Ettaler Kloster Edel-Hell

Brewed by Klosterbrauerei Ettal
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Ettal, Germany

1/2 liter bottle. Pours to a beautiful, bright, deep golden color, with a thick, creamy, white head, and a lively carbonation. The nose on this beer is excellent, with lots of crisp, pale malt aroma, paired with grassy hop aroma. The palate is solid and clean, with excellent, crisp, pale malt flavor, on a round, smooth body. This beer finishes with excellent pale malt flavor up front, and is balanced to perfection with grassy hop bitterness that lingers. Outstanding helles, with sublime balance. I could inhale this beer by the liter. A great beer to match with classic German fare as well. I’ll be drinking much more of this one.

500ml bottle. Crystal clear gold with a big white head. Sweet, light caramel nose, light grass and grain. Flavor is bready, a solid floral tone, sweet and grainy. Light finish. Excellent carbonation - millions of bubbles rocket to the top of my glass ata amazing speed. A solid drinker, underrated IMO.

From a 500 ml. euro bottle with no freshness date, but it just hit the shelves of one my favorite beer stores, sampled at a cooler cellar temperature in a pilsener glass. Poured a clear bright golden with a frothy, foamy white head, good retention, minimal amount of sticking. Aromas of honey lemon and apples, a musty, earthy spiciness, a touch of herbs and flowers, and a sweet grainy maltiness. Good, steady moderate carbonation and a crisp, dry, velvety smooth medium, not quite full, bodied mouthfeel. Very tasty, a light taste of apples and pears covered with honey, sweet sugary, grainy malts, an earthy spiciness, the hops are soft in their bitterness, but linger in the palate, and a dry, crisp, spicy with a touch herbs, sweet malty finish. This is the third beer I’ve tried from Ettaler and all have been impressive, tasty and balanced, all are well worth trying.

Rich, deep golden hued, big, puffy, lasting, snow-white head. Nice. Aroma: clean, lightly floral, and honeyed. Very even-handed and stable. Malty, but not belligerent. Taste: fresh, flush malt, cereal grains prominent, crisply leaving the mouth bone-dry, and shy of brittle. Great texture and mouthfeel here, malt shines bright on the palate, then wryly washes away. Nice fruit notes, apple, pear, chime in around the middle, more honey and herb. Finishes clean and zesty. Medium bodied, fully flavored, and truly delicious. $4 for a 500ml bottle. Worth it, in this case.

[big bottle] This beverage has a hoppy malty crisp aroma, like a good Helles. Bubbly white ring atop a bright gold beverage. Crisp malty beverage with balance on the side of malt, but the cleanness still betrays a hefty fresh German hop schedule. This beverage is so clean, they probably are telling the truth about the water. Light bodied beverage with medium carbonation and a very clean finish. A really enjoyable beverage.

Well, this isn’t my favorite kind of beer style, so it only gets a seven overall, but this was a dandy grab. Golden color with some straw hay brown hues. Large head on the pour and it stuck around for a while. Appearance would have been higher if there was better lacing. The aroma was bready and of grass. The flavor was strong grassy Saaz hops with sweet biscuit and bread notes underneath, keeping this one short of a pilsner in character.

16.9oz bottle. Pours clear golden in color with white head. Aroma sweet, grain and malt. Taste sweet and grainy with dry finish.

500 ml bottle in Germany. A fantastic Helles. Does not match well against the other Ettalers but as a Helles it is a top beer. Most people dont understand Helles so that I have to take in account but still a great example of a true Bavarian Helles.