Gates Of Helles
Switchback Brewing Company

 

 

I tried this beer at the brewery. It poured a clear golden with thin white head that did not leave much lace. The scent had faint grain and subtle smoke. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with earth and grain base accented by smoke highlights. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall its a decent beer.

i had no idea these guys were so passionate about smoke beer, and that their innovation had reached these heights, its awesome, and it gives me a great deal of respect for them, this is such a cool project. the base of this is an excellent helles lager, classically german, fresh and clean, well lagered, dry and bright, crisp and flavorful on the grain side, and just an excellent summer refresher. the thing is though, they have incorporated some smoked malt into it, transforming it into something very unique. i love the smoke element in a lighter beer like this, and this its an ideal fit with the german lager yeast they have used here. it seems easy for such a bold ingredient like this to totally overtake such a minimalist and delicate beer, but its beautifully dosed, enough to really be defined, but not to dominate, and the slightly bigger than standard hop profile and bitterness this finishes with helps the beer stay balanced. the body is super light here, and the whole thing is clean and summery for being smoked. its almost even refreshing, which i never thought would be a true of a beer in this style. kind of reminds me of an old gratzer or grodziskie style, way better than a novelty, really well done on this!

From the bottle, it pours a lovely clear golden color with a modest head, which leaves lacing as you enjoy it. Lightly smoky in the nose. The mouth gets a light smoke with a solid malt base. Nice!

 

 

 

From the 650 ml. bottle stamped 18156. Sampled on Aug 30, 2018.

It pours a slightly cloudy, unfiltered golden tone with a quick lasting white head. Some lacing.

Plenty of smoked malts in the aroma with an underlying character of toasted bread and pine or citrus zest.

Medium mouthfeel and smooth.

The taste is immediately sweet and smoky but also very clean. It ends with a slight dry lingering finish. I enjoyed this beer.

Poured from a bottle dated 1/28/18 into the test glass
A - Beautiful goldenrod color, clarity is exceptional. carbonation steady and vigorous, the cap of white froth stays for the duration.
S - Biscuit, lemon grass from the hops, a delightful hint of sweet malts, with the most deft touch of smokiness.
T - Warm crackers, a bit of grassy hops, gently smoked grain, a reminder of smoked bacon. with a delightful herbal quality.
M - Pitch perfect, semi sweet start, moves toward a semi dry finish. All in a light to medium light body. The carbonation adds a prickly touch that helps the delicate flavors pop
O - What a beautiful offering, I will be back in VT later this week and will look for more.

Poured into a glass mug, the appearance was a glossy golden yellow color with a small cap of a little white foamy head. Slid off stealthily to leave some messy clingy lace.
The aroma had a sweet smooth damp smoky bacon character up front with a modest earthy to hay/maybe grassy like mentality assisting in the fantastic blend of it all.
The flavor yields to the sweet bacon-like smokiness. Biscuit-like malts play underneath nicely. Earthy to grassy character is there, somewhat faint. Slight aftertaste of bacon flavored bread.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a very nice sessionability about it. I could almost chug this if I wanted to. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt appropriate. Finish was bacon smooth sweet and bready malty.
Overall, as much as I loved this for me, not quite sure how close it is to a true rauchbier (I always thought a special German yeast helped shape some damp earthy yeastiness), but I'd still have this again.

On tap:
A smoked Helles, not sure if that means it should be a smoked beer or Rauchbier, but I expected an even-handed smoke on a lighter bodied beer. And that’s basically what I got.

Clear lighter-leaning golden body, with a nice white head that provides some lacing, spotty in nature.

Nose gives me a little bit of hay and grass behind a moderate smoky note, like a campfire the morning after it was doused the night before.

The flavor has a little less smoke, but at a perfect level for the beer, I think. Clean cracker malts and a grassy to metallic note are fleeting as the smoke comes in to distract me. But it is just a distraction, as my palate adjusts to get used to it, the base beer’s expected grassiness comes back, as well as some malt, and a little light herbal side.

A very good “merging” of styles, in my opinion. The smoke isn’t too light, nor overpowering; the base beer holds up and meets expectations. Impressive to me.