Smoky Mountain Velas Helles Lager

Brewed by Smoky Mountain Brewery & Restaurant
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Gatlinburg, Tennessee USA

Bottle take-out from the brewery. Yep, it’s got a corn and vegatable aroma. Lol, taste is of corn and sour mash. Still better than BMC... but this must have been a bad batch or something. One point deduction for what has to be the dumbest bottle art ever. The picture on here doesn’t do it justice... it’s just goofy!

This clear yellow skunked smelling beer is one of the worst I have ever had. It tasted like a pale lager, but lighter. The worst part was that it had the oily texture of OE 800. This is the only beer that I have ever sent back in a restaurant before. To boot, they had all these "awards" around the place talking baout how great their microbrews were. Lying bastards.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with SpringsLicker (thanks!). Poured a medium and slightly cloudy yellow color with a small sized white head. Aromas of corn, rotten vegetables, and some grain. Tastes of tart lemon peels and rotten vegetables. Wow, this one wasn’t really good. The label says it was a gold medal winner at the ’99 GABF. I feel sorry for the ’dork’ on the label.

Thanks to hopdog. Pours a lightly hazy golden yellow with a small bubbly white head. Aroma of rotten corn a little sour. Flavor is sour too, like a sour patch kid. Was thinking this was a bad bottle...but after looking at some other reviews this one may be on the brewer.

12 oz bottle, via BeerandBlues2. Pours a light golden yellow with a thin fluffy white head. Generous carbonation visually apparent. Barely detectable hop aroma, alot of grainy malt with some corn and vegetal notes as well. Flavor was even worse than the aroma. Strong corn and grainy malt flavor, with zero hops present, very dry and dusty finish with strong cooked veggie taste. Very light and fizzy on the palate. Not an enjoyable beer. No resemblance to a Helles whatsoever. Managed to choke down 1/3 of a bottle but just couldn’t do anymore. After I typed this I checked out some of the other ratings and I’m really confused, these guys must have some consistency problems.

A pretty decent ale. Smooth with a clean finish. Light/medium bodied. Pours with a good head.

On tap at the brewery/restaurant in Gatlinburg. Typical fizzy yellow lager that so many go gaga over (e.g. the ones that think Bud is real beer). Reasonable attempt at the style. Certianly more fresh and drinkable than a Bud, and who can complain about those exceptional happy-hour prices and 32 oz mugs? Probably a slight step above the Cherokee, but totally lacking compared to the Thunder Road. Dry, frizzy, little head, a bit malty, too light on the hops.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained in trade with suttree, thanks Phil!) This is just a bad smelling beer. It’s extremely vegetal and somewhat spicy, like rotting chili peppers and asparagus, and maybe a dead animal or two. Whew, just brutal. Things improve with the flavor, but how couldn’t they? The rotting vegetables are pretty pervasive in the flavor as well, but at least there is a lightly sweet breadiness and vague bitterness to this. Light-medium bodied, but the spiciness (or whatever that is) is a bit sharp on the palate. Pale gold in color, fully clear, capped by a small off-white head, at least initially. That head fades away to nothing, not even a small ring, and leaves no lacing either. I’m praying that there’s something wrong with this beer because if not, then asparagus beer really sucks.