Helles Spezial
OEC Brewing (Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores)

clean even fresh taste, some hops help the finish, but pretty yeasty start on it.Overall a pleasant drink and refreshes. From a package ordered from the brewery.

No can date
Pours a fizzy bubble 1 finger head with fair retention, a bit of lacing, hazy golden orange color (hazy Helles?!)

Nose doughy grainy-sweet malt, cereal, straw, etc, a similar base lager yeast character from all their others, but also seems to get a Belgian fruity ester thing, fair herbal earthy hop, not as malt-rich as I expected

Taste starts a bit fruity, plum like, herbal earthy hop, with some fruity hop esters, some malt again but light on the richness, a bit grainy, bready, cereal, tastes like old malt like grains were sitting around for too long before being used in this, or the beer itself is quite old (BUT NO CAN DATE SO NO IDEA), a bit of a sweet toasted biscuity note as well, med to lighter bitterness, also getting cooked vegetables DMS

Mouth is med bod with med to lighter carb

Overall not sure what this was going for but it was not good. Reminds me of their really early days of beer which I thought was mediocre, not sure if very old, but not very enjoyable, and the recipe seems nothing like a Helles on top of that.

these guys are balling out on the lagers lately, this is fire, a little fuller version of the helles they say, which i still have not had the pleasure of drinking, but still nothing to hearty or heavy to drink, just a little more from the grain, a more pronounced mineral profile, and perhaps just a touch more residual sugar allowed to survive in here than is common in most helles types, but i think it still is squarely within the style parameters and it did awfully well with some spicy buffalo cauliflower, it easily handled the salt, the tang, and the heat, really nice. just a shade of orange to this, not as blonde as is normal, but its still airy and light looking, high white headed from the tap, and appears less than sparkling clear but still well refined. biscuit and earthiness up front in the nose, with some peppery hops there adding freshness and zesy, an old world german lager strain and perhaps some open ferment weirdness, but this isnt funky, its just rustic for what it is, similar in ferment to some other lagers ive had from these guys, a ton of character from the yeast, and the flavor is the same. some sweetness in the middle and late, lightly toasted richness to this, but still a bready pils note at the center, high minerality which gives it above average interest, sort of a terroir thing, and there is some hop bitterness crisping the finish. i like how nuanced this is, all the elements coming together and kind of uniquely for a relatively traditional style, really well done again by these guys, absolutely love that their beers are available in idaho!

Had on tap at the brewery. Pours clear, gold in color with one quarter inch head. Taste is big bready malt. Light bodied, sweet, moderate carbonation. Excellent beer.

 

 

This one pours a golden straw yellow color, with a small head, and a good bit of lacing.

This smells like light toasted bread, straw, hay, lemony hops, and a soft minerality.

This is exactly what you want from the style – a not too sweet malt showcase, with a sort of sourdough and light white bread toastiness, some slight nuttiness and straw notes, a mineral-like and floral hop character adding a trace of bitterness.

This is light bodied, clean, crisp, and very drinkable.

This is pretty much on the nose for the style.

 

No canning date (released in early-12/2022); consumed on 2/2/2023

Pours a clear, bronzed honey-gold body capped with just shy of two fingers of dense, soapy, white foam; decent head retention leaves a thin layer of cap, moderate, frothy collar, and chunky webs of lacing draping down the walls of the glass.

Aroma brings white toast and sun-dried hay prevalent upfront, with a taut minerality informed by moist lager yeast inflections feeding delicately fruity undertones across the bouquet.

Taste opens to toasted corn kernel and lightly oaked lager yeast, leaving tones of unbuttered popcorn phasing to white toast over the mid-palate while musty oak contrasts a clean minerality into the finish.

Mouthfeel shows a light body and a rounded, fuller carbonation, leaving a delicate prickle fading to the mid-palate; the back end is resoundingly clean, with a steady drying lingering through the finish.

Subtly sweet overall impressions can't quite escape the dregs of initial blandness, despite being contrastingly well-structured; tinges of character present inconsistently throughout a largely uninspired Helles.