Leinenkugel's Hoppin' Helles

As one of my brewing friends says, a Helles should shout MALT, and whisper hops.

 

I don't know about "shout," but I understand the concept. Helles is mellow and should go down the gullet without thought -- just satisfaction.

The Leinie's Hoppin' Helles is just another American Pale Ale to my palate. OTOH, it's one of the best beers from Leinie's I've had in a while.

 

hi, i'm relatively new to "craft" beer.. 10-12 years or so.. from reading the last handful of comments i'm having trouble deciding if this beer is a Helles or not, if it's to style or not, if it's too hoppy or not hoppy enough, if it's more like a Pilsner, Lager, Helles or APA and if Leinie's made a good or bad beer.

surely there must be a right answer

 

Good or bad will always be differing opinions between beer drinker. If you tend to like an American Pale Ale such as Sierra Nevada's, you'll probably like the Hoppin' Helles. Is it true to a Helles in style? Not really.

 

Yeah I just didn't get much hops at all....I guess maybe some light bitterness on the finish but I didn't get much for hop flavor even putting it into an APA competition. I had a six pack of it too. I'd say I'd give it another shot but I'm not buying it again....

 

To me, this is a pilsner, and an enjoyable one at that. I think that it's named Hoppin' Helles for marketing reasons.

 

They're using Simcoe and Citra (even added the trademark in the description), pretty characteristic hops. I think your palate threshold for hops has been raised too far!

 

Yeah not sure why I didn't get more hops from it...wish I did I'd buy it if it tasted like a decent apa but I just didn't get much from it....and Simcoe and Citra are arguably my two favorite hops..

 

Took the words right out of my mouth (err hands). I'll give it a shot, and I'm fairly excited. If it's halfway decent it will add to the extremely small list of American brewed Helles I can get my hands on.

I just hope it isn't IPL-like.

Edit: Crap, I should have read the rest of the thread. More like an APA? That's all well and good if it's a decent pale ale, but a decent pale ale I can get. Oh well.

 

I saw this in their variety pack.

 

In variety pack in Pittsburgh.

 

Exactly.

On the other hand, Leinenkugel's price point is pretty good, at least in the Midwest.

 

If I want a cheap pale ale with Citra, that's well-balanced and not insanely hopped I typically grab Victory Headwaters. Runs about $10 per six pack where I am, which is cheap for Boston.

 

that's not a proverb. It's experience.

 

I see they've adopted Miller's marketing strategy

 

Yikes. The Leinie's was $7.