Helles

I have a lot of fond memories of the time I spent in Bamberg. Most of them involve Bamberger beer in some way. Bamberg's biggest contribution to the world of beer is arguably the Rauchbier style. While Bamberg may not have invented the style, it's brewers perfected it. Again, perfected is arguable since there are a good number of people who don't like Rauchbier or smoke beer in general. I happen to love it. That rich roasted malt, oily charred grain and bacon-like savory flavor is unique and reminds me of all the good time I had in Bamberg. Schlenkerla is the biggest exporter of Bamberg Rauchbier and makes several variations of the style. Actually, all of their beer is a variation of Rauchbier... which is to say all of their beer just has smoked malt in it. I have yet to have a bad Schlenkerla beer and they sell enough of it that there must be something to it...

Smoke beer is a passion of mine. It's an interesting style that has a great range of flavors that fit under the "smoked" name. Shiner Smokehaus is a beer I first saw on the shelves last month and was intrigued, and not just because it's promised to be smoky. The first thing I noticed was the packaging, it has a really fun design that looks like it was pulled right from a 1960s Boy's Life magazine. The retro look of the label is great but what it says is what sealed the deal for me. At the bottom of the label I saw "Mesquite Smoked Beer - Helles Style." Done. Put this in my cart, I'm ready to drink it right now.

Mythos, the Corona of Greece. This beer is one I never really sought out... National macro lagers are generally not the best way to experience a country's brewing culture, and since we're talking about Greece here, I figured it had little chance of being any good. When I stopped by the fridge today to look for a beer I remembered we had some left over Mythos bottles from a friend's visit a couple weeks back. I'd had a bottle that night on the deck and remember being surprised by how not-horrible it was. This was in between a couple 750s of 10+% beers though, so I figured I'd give the Mythos a proper review.

Helles beers are great in the summer. You can't enjoy a heavy stout in 90 degree weather as much as you can in the fall or winter. I believe all beers tastes the best during autumn, but that's another topic for another time... It's not quite 90 yet but it's definitely warm, it's also yard work season... which means it is high time I crack open my first Helles of the year. Schlafly recently rebranded its Helles Lager when it changed the packaging from bottles to cans. Their Summer Lager is essentially the exact same as before, except for the can of course. This also happens to be my first can of beer, not just of the season but in many years...

Oh the vaunted German Helles, the beer that shattered so many of my misconceptions about light bodied beer. It's is a style I'm very well acquainted with, having spent a good deal of my 24th summer emptying as many pints of Franconian Helles as I could. I've enjoyed many summertime Helles beers because they are nice and light while being very full flavored. While a Pilsner is crisp and lighter in malt, Helles beers tend to be much more well balanced and deliciously malty. While I've had my fair share of Helles pints in Germany, I haven't had many Hacker-Pschorr beers.

I still remember my first Augustiner beer, it was in Munich at the Augustinerbräu brewery in 2006. Augustiner was actually the first beer I had on tap in Germany so for that, and many other reasons, it will always have a special place in my heart. About a month ago I was at Gomer's in midtown and saw a couple funny looking bottles in the singles section and was surprised to see that they were actually from Augustiner in Munich. I didn't recognize these new labels, they're a tri-colored picture of an old monk with a look of approval on his face. I hope the packaging is local and the squat bottles are still in circulation elsewhere. But, whatever... the label doesn't change the way the beer tastes. So how was it? Well, it tastes just like I remember... which is to say, it tastes like Germany.