Helles Appreciation Thread (2023)

I’ll join you with a von Trapp, “Helles “! Hits the spot on a sticky July afternoon!

 

Nothing wrong with a Helles on a hot day. Kolsch, and pilsners go down pretty easy, too.

 

I put the helles style in my top 5 favorite beer styles. Maibock is my favorite, and I consider that style to essentially be an imperial helles (if I'm allowed to get away with inventing a new style name on an 'aka' basis.

 

Favorites of mine are the following:

Humble Sea Helles
Urban Roots Hell
Moonlight Pale Dry Lager
Enegren The Lightest One
Wondrous Hell

 

I was absolutely shocked by the Brewer Series Helles from Genesee (a Rochester, NY brewery best known for a pretty low-quality, mass-produced American Lager). It's based on a pilot batch that won some fairly impressive awards, but I was still skeptical until I tried it the other day. In my opinion it was better than many of the famous German Helles that defined the style. It was simple, clean, and refreshing, and managed to be unique while also staying absolutely true to the style. If you ever have an opportunity to try one I would highly recommend it, although I think they only distribute regionally.

 

my favorite style of beer, but very difficult to find in this region, and most times they aren't brewed correctly with a docoction mash.

the last few good ones I've had were Wild East-Wither, Notch-Salem Lager, Three's-What Might Have Been, Schilling-Paulus. Haven't seen any of these beers in over a year though. it's like this style just dropped off the face of the earth. Victory used to brew one of the best (the OG Victory Lager-Brandywine Creek Helles). now they just brew sour monkey ipa's for whatever reason.

obviously IPA's is where all the money is for breweries, but I just wish that more places would focus on european style lagers.

 

Weihenstephaner Helles is mighty good.

 

If you're talking Helles, you need to try the following which really are the top of the tree:

Augustiner Helles
St Georgenbrau Helles
Tegernsee Helles
Weihenstephaner Helles
Gravensteiner Helles
Hofbrau Helles
Paulaner Helles
Hacker-Pschorr Helles / Munchner Gold

Anything else really is a poor imitation.

 

We can't get half of those in the states but I would add spaten to that list. Nice to see my favorite youtuber on here. I just watched your video on allguer we get the festbier here and I think its a pretty decent festbier.

 

Hill Farmstead Marie! Oh, boy.

 

Well, Genesee (now owned by FIFCO USA) is a pretty well-known US brewery - at least for those above a certain age, anyway - it was once a Top Ten US brewer with a barrelage of over 3 million.

Not sure what makes the flagship lager "low quality" compared to other popular AALs but I'd say Genesee is best-known outside its NYS home territory for Genesee Cream Ale, which was once a million barrel selling beer - easily the largest US ale for a period there, with a wide distribution that included most of the east coast and into the upper mid-west, etc.

 

A well made Helles is a thing of sublime beauty -- smooth, bready malt with the right touch of hop bitterness to keep from being cloying.

I drank Helles all across southern Germany and into northwest Austria on my trips to the Old World and was never disappointed.

The best Helles I've ever had here in the US was at a small, HB sanctioned bar in Chicago's Wrigleyville (no longer there). They imported their kegs direct from Munich and that beer was as fresh and good as what I had in Bavaria.

My only complaint is that there isn't enough good Helles made by the new locals -- so many seem to brew it just a little *too* sublime, or feel they need to make it more Pilsner-like and throw more hops at it.

 

One of my favorite styles and a crowd pleaser too which is an added bonus. Von Trapp and Sly Fox come to mind for me for US versions, with the SF being the easiest to get in my area.

 

I love Helles! My favorite beer style for sure. We get a lot of the German imports in South Texas, but by the time they're on the shelf, they're usually really old. I wouldn't say it's the best way to experience a proper Helles. We don't have a year-round locally brewed Helles either aside from Altstadt Lager, which is a Helles style, but very light and partially lacking in flavor IMO. Real Ale also used to brew an excellent Helles, which was seasonal and very similar to a German brewed Helles as far as flavor. They have since replaced that with another Helles called Crispy Business, which tastes even more bland than the Altstadt. They're both good, but just not even close to the German's.

 

Kros-Strain Hot As Helles. This beer my friends is dynamite and is a darn good Helles supporting the addition of Habanero and Jalapeno chili peppers. I absolutely love it. Cheers! Hope this brew isn't too rad for this thread.

 

I agree, but they're nearly impossible to find (at least in my area). And when I've been fortunate enough to find them all are already over 6 months past bottling/canning.

 

Helles is a difficult style to brew correctly. There is nothing to hide off flavors.

I've had them all around Bavaria. Favorites are from Augustiner, Schönramer, Andechs, and so on.
Many in Franconia are pretty good, but generally have more hop bitterness and flavor. Every now and then you get a subpar Helles in Germany.

In the US I've been impressed by the ones at ABGB in Austin the last few trips. The one from pFriem was also memorable.

 

Really can't decide what I love more - Helles or Pils. If I drink a lot of Pils I want to go back to Helles and vice versa, definitely my favorite styles.

I personally prefer classic examples that are well balanced with a distinctly bready/toasty finish. Most modern interpretations have a stronger and rather fruity hop profile and end up strawy/grainy or even watery.