Sudwerk Lager Münchener Helles

Brewed by Sudwerk Privatbrauerei Hubsch
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Davis, California USA

Nice Malty flavor finishing a little bitter. Great balance. Very nice beer!

Holy camole! If you like the authentic Helles aroma, really oily and thick and wonderfully malty and hoppy with hallertau, as in the Ayinger Jahrhundert, get this one. Fantastic aroma. The taste is almost as good; dripping maltiness follows through on an absolutely perfect, hefty body. The most authentic of all of Sudwerk’s Brews, I think.

Very solid malt character with slight hop balance. Very good.

Hazy golden light orange. Thin, frothy white edge head. Light carbonation. Aroma of honey sweet malts, minerals and pungent hops. Initial sip is rewarding, filled with toasty malts, a mild honeyed sweetness and a solid hop bitterness. Medium body. Full and stiff. Deftly balanced. Long, lingering malt aftertaste melded with delicately abrasive hops. Finishes with an increased girth and a drier toasty aspect. Solid.

Light golden with a tall popcorn colored head. Aroma of pale malt and noble hops. Starts with thick pale malts and finishes with clean hops kick. You need good malt to make this type of brew work and they certainly hit this one.

Good Beer, and a Thanks go out to Psychprof for this one. Gold, translusent poured with relatively no head in my pilsner glass. The first thing I noticed was the hallertau hops aroma, mixed with a slightly sweet, lightly carmelish aroma. Full bodied for the style. Subtle bitterness on the finish.

Bottle Date of 07.31.07, Sampled September 2007
The beer pours with a frothy, initially three-finger thick, fairly large bubbled consistency, light tan colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear, rich gold color. The aroma has a nice mix of spicy hops and clean malt notes. The hop character provides aromatic notes of fresh cut herbs, some grassiness and a touch of lemon zest. The malt character provides aromas of toasty grain dust, soda crackers, biscuit, and lightly toasted grain.

Quite crisp up front, with a solid hop bite. The beer finishes with a slightly astringent, almost herbal, bitterness that lingers on for quite some time. There is also some bready malt notes in the finish that are quite dry and austere in some ways, but does provide a quite noticeable note of toasty-bread flavors as well as touches of fresh cooked soda crackers. Up front there is a very light malty sweetness, which provides a touch of honey flavors. This has a fair amount of body to it; it is of course quite light feeling and easy drinking, but it does have a noticeable body and does not seem thin at all. The hop flavors at times contribute notes of mint, fresh cut / slightly green hay, and a definite herbal note.

This is quite hoppy and I am enjoying the interplay between malt and hop flavors quite a bit. I will admit that at first I thought this beer was a bit week, but I think that was due to just having woken from a nap. The beer certainly has a decent body to it and I like how both the malt and hops cling to the palate at first, but then cleanly disappear. This is a really solid example of a Helles.

Bought this at John’s Market Portland and drank it as road pop on my way back to the hotel. Malty and balanced in a style that is hard to make. Page 239 of Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide only 364 out of his 500 Classic Brews to go.