-1: Helles Export Lager
The Exchange Brewery

Pours a brilliant gold colour, with a short lasting head. Corny and grainy on the nose. Semi-sweet on the taste which on first sip was off-putting but gets better and tastier as you go. I'm glad I stuck with it.
Sept 13 2022

Can - Pours a hazed pale gold with a big 3 finger frothy white cap....aromas are demure - light biscuit notes and wet straw hop tones and light whiffs of lager yeast sulfur undertones...full bodied for a helles but well balanced....Flavor has both malts and hops in balance with a rich mouthfeel, very sturdy lager...goes to a long, clean increasingly bitter finish...not so much like a Munich Helles than a Dortmunder export lager...still a decent easy drink

Fortinos purchase for $3.25 Cdn.

Appearance- mostly clear, rich golden colour with a finger or so of white head. Some spotty lacing and a couple steaks left behind after sips. Loads of bubbles consistent rising to the top.

Smell- clean and grainy. Lots of grass, a slight dash of lemon and lots of light bready aromas.

Taste - crisp with some bread notes and corn flavours. Just enough bitterness here to offset the sweeter corn flavours. Light bitter grass and again a pinch of citrus.

Mouthfeel- medium light bodied, quite crisp and refreshing with lots of carbonation. Easy going to close.

Overall- a very enjoyable Helles lager with just enough bitterness to make the whole bready crackery beer greater than the sun of its individual components.

 

i bought 2 cans at the loblaws in Ontario poured a 1 finger head into glass .
leaving a lace as you drink it smooth lemon malts
slow carbonation with a dry finish
overall an easy drinking helles lager beer .
cheers

355 mL can from Superstore; dated Aug 31 2020 and served barely chilled.

Pours a clear, effervescent golden yellow colour, producing one finger of foamy, sparkling white head that proves surprisingly resistant. Even after five minutes or so, a quarter-inch cap and collar of suds remain in place, with a full coat of lace deposited on what little ground it has given up; looks positively fantastic in the glass. It smells of grassy, floral, herbal noble hops, with notes of grainy, bready pale malts and a touch of biscuity sweetness also coming through. So far, so good.

The flavours follow after the nose - cereal grain sweetness with a touch of bready, slightly biscuity pale malts, followed by a firm dose of noble hop goodness. Grassy and floral, with just a hint of lemon and herbal bitterness at the finish; a touch of grainy pale malt sweetness carries into the aftertaste before fading to off-dry. Light in body, with moderately low carbonation and a smooth, somewhat flat texture on the tongue. Not as crisp as I'd prefer from this type of beer, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, finding it quite quaffable indeed.

Final Grade: 3.87, a rather respectable B+. I don't know if -1 Helles Export qualifies as a top-notch helles, but the visuals and aroma in particular are spot-on for a German pale lager, and I liked this at least as much as a few common German exports (e.g. Hacker-Pschorr Munich Gold or Spaten Münchner), if not slightly more. That being said, this one is more expensive than those alternatives, so I don't know how often I'll actually be returning for more - even still, German lager enthusiasts should consider The Exchange's Helles lager to be well worth trying.