was, I am unfamiliar with the speech patterns of Washington state beer, and took this banter with a grain of salt.

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Pours a bright straw gold with a moderate foamy head that dissipates slowly. Negligible lacing as the beer is imbibed.

Lovely grassy and slightly floral aromas jump out up front. Cereal notes slip in behind.

The grassy notes also dominate on the tongue. Some lingering floral notes and lightly toasted grain follow. I really like the grassy quality of this beer.

Medium bodied. Maybe a little more than that. Quite substantial for what I expect. Moderate carbonation.

This was a great Helles with a little more body than I expect and great grassy notes.

16 ounce can poured into a pint glass meringue like white fluffy head

Pours Crystal clear and very pale yellow

light malt sweetness on the nose not much hops tasters nice malt sweetness but not cloying Hellas is not my favorite style but this is well-done and very tasty

2022-04-09
16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 03/03/22. Bought it at the brewery last week.

Pours clear light golden with a large (3+ inch) head that settles slowly and sexily. Moderate amount of active carbonation. Smell is grain tea, light honeysuckle, some cut grass.

Taste is grain and honey with a little bit of a soapiness and a fair amount of grassy bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium. Overall, this is a pretty nice beer -- but I'd like that soapiness to go away, the body to be a bit lighter and dryer, and bit more of a grassy punch.

Had on tap. Clear golden body, finger of white foam for a head, nice lacing. Classic aromas of crusty bread, biscuit, lager malt, and floral tones. Taste adds a dripping of honey and some grass to the floral hops. Feel is crisp, bready, higher in carbonation for the style, and clean. The wife liked it.

 

12oz can dated 05/11/21. Beer pours crystal clear and golden yellow, just right for a Helles. Mild aroma suggests a bit of nutty cracked barley. Flavor has a great crisp grassy profile with a bit of bitterness through the middle, but a clean lager finish. I really appreciated the crispness here. Hoppiness is decidedly more American than German, but this is a tasty 4.8% lager, not a bland pils, to be sure.

Look: Clear pale yellow with a vigorous white head that disappears very quickly and leaves minimal lacing behind
Aroma: Cut grass, pilsner malt, floral notes, wafts of honey, and soda cracker-like malt
Taste: Honey, flowers, and pilsner malt combine and hit the scene first – the honey and floral notes mesh so well it’s like smelling a honey-scented flower. Grass and crackers strengthen in the middle and closes with again, flowers and pilsner malt
Mouthfeel: Light but full, very clean and crisp throughout, medium-high carbonation, and extremely crisp on the finish
Overall: This is delicious. My first dance with this beer but given the stellar weather and my respect for the brewer, it was an easy purchase. It’s a very well-made and tasty Helles, especially for an American-made one and I’m glad more brewers are trying them out and doing well as I’m a sucker for a good Helles. Recommended

 

12 oz. can. Pours clear pale yellow. Smells of light bread and some floral hops. Tastes of hop bitterness up front with a touch of bready malt sweetness. Spicy and slightly medicinal hops behind it and carrying into the finish. Light body. A touch of seltzery minerality in the back end. Not loving it, but it's ok.

 

12 oz can dated 1/27/21 poured into a Teku on 2/6/21.

Pours a 1" finger of white head. A pale, transparent straw yellow.

Bready and yeasty aromas with some spicy and floral grassiness.

Taste emphasizes the bready and floral flavors with a spicy, bitter hop bite on the finish.

Mouthfeel is very crisp and smooth. Almost a champagne-like effervescence.

A very classy and delicious lager reminiscent of a less bitter pilsner.

 

A: The beer is crystal clear yellow in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a half finger high bright white head that quickly died down, leaving just a narrow collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of floral hops are present in the nose along with hints of biscuit malts.
T: The taste follows the smell and has stronger flavors of biscuit malts along with hints of grassy hops and a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and very clean on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This lager goes down very easily and could make for a good lawnmower beer.

Serving type: can

12oz can into a pint glass. Canned 10/30/20, so closing in on 2 months old.

Looks very good in the glass. Crystal clear pale golden body with slow streams of carbonation. Big bright white head initially, but this shrinks quite quickly to a ring. Very little lacing. Slightly sweet.

Mouth around medium, finish grassy light bitterness.

Overall, nice interpretation of the style. Tavour shipment.

Aromas of malt, yeast, a little grassy.

On tasting, extremely chuggable. Grassy malty taste dominates, but there is a pleasing hop bite towards the end..

12oz can served in a nonic glass. Canned on 06/05/20.

Look- Crystal clear pale straw color. Modest bright white head that quickly recedes to a faint ring of foam, very spotty lacing. Light carbonation streams visible.

Smell- Bready and honey malt, yeast, light fruity notes, spicy/floral hops.

Taste- Sweet bready malts, honey, yeast, light lemony citrus, floral hops and light spice.

Feel- Light bodied. Pretty soft with a dry, faint bitterness in the finish. Medium carbonation on the tongue.

O- A pretty nice attempt at the style and extremely quaffable on a warm summer day. There are better takes on a Helles in the same price range though.