Anniversary Special Hell
Church Street Brewing Company

 

 

Crystal clear golden body, full white head and tons of lacing. Yeast is the star right away in the nose, grassy hops, honey dipped malts and grain round out. Taste follows the same script but it has a watery malt center that undercuts the flavors. Feel is thin and yeasty, in fact shout out to the yeast because it is really nice, just wish the body had more support elsewhere. Solid but could have been great

This beautifully white gold lager is stunningly clear--especially noteworthy at an outdoor beer festival--with a white head of moderate height leaving short fluid arms of lacing.

Pleasant qualities of straw and wheat manifest in a frothy yet crushable context.

Watch out Wooly Pig!

From a twelve ounce bottle, this brew is a clear golden color with a slim white head. The aroma is of clean, enticing malt and grain. No fruit and little hops back it. Straightforward. The taste has a forward sweetness...lots of complex malt. Wonderful flavors. The finish is clean, and the overall beer is balanced, if not just tilted sweet. This is a nice surprise.

 

After drinking hoppy IPAs and pale ales almost exclusively over the last couple of months, it is a pleasure to dive into a classic German style - the helles; this one does not disappoint. Poured a bright and clear, golden hue with very little head or lace.

Aromatically, this one was very pleasing: perfumy and spicy malt with the classic aroma of the noble hops.

Very nice beginning with a solid malt body and semisweet hop bitterness, this one almost drinks like a classic dortmunder style lager with the body heavier than a typical helles style. Having said that, this lager does have some the flavors found in a hell lager; namely the light and refreshing body with faint hints of lemon and vanilla with a mild graham cracker flavor in the aftertaste. Even as the lager warms in the glass, the flavor profile remains intact. Sadly, many lagers become bland and one-dimensional after warming.

The mouthfeel is well rounded and soft with a surprisingly full body for the style.

This is the perfect beer for the very warm climate down here in Florida in April. This is a full-bodied interpretation of an old and classic style. If it is still available, I will certainly pickup another six-pack.

Based on the previous reviewer's review, I had to try this beer to see just how good it actually is, and boy does it not disappoint. This beer features a bright straw color that is clear with light carbonation visible. A bright white frothy head dissipates to a thin frothy layer quite quickly but then levels out and is retained. 4/5 The aroma is quite malty with cracker and biscuit coming out nicely before fresh cut grass and hay make their hoppy appearances. Overall the aroma is very grainy and malty with the hops providing more of an undertone. 3.75/5 The taste is very flavorful and is where this beer really shines. Light, sweet malt comes out right away with cracker, biscuit, and butter providing undertones. Caramel and white bread are the best descriptors that I can come up with for the maltiness here. There are light grassy and light hay hop notes that come out near the end but they do not provide a ton of flavor. These two flavors are rather balancers for the malt so that the beer does not become overly sweet for the style. 4.25/5 This is a medium bodied beer with a light carbonation tickle up front that leads into a creamy and smooth mouthfeel. It wets and coats very nicely with next to no dryness and no lingering dryness. 4/5 This beer really does take me back to Europe. Whenever a beer transports me somewhere that I have been and brings to light those memories, it is definitely a beer to return to. Applause to Church Street for this beer. 4/5

Not many brewers are doing double decoction mashes. The result of this process is beer with incredible malt character that is revealed not only in the aroma but also in the taste. The Church Street Anniversary Special Hell, is indeed a special brew and is the malt character comes from a double decocted mash. Lager gets such little attention it seems these days. The guys at Church Street if they keeping making lager of this quality are going to convert the hop head/ malt bombers over. At 5.5 % ABV, this incarnation of the Special Anniversary Hell is the beer you want to come home to everyday. This one begs for a second or third glass. Maybe more. Rich malt balanced with hop spice on the nose and tongue, this is as good as anything you can get in this style in the USA never mind S. Germany,Austria, Switzerland where Helles is the go to beer. I had Austrian beer drinker friends over at my house last year. Two groups of them. I had this beer on tap, and they were blown away. Went through a 1/2 barrel fast. They were amazed that this quality of lager was being brewed here. My only complaint is that this brew is not available except once a year, but it is indeed special. Church Street, please at least brew more of this wonderful beer even if it just once a year! My samples have all been draft, but if well kept the bottles have to be good. My glass of choice with this style is the Willi Becker poured with 3 fingers of creamy foam.