Rieser Landbier
Ankerbräu Nördlingen

500ml bottle. An unrepresented style on BA, so we'll go with Munich Helles Lager, as this is proclaimed as a 'Helles Landbier', and Nördlingen isn't all that far from Munich.

This beer pours a crystal clear, pale golden straw colour, with one generous finger of silken and foamy off-white head, which leaves some random honeycomb lace around the glass as it genially recedes.

It smells of restrained bready, grainy malt, a mild indeterminate orchard fruitiness, and soft leafy and weedy noble hops. The taste is moderately bready malt, with a twinge of sourdough, some pear-like fruitiness, and ethereal leafy and earthy hops.

The bubbles are fairly sedate, yet background-intensive, and the body a nice, smooth, and even medium weight. It finishes sweet, but on the low-down, as the malt switches deftly between its grain and fruit facades - and the floral, leafy, and earthy hops just stand by watching.

I cannot argue with the German definition of this style: "country beer', which implies a simple drinkability, without any muss or fuss. Well, no shit, Wolfgang, this is just one straightforward imbiber, flavourful without pretension - bring on the dirndls and insane mug sizes!