Raising Helles
New England Brewing Co.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: crystal clear; medium gold in color; 2 finger finely pored off white head that receded to a skim cap; nice lacing;

S: grass, leaves, and a hint of spice;

T: follows the nose from start to finish; a touch sweet up front; mild to moderate bitterness at the end;

M: light to medium bodied; moderate carbonation; dry finish;

O: refreshing; easy to drink;

 

 

A- Can poured into a can glass with a golden yellow body that is mostly clear. The cap shoots up very quickly to three fingers high with a foamy texture. Great head retention and a few long streaks of lacing.

S- The aroma is basically an equal balance of pale malts and Euro hops. Cereal, light sweets and cracker balanced by hops that are equally spicy and floral/herbal. A touch of lager yeast fruits and dough.

T- Follows up on the aroma quite nicely and sticks to a similar balance of flavors but overall it seems a bit hoppy for the style. Spicy, grassy, floral and herbal hop notes are balanced by Pils grain, cereal, cracker and bready notes. A touch of minerals and a snappy hop bitterness.

MF- The texture is silky and puffy and the beer has a moderate level of carbonation. Light-medium bodied and a clean bitterness lingers in the finish.

Has the crackery pale malts and Euro hops that one would expect but overall it feels a bit too bitter and hop forward for the style not highlighting those grains as much as you would think. Despite that it is a very crisp and refreshing brew without any major flaws at all, very drinkable.

 

A very solid lager. Really good actually. Im just not as much a german style beer guy. But if you are youll like it because its crisp, sour, malty and smooth.

Thanks to JLindros for hooking me up with a can of this.

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice crystal clear golden hue with a good fat two finger white head that fades to leave light lacing and a thin blanket.

S- Aromas of light flaked corn, little bit of sweetness and malt, flashes of noble hops, good clean pilsner malts on the finish.

T - Taste is similar to the nose with more light flaked corn and pilsner malts. The noble hops are pleasant and lightly grassy. There is a little flash of bitterness on the finish but the corn and pilsner notes are not nearly as prominent as the nose.

M - Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, body is a bit light. Comes across as thinner.

O - Overall this was a solid helles. I like the nose and wish there was some more of it on the taste. The mouth though was on the lackluster side.

Serving Type: Can

Canned 8/06/19... "O'Doyle Rules" Someone must have been watching Billy Madison recently

Pours a giant foamy bubbly frothy head with long retention, hits 3 fingers with rocky bubbly fall and whispy lacing, crystal clear straw/pilsner gold color

Nose light grainy-sweet cereal malt, a hint doughy, with grainy pilsner malt, no corn, touch of floral herbal hops in the background, not bad but a bit too light even for a Helles

Taste big cereal grain, grainy-sweet doughy malt, with loads of pilsner malt a bit of corn this time but very light, straw, then mild hops, light bitterness, but fair floral herbal slight leafy hops, crisp soft clean lager, touch of minerals late, likely sulfates, crisping the bitterness to a medium bitter bite, lingering floral herbal hop note getting a little spicy and a hint fruity

Mouth is lighter bod, soft crisp lager, medium carb

Overall not bad, nose was a bit light but taste was on, nothing spectacular as I don't get the malt depth, complexity, and life of a good German Helles, but still well done for an American version

 

Original rating
L: 4.75, S:4.25, T:4.25, F:4.5, O:4.25 = 4.31

Review
Canned: 11/03/20
Consumed: 01/18/21

L: Raising Helles pours a beautiful golden straw color with excellent clarity and abundant streamers of carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass. A vigorous pour results in a massive fine, white 4 finger head with good retention. The head slowly falls to about 3 to 4 mm that is retained as the beer is drained from the glass. Very handsome webbed rings are left as the beer recedes.

S: On the nose I get Hallertau: herbal notes and hints of lemon. Also getting a malt graininess and light notes of bread crust.

T: The front end of the palate is clean with the faintest hint of herbal notes. In the middle I get grainy malt character, spiciness that increases in strength from middle to back, and a grassiness mixed with lemon. The lemon also carries over to the back end complemented by fresh cut alfalfa and a crescendoing Hallertau spiciness that finishes with a nice light to light-medium bitterness.

F: To me this has a medium body with medium to medium-light carbonation. Nice crisp mouthfeel with a slightly dry clean finish.

O: This is a good example of a Munich Helles, but could maybe use a tad more malt character on the palate. Recommended for anyone in CT looking for a quality, locally brewed lager.