Munich Helles

Tier A · BJCP 4A · Lager, fermented cold

ABV

4.7-5.4%

IBU

16-22

SRM

3-5

Serve

38-45F

Glass

Half litre mug

Identify

Pale yellow to pale gold, and completely clear. A creamy white head that sits there for the length of the glass. At arm's length you smell almost nothing. Lean in and you get fresh bread crust and a trace of something floral. Soft and round at the front, faintly sweet like bread. Medium body, medium bubbles. The bitterness is just enough to stop the sweetness, and then everything stops.

Place

Munich, Bavaria, 1894

Cause

The brewer puts most of the hops in at the start of the boil and stops at about 18 IBU. Hops added early give bitterness and lose their smell. So the beer gets just enough bitterness to balance the malt, and almost no hop aroma at all. Move those same hops to the end of the boil and raise the rate, and you have made a German Pils instead.

Confused with

German Pils, which is drier and clearly more bitter. Czech Premium Pale Lager, which is deeper gold and fuller. Festbier, which is stronger. International Pale Lager, which is thinner and tastes of less.

Numbers

A Helles is a quiet beer in a family of quiet beers, so telling it apart is a matter of small, reliable differences. Each neighbour below has exactly one feature you can catch without a lab. German Pils. You can smell the hops before you sip, and the bitterness outlasts the swallow. That is the whole difference, and it is easy to catch.

Will you like it and Try

The crust of a fresh white loaf, or a plain water cracker. That soft grain sweetness is the main flavour in the glass. Sparkling water with a meal. If you want a drink that refreshes rather than argues, this beer was built for exactly that job. Tea without sugar, or a mild lager you already drink.

Order and Pair

Take the full pour. This is a beer that improves over half an hour and has nothing to offer a taster glass. In Bavaria that means half a litre, which is close to a US pint. At Oktoberfest it means a one litre Mass, and that is a genuinely large amount of beer. The one thing worth asking is whether the lager moves.

Judge, Myth and Remember

Bright and completely clear. A creamy white head that is still there when the glass is half empty. Fresh bread on the nose and very little else. Soft and slightly sweet in the mouth, then a clean stop. If it tastes of nothing at all, it is probably tired rather than authentic.