All About Beer Magazine -
Volume 34,
Issue 3
July 1, 2013
Pottstown, PA
A German-style golden lager brewed with imported German pils malt and Saaz and Hallertauer hops. Packaged in a can with a removable lid.
ABV: 4.9
ABW: 3.9
COLOR: 4.5
BITTERNESS: 18
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1046
AVAILABLE: PA, NJ, NY, DE
Helles is the Bavarian term for pale lager, a notch or two below a pilsner. This pale-gold beer offers toasted malt, grassy and leafy hops and a hint of marzipan on the nose. Toasted malt dominates the palate with tangy fruit and spicy hops. The finish is quenching, with juicy malt dominating but good contributions from tart fruit and leafy and spicy hops.
- Roger Protz
Afternoon drinking is famously perilous, but I always look forward to a good glass of helles. The entire head of the pull-top can yanks free, revealing the beer. It has a full gold color, and the white head doesn’t last long. The bitterness is right there in the sweet spot—a quick snap that’s just enough to set off the bready malt center. The finish is nice and clean. “Simple and elegant” is not very easy to pull off, and Sly Fox does a fine job of it here. You can go for the obvious bratwursts, but hamachi sashimi will work just as well.
- Garrett Oliver
Roger Protz
Author of Complete Guide to World Beer and 300 Beers to Try Before You Die. Respected beer authority and editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and www.protzonbeer.co.uk.
Garrett Oliver
Garrett Oliver is the brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, the Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Companion to Beer, the author of The Brewmaster’s Table, and a veteran host of more than 800 beer dinners in 15 countries.