Schlenkerla Helles Lager
Review Date 8/5/2006
Try?
Re-buy?
Sometimes, life
is strange indeed. At the very least it can be coincidental, as it was for
me last weekend when on my weekly beer pilgrimage. It all started a while
back, on the 25th of July to be precise, when I reviewed a beer that’s long
been a favorite of mine:
Schlenkerla
Rauchbier Ur-Bock .
Someone, reading my review, had recommended another beer by the same brewery: Schlenkerla Helles, a beer I had never seen before. He recommended a trip to Germany to try it, and so I made a mental note for future reference, thinking that the beer was not imported into the States.
Back to my little trip to Green’s Liquors a few days later. I always head for the German beer section first, and as I was browsing, I saw this neat looking half liter bottle decked out in a simple white and blue label. The classic checkered Bavarian flag formed the backdrop for the words-you guessed it-Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier. So of course I absconded with a bottle, among my various other treasures.
Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier pours to a very pale golden color with a
light and creamy head formation. Looks enough like your average light lager
beer, to be sure. But take a whiff of the nose on this little beauty and
you’ll know right away this is no Budweiser or Miller. That’s because a
gentle smokiness will waft to your nostrils and remove all doubt that this
is any ordinary, boring beer.
Taking a sip is just as much a celebration for the senses. The beer is light enough in body, and you can detect the soft malty sweetness of a proper Helles underneath. But the really interesting thing going on is the gentle, just a bit more than subtle smokiness that permeates the beer. All the more remarkable because, according to the importer B. United, there’s no smoked malt used to make this beer.
Well, maybe a little bit, just a tad left behind in the malt crusher, again according to B. United. Mostly they just use Pilsner malt, though, and mash, brew, ferment, and age the stuff in the same vessels their smoked beers are made in. That’s where this Helles Lager picks up its delightful smoky aroma. And that smokiness comes through right on into the slightly sweet malt finish.
If you’ve never tried a smoked beer, but are perhaps curious, this is a great place to start. It’s delicate, it’s malty, and it’s smoky. Try a bottle with smoky barbecue ribs or pork for a true match made in heaven. Or, at the very least, a match made in Franconia.
Someone, reading my review, had recommended another beer by the same brewery: Schlenkerla Helles, a beer I had never seen before. He recommended a trip to Germany to try it, and so I made a mental note for future reference, thinking that the beer was not imported into the States.
Back to my little trip to Green’s Liquors a few days later. I always head for the German beer section first, and as I was browsing, I saw this neat looking half liter bottle decked out in a simple white and blue label. The classic checkered Bavarian flag formed the backdrop for the words-you guessed it-Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier. So of course I absconded with a bottle, among my various other treasures.
Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier pours to a very pale golden color with a
light and creamy head formation. Looks enough like your average light lager
beer, to be sure. But take a whiff of the nose on this little beauty and
you’ll know right away this is no Budweiser or Miller. That’s because a
gentle smokiness will waft to your nostrils and remove all doubt that this
is any ordinary, boring beer. Taking a sip is just as much a celebration for the senses. The beer is light enough in body, and you can detect the soft malty sweetness of a proper Helles underneath. But the really interesting thing going on is the gentle, just a bit more than subtle smokiness that permeates the beer. All the more remarkable because, according to the importer B. United, there’s no smoked malt used to make this beer.
Well, maybe a little bit, just a tad left behind in the malt crusher, again according to B. United. Mostly they just use Pilsner malt, though, and mash, brew, ferment, and age the stuff in the same vessels their smoked beers are made in. That’s where this Helles Lager picks up its delightful smoky aroma. And that smokiness comes through right on into the slightly sweet malt finish.
If you’ve never tried a smoked beer, but are perhaps curious, this is a great place to start. It’s delicate, it’s malty, and it’s smoky. Try a bottle with smoky barbecue ribs or pork for a true match made in heaven. Or, at the very least, a match made in Franconia.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
