Weihenstephaner Helles - 2021 USA Debut?

Compare that to their older description of the beer:
"Everything we love about classic German Pilsner with a hoppy Bohemian twist."

 

Well, that just means the recipe was changed, right?

 

That or this beer just had a serious identity crisis. Yet another description right here on BA:

Notes: Pivo Pils is a classically rendered pilsner with a West Coast dry-‐hopping twist, showcasing stylistic influences from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. Lighter beer styles like pilsner have been hijacked by industrial lager beer in the United States, and it’s time for craft brewers to take it back. Pivo Pils offers impeccable balance with floral aromatics, spicy herbal nuances, and bergamot zest and lemongrass notes from dry hopping with German Saphir hops.

 

Impeccable balance. Hmm.

 

Well, that is an ‘interesting twist’ there since:

German breweries have dry hopped their Pilsners for generations and they still dry hop their Pilsners today.

As was discussed in a past thread:

“Kopp wrote via email that members of traditional family breweries acknowledge their ancestors were familiar with the technique. In some cases, those breweries are making dry-hopped lagers today. Ruperti Pils from Brauerei Wieninger in upper Bavaria is an example of one.”

Above is from the article: Hopfenstopfen (dry hopping) goes back more than a century in Germany.

https://tinyletter.com/fortheloveof...ping-goes-back-more-than-a-century-in-germany

Cheers!

 

But Matt Brynildson has repeatedly noted that dry-hopped pilsners like Pivo do not get recognized as pilsners when poured for German brewers who have ostensibly been dry-hopping just like him this whole time.

Also here:

 

I believe that Matt is a talented American brewer but I think I will be going with the multi-generational German brewers here on this topic.

Cheers!

 

But he's presumably relating the direct comments to him of multi-generational German brewers here?

Also given the subject of the first link I posted, I suppose that's a strike against the "Firestone Walker didn't label Pivo an Italian pilsner from the start so the style shouldn't exist" argument, which was never particularly convincing anyway.

 

Because he didn't speak to Sylvie Kopp or the brewer of Brauerei Wieninger?

There were over 1500 breweries in Germany as of 2018. A daunting task to speak to them all,

On that we can agree.

Cheers!

 

So glad they are putting this in cans when they ship it to the US. Freshness will be better, and hopefully they will have clear canned-on and best-by dates printed on the bottom. All breweries should do that, to many still using obscure coding.

 

It will be interesting to see if they make a change with this canned package to use something like “Canned on Dec. 3, 2020”.

If I was a betting man they will continue to use the same code they use for today’s bottled beers:

“Weihenstephaner Original Premium: Code “0057”. First digit is day of month, or second digit of the day. The next two digits are the week of the year. The fourth digit is the last digit of the year.”

Cheers!

 

Blasphemy.

Everyone knows American brewers know how to use hops better than any other country.

Add hundreds of pounds of hops per barrel during dry hopping.

 

From my perspective this new Weihenstephaner Helles is the Bavarian equivalent of New Coke. I don't see how two similar Helles lagers can survive. I hope the new Helles isn't the winner. I'd prefer they go in the opposite direction, brewing a more complex, even maltier Helles. But no brewery will survive catering to my preferences.

 

Just call me the Beer Umpire -- just call's 'em like I sees (tastes) 'em.

 

Permit me to suggest an alternative perspective: this new Helles is like Bud Light since it will be lighter in ABV and Lighter in hops (e.g., IBUs).

AB InBev has produced both Bud 'Heavy' and Bud Light for many years (albeit that Bud Light significantly outsells) so maybe Weihenstephaner will produce both versions of their Helles for some time to come?

Cheers!

 

You mean like their Oktoberfestbier?

 

And if those beers were packaged in July/August that would be OUTSTANDING!

 

Wait, are you saying you've heard Weihenstephan is making their Festbier year-round?

(yes, I'm rumor mongering )

 

don't be shy Weihenstephaner - go ahead and can the PILS!!

 

Well, having to search through 6 pages to find this kind of squashed my hopes of where beer was heading in the near future, but as long as this is available all the time, I will be alright.

I honestly am not crazy about their regular Helles, so didn’t think much of this post about being in cans until I saw the recipe was a little different. The nose on this is incredible. Very grainy with a sweet corn note. Nice bready malt flavor, but super light, crisp, and dry. Just a touch watery/light on the finish, but this easy to drink by the liter.