easy to find helles?

Not certain about distro in your area, but some generally widely-available examples may be: Victory Helles Lager, Stoudts Gold Lager and Paulaner Original Munchner.

 

Victory Helles Lager is the tits. Nothing else comes close, IMO.

 

The reason Sly Fox disappeared is the wide mouth cans. They aren't legal in NJ. Which is lame. The law, not the beer.

 

Not true, they can it in regular pull-back tabs too. Sell them in NY.

 

Cricket Hill East Coast lager is a Helles that I enjoy a lot. It's distributed all over NJ so you should be able to find it.

 

Ahh, didn't know that. I haven't seen it around me in Northwest Jersey for a while and assumed that was the cause. Thanks.

 

Think it only arrives in the Spring, and it's a Helles Bock, but Troegs Cultivator is very solid. In cans too.

 

Cigar City Hot As Helles.

Sly Fox is probably the best readily available though.

I usually pick up 2 cases of cans when I'm in PA since it's so inexpensive. It actually gets better with age after a few months as long as you refrigerate it.

Victory Lager used to be great but it's been hit or miss for the past couple of years.

 

How's the import situation by you? Go with the "originals"...Weihenstephaner, Spaten, Hofbrau.

 

Love this style of beer and some great suggestions mentioned above, I will also throw out Leinenkugel Helles Yeah due to availability, not my favorite by any means but I find it to be enjoyable and more than fine in a pinch.

 

Pinyin, don't know when the last time you tried Victory's Helles Lager, but it has been "cleaned-up" and brewed like a very traditional Helles Lager. It's been totally rebranded and repackaged still in six-pack bottle/case format. It's finally truly one of the best of the best of its' style that's available.

 

Yes, I've been through a few cases of the Helles rebrand already.

Victory actually used to call it Brandywine Lager, and it was a hazy yellowish color and had a very distinct bready and honey flavor. And this recipe seemed to carry through to the original Victory Lager until around 2013.

Then when the product became really popular they made some alterations to the recipe,and while it is still a quality product, it's nothing like the original Brandywine Lager.

One of the brewers who gave Bill Covaleski the recipe posts here on occasion and I had a long drawn out discussion with him about this. Can't remember his username at the moment.

 

That was @Starkbier (I believe he's a Victory rep and a member of their Board of Directors, and also a well-known homebrewing writer):

 

Brandywine valley lager was a Dort, very different from a Munich style Hellesbier. The recipe changed well over a decade ago. My latest sixtels and bottles have both been excellent. I think the wort acidulation and Parkesburg brewery makes fantastic Hellesbier. Cheers, jim

 

Another vote for Leinenkugels Helles Yeah. Its one of the better Helles style beers that Ive tried.

 

There's also Southern Tier's Where the Helles Summer? But that's only a spring seasonal.

 

Weihenstephaner

 

I'll take Victory and Stoudts over it.

 

You need a lobotomy then. That beer is perfection in a glass.