Kaufbeuren Aktien Hell

Brewed by Aktienbrauerei Kaufbeuren
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Kaufbeuren, Schwaben/Bayern, Germany

.5 liter at Stateline in Md. Pours a nice light gold, clear and a moderate carbonation with a nice fluffy white head. Aroma is bready, crackery, and a very subtle lgith noble spicy hop character. Fuller body than expected, but still light and crisp, bready doughy, and more hoppy than expeced for a helles. Nice clean palate, and smooth finish. Nice german lager.

Nothing special here, but fairly drinkable. The appearance yielded a nice golden yellow pour, a thin initial head with plenty of retention and ability to rekick it with a swirl here or there. The aroma was skunky grassy to start out of the bottle, but turned more toward a honey and grassy hint, lots of pils type malt aromas. Flavor followed suit, much less hopped than a pils with some malt support. Finishes a little bit on that honey sweet side to be excellent, but decent, highly drinkable (crisp lawn mowing beer). Mouthfeel was light, somewhat malty sticky for the style, highly carbonated.

Clear gold with a white head. Some lacing. Husky, caramel malts in the nose with some hint of grass and a touch of woodiness. Sweet and a touch fruity, berry like. Flavors are malty and sweet. Some wheat there with a touch of bittering hops. Some lemon and a bit of grassiness. The body is smooth and light. This is rather refreshing. I could see myself consuming this on a hot day with glee.

16.9 oz bottle into a Weizen glass. Pours a yellowy golden color with a thin bubbly white head. Aroma brings a caramaly and fruity hop note to the nose. The flavor is sweet and malty, while also bringing some yeast notes around the hop taste. Very crisp and light. Nothing interesting really.

Nice fruity aroma, with some floral hoppiness, a bit spicy in the flavor, with some semi sweet maltiness, but overall remains clean and crisp.

Bottle. Smells sweetlz of malt and floral aromatic hops, almost perfumey. Yellow-golden with a short white head. Crisp, overly sweet, and malty; bready notes are low in the mix, as is the graininess that eventually leads to a dry finish. Some acidity. Not great.

Soft yellow body with a sudsy, pure white head. Aroma of sweet, nutty and buttery Continental malts with lager yeast characters of lime citrus and bread dough plus mild grass. Flavor is malt-focused with negligible hop character. Mild bitterness with some honey-like sweetness and texture. Not an interesting example of the style nor something I would look to revisit.

(500 ml bottle: $2.59 at Hollingshead Deli in Orange, CA) The month is notched out for April, but there is no year on the label, so I have no idea how old the bottle is but I just bought it last month. The bready and grainy malt is readily apparent, but to a lesser degree, so is the metallic and oxidized finish. Not much in the way of hops or bitterness here, maybe just a hint in the mid-palate. Grainy nose is not enticing. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Clear, medium-yellow body is topped by a small, whitish head that settles to a ring. One small patch of lace remains on the glass. Drinkable, but not all that enjoyable and it will not be memorable in any way.