Sixpoint: Alpenflo Helles Lager

This is the only reason I'm hesitant to buy this beer. I virtually never buy 12 packs, and if I do it's a variety pack. The last two I purchased was a Sam Adams variety pack (Adventures in Lager?) and the Guinness 200th Anniversary variety pack.

And it's not as if I'm one of those, "I need the latest highest rated IPA" drinkers. There's just so much goddammed beer out there, it's hard to be loyal to just one. Add that to the fact I'm lucky if I drink a 12 pack in a week...

But I haven't seen it at my local yet, so we'll see...

Unfortunately cost is the very last thing I consider with beer. Hopefully it's as good as it sounds!

 

That's a . . . umm . . . pretty standard weekend night for me.

 

Remind me to go out for beers with you sometime then.

 

FWIW, I just downloaded the Sixpoint app to try to find Alpenflo near me (SEPA), and it's not showing any Sixpoint beers of any kind any within 50 miles of me (needless to say that's not right). Sixpoint's "beta" desktop beer finder at least shows Sixpoint beers in my area, but no Alpenflo.

 

Well, that doesn't include beers I drink at bars and breweries.

Sounds good, I'm quite generous!

 

I'd be curious to hear a (unbiased) comparison between this and Jack's Abby house lager.

 

Thanks for that input. Your perspective on the word "repulsive" is very different from mine.

Cheers!

 

But if it's marketed as a cross between a Helles and a Pilsner (which would make me roll my eyes to be honest), and it was too hoppy for a Helles in your eyes, then the hoppy aspect was probably modeled after a Pilsner. If you wouldn't dump a Pilsner that was hopped like a Pilsner, then why would you dump this beer for being hoppy? Just think of it as a Pilsner and enjoy regardless of any Helles lettering on the label. If it didn't taste like a Pilsner, then that's a different story... but you only said it should be non-hoppy (which isn't really the case here).

 

Ok replusive wasn't my word, but i can say it was really really bad. I didn't notice the helles/Pils marketing copy right away just the Helles in big block letters. For me any thin bitter beer like a session ipa tastes terrible and I don't like many pilsners actually. Unless they are more soft like a Czech style. SN Summerfest, JA Post Shift are some favorite domestics. So I prefer Kolsch, Helles, Dortmunders over Pils.

 

Yeah -- no Alpenflo within 50 miles of my location either.

@Sixpoint -- who's your distro in Kenosha or Racine counties in Wisconsin (possibly one and the same)? Maybe I can contact them directly to find out where they're taking the Alpenflo.

 

Okay, but how many truly knowledgeable discussions of Helles have you seen on BA -- at least compared with the amount of discussion about IPA or Russian Stout? Helles just isn't all that popular with the beer geekery -- but maybe that can change with a well-brewed rendition.

 

Ever go to a restaurant and ask for a soda only to be served iced tea? That shock of the first sip is pretty repulsive. Now imagine you point it out to the server and they tell you that, no, that is in fact a soda, just with their unique, innovative "twist." Still happy about having paid for the drink? This is the way I feel when I buy a "Helles" that is anything but....

 

So is it possible that the beer isn't terrible, and that it simply didn't fit your preferences because it leans more towards a German Pils?

 

Imagine if the bottling lines at Sam Adams got switched, and Boston Lager bottles were accidentally filled with Twisted Tea?

 

No I'd say it's absolutely terrible no matter what the label said.

 

Sixpoint 4 Life....

 

Regardless of the history of smoked malt (not that the following beer uses any though), I’m sure Schlenkerla Helles can elicit that reaction too depending on the drinker.

 

Maybe the frequency of my Rauchbier consumption stunted my palate, but I never picked up much smoke in the Helles at all.

 

I think you hit the nail my friend -- while it's not the smokiness from the Märzen or Bock, there's a distinct "extra" character in the Helles.

Then again, I'm talking the bottled version, I never drank the Helles in Bamberg so the draft might be more mellow.

But to @zid 's point, if someone picks up a Schlenkerla Helles without checking the label for info, at least follow up with some BA research after you may be "repulsed."

Then go buy HB Original.

 

We rarely ever use cost/price as a selling point either, but I think we all would be deluding ourselves if we didn't take price into account when making any purchase. Even if you have means and resources, its always nice as a customer to realize value in what you are purchasing - i.e. getting outstanding quality at a great price.

that's odd..... SE PA is showing plenty of spots on the app for us...

What about the Dunkel style? Do you enjoy that one at all?

Beechwood is our wholesaler

Actually there are quite a few knowledgeable lagerphiles on BA. I know that @JackHorzempa @FBarber @AlpacaAlpaca @ecpho and many others are just as enthusiastic about good lager beer as the people who love Russian Imperial Stouts & IPAs are. How they express it may be different but the lagerphiles I know are sometimes even more scrutinizing and maniacal about the details of a proper lager than an IPA or adjunct stout lover is.....

something tells me you are routinely disappointed then.... :-)

fwiw, I definitely can taste the smoke in the Schlenkerla Helles..... but I like it though!