Infierno De Mayo
La Doña Cervecería

16oz can, No dating information found, but advertised as a summer lager.
Slightly cloudy, pale gold colored body. Long lasting white head. Leaves behind a few scattered spots of lacing.
Aroma is grass, hay, and light color bread.
Taste is sweet white bread but also a lot of weedy grass. Malt bread base with grassy hops. Slight sulfur.
Fuller mouth feel, but crisp and clean finish. Excellent carbonation.
Too hoppy for style but very good in its own expression. Would be a good choice for hot weather quenching.

L-Light golden..ok clarity

S-Good dose of toasted malts up front...malty

T-Toasted malts and herbal hops...hops are relatively assertive but the toasted malt is also evident.

F-Medium bodied...crisp...dry on the finish...lingering bitterness.

O-Interesting take on a Helles lager...hoppier than most. This is good but not true to style.

 

Pours a clear light golden color with a fresh 1 finger head.. Smell is grassy herbal and malty. Yastrzemski has crisp floral hops ,lemon grass,cracker meal malts. Mouth feel is well carbonated crisp and hoppy , Very quenchable and tasty

Given the previous beer I had from La Doña and how they describe themselves, I am not expecting a true-to-style German helles lager. That is just not what this brewery is about. I am expecting this to be a bit of a fusion beer – whatever that means, exactly, IDK; but probably not a straight German-style helles.

Great looking bright helles. Crystal clear golden yellow, amply carbonated. Topped by a stark white 1 inch thick fluffy head with excellent retention. As the head recedes, it sinks in the middle unevenly and leaves gobby sticky lacing.

The aroma was the familiar German lager-esq when I cracked the can. Nose in the glass, though, is different; dank with a pleasant aroma that is hard for me to describe; toasty is not quite right; perhaps baked, but that’s not right either? Anyhow, it is a nice, but not what I would have expected, aroma.

Whatever it is, it continues into the taste as well. Given the niche La Doña has set for themselves in the craft beer market in the Twin Cities, as I stated above, I was in no way expecting a true-to-style German Helles, and it certainly lives up to that! The flavor is earthy, dank, baked/toast, grass, and yet none of those descriptors really capture the overall flavor. With the dank (although not overdone), perhaps they were going for a “marihuana pa' fumar” (as the song goes) vibe. I like it. It is easily quaffable. It’d go great on a hot day. There are not a lot of flavor transitions from the initial to the finish. It finishes like it starts, in other words. There is little to no bittering and the aftertaste is smooth and toward the dry side, ending perhaps just a bit sharp and pungent.

Mouth feel is creamy with good carbonation.

Overall, a quite unique helles (bright) lager, indeed. If you are expecting a German-style helles lager, move along. If you are looking for something a bit off-the-wall unique and yet still enjoyable and quaffable, give it a shot.

My rating is on the level of pleasure I got from drinking it; that is, on how well I liked it as a quaffable spring/summer beer. Since I knew (or highly suspected) going in that this beer would not be even attempting to be a faithful German-style rendition, grading it on that scale seems to me to be unfair.

Appearance: Pours a clear, light golden color. with a mild white head. SRM of 6. (3.75)

Aroma: Strong aromas of grassy and herbal hop notes upfront. Bitter, grassy, and herbal. Small bread malt shows underneath.

Flavor: Strong and intense grassy, herbal, and spiced flavors. Dank like cannabis spice before some light bread malts in the middle. A salty yeast and bitter finish.

Feel: Medium-bodied. Strong yeast and carbonation. Leaves a herbal bitterness on the finish.

Compared to Utepils Helles 4/16/22: Pours slightly lighter, stronger aromas. More grass, herbal, dank hops. Less smooth bread malt.

Overall: I don't know what this beer was going for but certainly caught me off-guard for a helles. Incredibly herbal, grassy, and dank. Not sure if this is hopped up or an off-flavor. Maybe it's some hops and spice addition they were going for to make it have a unique Mexican spiciness. It does mention this beer is hopped with Cascade hops. Whatever it is, doesn't seem quite appropriate. Does not drink like a helles and probably would not buy again (Rating: 3.49)