American Hell

Matt,

Thanks for taking the time to conduct those tastings and reporting on your findings.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Not to divert the discussion away from Helles beer but....

I have heard many good reports concerning Ballast Point Grunion (an APA) beer. That beer is on my 'to buy' list.

Cheers!

 

To get back on topic....

It took me a while to remember but I conducted a side-by-side tasting of Spaten and Straub Helles a while back and posted about it in the New Beer Sunday thread; see copied below.

A few weeks ago I posted in NBS my impressions of a new beer from Straub Brewing: Straub Helles: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-512.237836/page-2#post-3062616

Since I has so much fun last week doing a taste off of Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner vs. Jever Pilsener I thought what the heck how about another competition?

So, this week will be a side-by-side tasting of Straub Helles and Spaten Premium Lager

Are you ready to rumble one mo’ time!?!

Appearance

Straub Helles: Light straw color with a nice fluffy white head.

Spaten: Light straw color with a nice fluffy white head.

Aroma

Straub Helles: Predominantly Pilsner malt aroma with a hint of Noble hop aroma.

Spaten: Light to moderate aromas of Pilsner malt plus some Noble hops on the nose.


Taste:

Straub Helles: The flavor follows the aroma with pleasant Pilsner malt flavor. The Noble hop flavor is a bit more noticeable vs. the aroma. Light – moderate hop bitterness; just enough to provide some balance to the Pilsner malt flavor.

Spaten: Like the aroma, the taste has initial flavors of Pilsner malt followed by spices from the hops in the finish. There is a light to moderate amount of bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Straub Helles: Light – medium body but finishes dry.

Spaten: Same as Straub; light – medium body but finishes dry.

Overall

Straub Helles: I like this new beer from Straub. A nice drinkable (süffig) beer which is Pilsner malt focused with just the right amount of Noble hops for the Helles style.

Spaten: Also an enjoyable Helles with Pilsner malt dominating with some Noble hop contributions.

These were two tasty Helles beers that I enjoyed drinking.

Cheers!

 

Glad you could try it!

I like it, but I would take Hofbrau and Spaten over it as well.

 

Which bavarian Helles make it to the US?
I am always confused by the small bottles Spaten and Hofbräu get exported in- less than 0,5l of Helles seems weird to me, because it always goes down so quickly.
Anyway, how fresh are also the domestic Helles in the US? I mean, with all the fancy IPAs on the shelves, do those beers get any rotation, or do they sit on the shelves for ever?
And, is Helles in the US popular to some degree?

 

“Which bavarian Helles make it to the US?” Beyond the Spaten and Hofbrau already mentioned the other German brewed Helles that I have purchased is the Helles beers from Weihenstephan (original), Andechs, Schlenkerla and Augustiner Edelstoff.

“Anyway, how fresh are also the domestic Helles in the US?” I am able to obtain US brewed Helles beers very fresh; Helles beer from Victory, Stoudts, Straub, Sly Fox, Southern Tier, etc.

“…do they sit on the shelves forever?” They do not sit forever in my area (Southeastern PA); I can’t comment for the rest of the country.

“And, is Helles in the US popular to some degree?” To the extent that there are several choices of US brewed Helles I suppose you could say there is some level of popularity but compared to craft beer styles like IPA, DIPA, etc. the Helles beer style is not too popular.

The issue I typically have with German brewed Helles beer (all German brewed beer for that matter) is that more often than not they are not fresh. The appeal of the US brewed Helles beers for me is that I can obtain them fresh.

Cheers!

 

<The appeal of the US brewed Helles beers for me is that I can obtain them fresh.>

Especially in SEPA.

To the OP, where did you pick up the Devil's Backbone Lager?

 

ah, ok. Was wondering how you were able to get it in Germany when I can't get it in the great state of Pennsylvania. We drove right by Lexington a few weeks ago on our way to and from Asheville, but did not stop. Lori was more concerned about the dog's well being than my supply of beer. Though on the way back, the jeep was pack with goodies from Asheville.

 

Spaten, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbrau, Ayinger, Augustiner, and Weihenstephan are most common, but I see Weißenhoe and Weltenburger now and again.

It's a marketing thing to the U.S. We're used to 6 packs and the small bottles fit the bill. That said, I have a local that carries .5L bottles of HB that I often pick up and Ayinger & Weihenstephan are always available in bottles of that size.

They often sit on shelves a long time, and Augustiner prices itself into stale oblivion.

In a word, no. Most beer geeks don't understand the subtlety of the style and will commonly report that they're "similar to macro beer." If it doesn't hit them over the head, it's not worth their time.

 

Jeeze -- forgot Andechs, Moosbacher, Mahrs, and -- of course, Schlenkerla.

 

Very, very interesting, you get Moosbacher? I like their stuff, though I only found it commonly in its native region...

And yes, that "similar to macro beer" line is something I've heard around here a lot. The thing is, the only "american" macro I ever had was PBR, and it was revolting, but also compared to german Fernsehbiere, I find all bavarian Helle way more appealing-maybe it is just my personal taste.

Sorry for my curiosity, but this topic somehow intrigues me- one more question: Is US Helles often served from tap? Or even with bayerischer Anstich in some brewpubs?

 

Yes, I believe it's only recently become re-available (I seem to recall seeing it back in the 80s -- pre Micro Boom®).

Flavor ignorance.

It's been discussed left and right, but German brewing's attention to detail and German malts just make lagerbier taste better. There are some breweries in the U.S. that take pride in brewing German styles -- and take the time to focus on the procedural details, but most just want to capitalize on a trend and really don't produce anything comparable to good German beer.

Rarely from a gravity feed (maybe at beer fests), but the few breweries that make a Helles will keg them for tap.

 

Thanks to @Gutes_Bier and @AlcahueteJ for this thread. Here's my humble opinion. I think the photo is an accurate representation of color contrast. Spaten has slight sulfur in the nose (my preference), BP has the sticky sweetness. Longfin also has a residiual honey in the mouthful and slightly more perceived bitterness. Drier and thicker as well. The BP is solid and a nice American rendition. However, this comparison allows me to appreciate Spaten even more - bready and clean, no cloying characteristics. Delicious to the end.

 

From another thread where I just posted:

So I jumped the border today and found some Spaten Premium -- bottled late March of 2015 (and bottled in Munich), not too shabby. Crazy thing was, there were other 12 packs on the shelf that had late 2014 dates on them. Maybe the distro doesn't care much in Wisconsin because it sells better? Dunno.

Also found (wait for it) Spaten Okto Märzen! Bottled early May of 2015!! Yikes. 6 packs only, so the retailer must be asking for the year-round stock because I think I've heard that the 12 packs are only available in the fall (anyone confirm?).

To the most important point: both beers taste very fresh and good. The Premium (Helles) doesn't have the big melanoidin hit it used to, but it really hasn't since Spaten stopped decoction mashing it. But it's still nice and malty.

OTOH -- the Okto is quite nice -- still copper-brown color, good toasty malts that scream Okto to me -- my favorite beer of all time... and I have it for one more year. At least.

FYI -- that "sulfur" in the Spaten nose is probably DMS -- is it more to the cooked vegetable side? I've never smelled true sulfur in a Spaten Helles.

 

DMS was my initial thought but didn't get the cooked/creamed vegetable aroma by definition. Would guess you are correct; I just need to work on identifiers.

 

Drinking a Spaten Helles now... gotta be honest in that I'm really only getting some very light graininess in the nose, some bready maltiness as it warms. Maybe some light DMS right at the end of my "snuff." Nonetheless, this is my favorite of the Munich Helles lagers... maybe next to HB these days.