Why The Helles Not? Helles Lager
Southern Tier Brewing Company

 

 

 

Clear light gold color with white cap.

Aroma of bready, biscuity malt with floral, spicy hops.

Taste on entry is a very good combination of what I like most about German Lagers. The malt is prominent without being heavy, fresh yeast bread and dry crackers, with solid accents of floral, spicy hops.
Flavors are well combined, complementary and work as a team.

Light medium texture with balancing carbonation.

Simple yet complex, they've got this one dialed in.

 

 

 

12 oz bottle. Pours golden with tall, white head and lively carbonation. Aroma is of grassy hops and biscuit malt. Body is medium and crisp. Taste is of grain and grassy hops. Finish is long and bitter. Good brew.

 

 

Southern Tier Brewing Co. "Why The Helles Not?"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, "DOB 04/18/17" and sample on 08/13/17
$2 @ Wegmans, State College, PA

Look: Clear golden body beneath a short head of bright white that holds fairly well and leaves some nice, but limited, lacing about the glass.
Smell: Clean. Sweetish grainy malt with a touch of grassy hops.
Taste: Not surprisingly as the aroma suggests with some additional floral and lightly spicy and herbal hop character. A firm bitterness balances it, and it finishes semi-dry as the sweetish malt erodes and floral and lightly grassy notes swirl.
Feel: Medium-light in body and crisp.
Overall: A touch sweetish, and Munich malt doesn't clearly appear, but pretty nicely done. An enjoyable and refreshing lager.

Poured from a bottle into a Lagunitas mason glass

L: Clear light golden pour with 2 fingers of foamy white head. Thin rim of lacing.

S: German malts.. grassy hops... slight citrus.

T/F: Light malts... a little grainy with a bit of sweetness. Faint lemon... grassy. Modest bitterness but not a lot of hop character. Finish is crisp. Light with zesty carbonation.

O: Fairly standard lager. Reasonable flavor. Nothing exciting, but easy to drink.

A: [4.25] The beer lists a low (4.6%) ABV and has a bottled date of (04/18/2017). Golden beer with swirling carbonation coming off the bottom of the glass. Settles with 2 fingers of bright white head. Very classic look.

S: [3.00] Corn, grassy hops, some light floral notes.

T: [2.75] Different from the nose. Sweetened corn, like frosted flakes, sugary (overly sweet), some wisps of floral notes.

M: [3.00] Very thin and lower carbonation than expected.

O: [2.75] At 4.6% that puts a beer in solid dock/poolside range but not this one. It is too sweet and not really refreshing. Like Mt Dew sweetness added to a lager. I am not a big fan.

 

 

 

Real easy drinking helles. Great look and smell. Feel could be a little less fizzy and the taste is slightly on the bland side but overall pretty solid.

I have been doing a number of brewery-oriented horizontals as a part of the ongoing eradication of The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody & by some circumstance, I have a number of Southern Tier's beers to add to my list.

From the bottle: "Why the hell not?"

A fair question. I proceeded with a Pop! of the cap, followed by a gentle pour into an awaiting glass. I was a little surprised that no head formed on its own, so I lent an assist with an in-glass swirl, forming a finger of foamy, fizzy, bone-white head that quickly reverted to wisps. Color was a beautiful Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 -5) with button-brightness, prompting a visit from The Gelt Gang of Mammon, Midas & Croesus, all of whom wanted a taste. Nose had a clean honey-like bready odor, like honey drizzled on fresh toast. Why clean? Because I realized early on in The CANQuest (tm) that many/most (?) AALs had this as their base before being utterly corrupted. Mouthfeel was light, not watery, but nothing to get excited about, either. The taste was slightly grassy in addition to having the honey-like breadiness noted on the nose. Finish was semi-dry, crisp & very refreshing. It was a very pleasant, easy-to-drink beer that would be perfect on a hot, humid summer's day, especially if they were to put it in a CAN.