Helles Lager
Bitter Root Brewing

not a bad beer, a little amateurish and not for the first time from these guys, but there arent off flavors or anything its just not as well refined as i like a helles to be generally speaking, but it worked as an easy down thirst quencher, and this was a cool place to hang, neat historic building, nice folks, solid beer menu. real pale yellow color, pretty clear, and with a slightly better than average white head on it in terms of height and retention. it smells and tastes sweet to me, which is permissible to some degree in the style i reckon, but to me its past that, loses some of its refreshment value and pace because of it, and i think the sweetness thats here covers up some of its german essence, at least on the yeast side where this is very mild. the grain is light and fresh with a clean mineral profile, the hops are all on the swallow and cant quite crisp this up despite their excellent placement and appropriate dosing, and i like its light but not too thin mouthfeel, frothed up by plentiful carbonation. i may have lagered this one a bit longer, dry this out a bit and i think its a winner, but just a bit pedestrian as it stands right now. a bit more from the pils malt and some light doughy character as it warms, a little brassy, sweetness after the swallow is a little out of place. a fine pint but im certainly not in love with it. much better options around for helles wherever you may live when it comes to pure objective quality, but still i dig this place and would recommend a visit!