Hildy's Helles
Giesenbräu Bier Co.

 

A lot of grainy and bready malt to this Helles...like 12 grain bread....malty sweet....a touch of herbal hops....poured with nice head out of the can but drinks with at best medium carbonation.....less than that actually which helps with the sweetness but detracts from this being a crisp drinking Helles Lager.

Good beer...but seems under-attenuated and the lingering worty sweetness drops the score some...

Appearance: Pours a slightly clouded, light golden color with a strong white head. SRM of 8. (4.00)

Aroma: Strong aromas of pale malts, earthy bread, some honeysuckle and yeast. (4.00)

Flavor: Strong bready flavor sof pale malts, yeast, honeysuckle. Dry and yeasty finish. (4.00)

Feel: Medium-bodied, strong carbonation. Soft, smooth, and dry and yeasty. (4.00)

Compared to Utepils Helles 4/2023: Pours cloudier, similar head. Similar aromas. Slightly more pale malts and yeast. Less lemonflower, citrus, and honey. Similar body and sweetness. Overall, quite similar.
7/2023: Pours similar. Similar aromas. Slightly more bread yeast. Less smooth bread malts. Slightly more carbonated, dry, lighter, but similar.
8/24: Milder head. Stronger aromas. Similar flavors, but less soft and smooth. Winner: Utepils

Compared to Bad Weather Helles 7/2023: Pours similar. milder head. Milder aromas. More bread yeast. Less smooth bread and honey. Lighter, cleaner, dryer.

Overall: A nice Helles lager here. Nice subtle citrusflower mixes with honeysuckle and bread malt flavors. A little yeasty. (4.00)

16oz can. No dating information found.
Mostly clear, pale gold colored body. One finger of white head, which retreats to interrupted islands and ring. Leaves a few scattered spots of lacing.
Aroma is grassy, with light toasty bread.
Taste is lightly toasted bread, with lemon grass hops. Both the bread and lemon grass are sweet. Light yeast esters arrive late and linger in the aftertaste. Also has a touch of bitterness that expresses most in the aftertaste.
Medium mouth feel. Clean and crisp finish. Good carbonation.
Seems to be to style, with malts and hops expressing slightly sweet notions, slight hop bitterness, and add on yeast flavors.

Pours a clear light golden color with a fresh white head . Smell is grain,malt grass and bread . Taste has citrus lemon/lime cracker meal,lemon grass and bready malts. Mouth feel crisp clean and sweet .

Clear, bright yellow-gold color, lightly carbonated, and a short, fizzy, fast disappearing white head (10 seconds, gone). No lacing. The color is very good, but the meager level of rising bubbles and no head after 10 seconds (or less), and no lacing at all is not a good look for a helles lager.

Faint aroma, hardly anything at all actually, but what there is is bread (maybe), perhaps I can detect a bit of light fruit, if I convince myself it must be there.

I'm surprised, almost shocked: very good flavor; bready and bright, crisp and very lightly bittered. Nice malty flavor with a crisp hops presence and finish. The aftertaste is hoppy in flavor and has excellent balance from the bready malts.

Feel is appropriate for the style: moderate-thin body and good carbonation presence on the tongue (despite the bubbles being sparse).

Overall, flavor is king for this beer. Very crisp, good malt flavor, subtle bittering, easy drinking. Great summer beer. It is good enough to overcome my criticisms of the look and aroma, hence what may seem like an overly high "overall" number.