Helles Appreciation Thread (2023)

Glad to know I'm not alone in this perception.

Why do American brewers feel throwing hops at a beer solves all problems?

 

If I had one regular lager to drink for the rest of my life that might be it...had it on tap today and could have drank it all day...

 

That's a really an interesting point I'd never considered...on tap. Never seen either this or the original.

I've drank through a truckload of this fave new recipe since they released the cans. I can barely imagine a tap pour. Awesomesauce!

Cheers!

 

Enegren - The Lightest One Helles Lager

Pretty nice for my tastes, fresh from the tap

 

Yes you are pretty much there but coming from the opposite direction. Rather than “two kinds of Helles”, German brewers would say there are two categories, both of which are pale (hell).

The lower gravity beer is the ordinary Lagerbier and the slighter stronger one is Exportbier. Both of them are “hell”.

Lager and Export also both exist in dark (dunkel) versions, although Dunkles Exportbier is quite rare.

 

Third Space Brewing, out of Milwaukee. Nice, soft Helles.

Never heard of the brewery before today. I'd have another!

 

Beers of that type would be totally logical, but I don’t recall ever noticing any. Do you remember which brewers produced one?

 

I know you didn't ask me , but Augustiner's is 5.6%--they don't call it an export though.

Andechs and Tegernseer both call theirs an 'export' but both are 'normal' dunkel strength (4.9 and 5.0 percent, respectively)

Edit: According to Lowenbrau's website, they brew one that is 5.5%
https://loewenbraeu.de/loewenfuetterung/loewenbraeu-dunkel/index.php

 

ISO.

 

Elmhurst Brewery has a solid Helles:

Go To Helles Helles Lager

4.7% ABV 23 IBU
Light blonde, crisp and malty classic German lager

 

On my 3rd oneat the beach and this is def one of the best in SoCal. 12 bucks for the sixer

 

Trying this new to me Helles from Alvarium. Can date is 4/27/23.

3.9/5 rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Good aroma with lemon notes.
Not sure how the rDev is calcluated, I'm only the 2nd person rating this,

 

I've been primarily a German Pilsner drinker since Helles usually doesn't have enough punch for me. That said, I love Von Trapp Helles when fresh. After reading this thread, I decided to revisit the Paulaner Münchner Lager which I found relatively fresh, and it was nice and clean — much better than what I remembered from the past. Usually, 6-12 months old imported Pilsner tastes quite good, but for Helles, the range might need to be shorter.

 

There's such a fine line between Helles and German Pils -- and I love both styles, but a well-brewed Helles is just so satisfying. Not hitting you with bigger hops, and just quenching that beer thirst.

A local brewed a Helles, but they just couldn't help from tossing more hops at it and came up with a great Pils.

I wish they could have tried the last Hacker-Pschorr Helles I had that was so rich in bready melanoidin malt and just the right touch of noble hops to keep it from being cloying, but not Pilsner bitter -- so good. So spot-on.

 

This was my experience when I had Notch's Salem Lager, in fact this is how I described it overall...

"A very tasty beer; it drinks incredibly well and has a nice bit of hoppiness that actually makes me want to come back quicker for the next sip. I personally enjoy this beer a lot. It is definitely on the hoppy side; but as it warms you definitely pick up a little more malt but still I say this tows the line between pils and helles very well."

I wasn't a fan that it was called a helles and was so hoppy, also it turns out the IBU's were off according to their brewer. Something about "it happens when tweaking a contract brewed beer" or something along those lines. Overall an OK beer IMO.

 

According to Untappd, I had a six-pack of that beer a couple of years ago and wasn't very impressed. Most likely, the same freshness problem. Subtle tastes don't last long.

 

Well, the one I had wasn't contract brewed, and I definitely enjoyed it... as a German Pilsner, but I really hate having my expectations trashed by the label.

 

I highly suggest finding it fresh -- seeing it fresh around here and it's very nice.

 

I'd get any German import fresh. Drinking Bitburger canned in May now, and it tastes great. On that note, after a year of old beers looks like many German beers are now available fresh.

 

I found Spaten Oktoberfest bottled in June, 2023 -- you can imagine how that's tasting.