German Beer Appreciation 2025

It is still rare. I know a lot of friends here they will not touch beer in a can. At most beverage shops they make up less than 5% of the store. It the north it is a little different with cans but over all it is look on as lower class of beer. Ofcourse the tap rules them all. I have four one liter cans of Faxe because they have Viking pictures on them and they look good in my bar. In the last couple of years I have had one can only.

 

Since you are a fan of the Helles beer style you likely would enjoy this new unfiltered Helles that was collaboratively brewed by Weihenstephaner and St Bernardus:



Prost!

 

The only time I've ever heard Germans (and other Europeans) disparage cans over bottles was when talking ecologically. Returnable bottles being (supposedly) easier on the eco system.

Hopefully your friends aren't looking sideways at cans because they think they have to drink from them.

 

Enjoying a German-style Pilsner from Halfway Crooks in ATL. What a lovely beer, checks all the boxes for the style.
Cheers!
Tom

PS File photo of myself and Brewer Todd from Good Word at the Eighth State Brewing fest in Greenville, SC last summer. I'm the geezer on the left.

 

That sounds amazing!

 

This is one of my favorite go-to German beers. Vitus. It's just perfect.

 

I was in the mood for a helles and bought a 4-pack of this one today:

Holy cow is this good! It's chock full of good barley notes and exactly what I was looking for ... like a great pilsner with the hops dialed down a bunch.

FWIW the best-by date printed on the bottom of the can is 12.11.2025. Tastes vibrant and fresh to me, but then I'm easy to please.

Cheers!

 

I believe it ... fantastic beer.

Like kolsch or Euro pale lager or even Dortmunder export lager, helles is one of those styles that is often so subtle it's hard for me to get excited about it, but then I run into a beer like Weihenstephaner Helles and remember how satisfyingly excellent it can be when executed at a high level.

Btw and FWIW: I've only rated one helles higher (Hacker-Pschorr Bräu GmbH). I've not always been super impressed by Weihenstephaner's non-wheat beers, but the helles is world class.

 

Since you are a fan of the Helles beer style, have you tried the new Helles beer from Hofbräuhaus yet?

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hofbraeuhaus-helles-lager-coming-to-the-us.680436/

Cheers!

 

I have not had that beer, but it's no on my radar. Thanks for the info!

 

Please share your thoughts about Hofbräuhaus Helles once your radar is 'pinged'.

Perhaps a side-by-side tasting with Weihenstephaner Helles?

Cheers!

 

Benediktiner Hell Helles Lager. Canned 2/25. Very good, clean, and mild helles. Would gladly pick up again, but doesn't quite compete with the top imported helles beers IMO.