Paulaner Original Münchner Hell (Premium Lager)

Brewed by Paulaner Brauerei (Schörghuber)
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Munich, Germany

Bottle... very impressive beer. Was interested in it after it’s debut with me was a Salvator. Pours a nice and soothing yellow with a medium sized white head. First impression: might have a bit of a watery, generic flavor. On second time around, an instant change. A very full bbodied flavor. Textured, with character. The finish is nice and hoppy. A beautiful bitter flavor. A very fine beer.

Newly distributed beer, Bottle date of 02.06, Sampled August 2007
Pours a brilliantly clear, yellow gold color and is topped by a frothy, initially fat, one-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head. The aroma has a sharp, herbal grassiness to it that is immediately noticeable. Underneath this is a nice, dry, biscuit / cracker like malt character, but there is also a touch of sweet grain aromatics here as well. Hints of butterscotch and a touch of lemon zest are also noticeable at times in the aroma.

The beer is quite chilled right now, which causes it to be quite crisp, with a biting bitterness and a cracker-like malt character. At this temperature the beer is quite dry. As it warms up a bit a soft, though simple, malt sweetness becomes present as does a touch of butterscotch. The hop character opens up a bit more; it leans towards grassy notes with perhaps a hint of lemon zest. The perception of bitterness really is muted once the beer warms up as well, though it still provides a sharp backbone to the flavor profile. Somewhat light bodied, but still has a touch of structure and body to it. A decent beer, which is probably even better fresh.

Bottle. Disappointing after the hefeweizen, but hard to be otherwise. Decent enough, with a subtle sort of oaky flavour. That’s all gone by the time the bitter finish arrives though, so you’d have to say the timing’s a bit off. Carbonation is somehow weird as well.

Bottle. Golden coloured with a decent white head. Sweet malt aroma with some zest hops. Flavour also had a sweet edge with a slightly bitter finish. Ok.

Bottled over a year ago (oops), I was surprised how good this one was. Pours a clear yellow with a spare, almost creamy, white head. On the nose is a sweet grain (corn) and straw with a bit of skunk on the pour that fades with time. Light-bodied and lively with a dry, clean finish. There was a hint of metal in the first few sips, but it disappeared by the third or fourth. Sweet, bready malt with a hint of corn. Crisp, clear and refreshing. This is definitely a good candidate for a BMC drinker’s "gateway" beer. Familiar enough for pale lager fans to be comfortable with the flavor profile and then get them to try Paulaner’s pils, hefe and marzen. If AB could make a beer like this, I’d buy it.

Sweet malty smell - a little too much and pungent for me. Average light golden color - nothing extraordinary. A little off on the carbonation and slightly watery - but decent. Very easy to drink. Short, bitter bite in the aftertaste - I enjoy this short finishing bitterness. The more I drank of this and let it sit, the more the flavors stood out and developed in the glass.

mildly tropical fruit flavors co-exist with this german type bitter and refreshing brew. with small carbonation and a lightish mouthfeel this is a beer you can sit back and break open a few times! once an interesting challange to reveal (before american brewers did all of the work for the taster). this is a nice example of a spicy and subtle beer.

Pours slightly light golden with decent quickly fading head. Smell is a nice mix of light hops, and malty sweetness. Taste is honey malt sweetness, light to medium bitter hoppiness. Slightly thin with a minimal malty yeast finish to it. Overall this is very drinkable. A very beery beer, and enjoyable although not really unique. Kind of Pilsner like, I thought, and I could drink this again.