OBL (Old Bavarian Lager)
Folksbier Brewery

 

Canned on 10/16/20; consumed on 2/9/21

Pours a barely-foggy lemon-gold body capped with two fingers of fluffy, eggshell-white foam; great head retention leaves a half-finger of almost creamy cap along with a moderate, frothy collar and thin, soapy rings of lacing caking the walls of the glass.

Aroma opens with a delicate cereal grain sweetness and an all-encompassing mineralic density touching the entirety of the bouquet over time; crisp grass is ingratiated with dry, floral straw and crusty white bread over the middle, while a touch of peppery lime peel closes.

Taste brings sweet cereal grain forward, coasting alongside waves of fresh minerality and bolstered by toasted bread crusts and doughy malts over the mid-palate; distant tinges of lime peel and flower petals on the back end are continually expressed over fresh white bread and straw coming through on the finish.

Mouthfeel offers a light body, though impeccably crisp, and a synchronized moderate-high carbonation, fading to a soft prickle over the mid-palate and a developing, mild grit on the back end, where a hoppy brightness melds seamlessly with a malty snap to finish.

Extensively clean with a delicate composition yet fully concentrated flavor and hops expressed with impressive subtlety, this Helles exemplifies the lightness of the style and leaves the impression of a brew perfectly suitable for any occasion.

 

CANNED ON 09/11/20 stamped on bottom of can. Poured into a Samuel Adams Perfect Pint.

A: Golden with 1-2 finger frothy, tight, sticky white head with excellent retention and lacing. Only detractor is slight haze.

S: Cereal grain with spicy, floral, grassy noble hop nose with touch of lemon.

T: Flavor is solid helles, a little happier than many though I like it. Clean pils maltiness with touch of sweetness followed by spicy/grassy, floral noble hopping with low bitterness. No obvious yeast esters. Solid+ German pale lager.

M: Crisp with light-medium body and medium carbonation.

O: Stellar German pale lager with deliciously balanced malt and hops. Possibly a touch hoppy and bitter for the style, but it doesn’t really subtract from an exceptional lagerbier.

 

 

 

 

This one pours a light straw yellow color, with a fluffy white head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like bready malt, lemony hops, grass, and some spice.

This is really solid stuff. The malt character is just spot on here - a Helles should be a great expression of malt. It's richly bready, just a touch sweet, honey-type flavors. It's got a crisp and lemony and grassy hop character, with a slightly minerally and spicy finish.

This is light and crisp, and very drinkable, with no brewing flaws.

This was highly enjoyable. It's clean, and really well-brewed. I want to try more from this brewery.

A: The beer is clear yellow in color and has a moderate to high amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high dense white head that has excellent retention properties, hardly dying down and leaving lots of lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of grassy hops are present in the nose along with notes of bready malts.
T: The taste has flavors of bready malts along with notes of grassy hops. There is a light amount of bitterness.
M: It feels medium-bodied and clean on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: I enjoyed the contrast between the bready malts and grassy hops in the taste of this beer.

Serving type: can

On tap at Good Beer, NYC.

Pours a crystal clear golden pale straw color with visible carbonation. A well retaining moderate frothy head displays lacing throughout.

Aromas of bready and crackery malts, along with a touch of hay. Earthy hops aromatics evoke grass and lemon.

Clean dry malt flavors, bready and crackery, not particularly sweet. Instead, I feel like the balance tilts slightly towards the hops flavors. Bright, spicy, lemony and grassy hops flavors pierce the tongue, no doubt aided by the tight carbonation. Medium to light bodied with a crisp mouthfeel. The finish is clean, dry and lightly spicy.

A bit less soft and sweet, and more hops forward than other Helles I’ve had. Still, it is quite good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On-tap @ Folksbier in Brooklyn, NY.

14 oz pour. Pale gold in color with good clarity and a creamy white head. Bready malt aroma with a slight touch of corn or possibly DMS. Light herbal hops round things out. Well-balanced flavor that feels like a cross between a Helles Lager and a Pale Lager. Medium-light bodied. Not as soft or clean as a traditional Bavarian lager, it's a little more crisp and biting, possibly due to the high carbonation which gives it a slight carbonic bite. Something I would be happy to revisit again.