0,5 l bottle. Unclear pale golden, nearly two finger white foamy head. Low grain and caramel smell. Taste is smooth, some grain, little bit grassy, some citrus in the background. Present hop bitterness in the second row. Slick palate. Above average carbonation. Easy drinkin´ refreshing stuff.

Bottle.Clear golden colour with medium white head.Aroma of grain and straw medium body and flavors of malt and hops.

Münchener Helles - the Lager revolution’s alternative to the original Dunkel - from Moos, a village in Lower Bavaria roughly ninety miles from Munich. From a 50 cc bottle which was part of a Bavarian sixpack, cheers to Glenn for bringing me this all the way from the Munich airport. Medium thick, bit irregular but moussy, snow white head leaving behind streaks of irregular lacing, on a cristal clear, pale straw blonde beer with warmer golden tinge and some strings of sparkling here and there immediately after pouring but turning visibly still quickly after that. Aroma of sweet and somewhat sweaty grains, damp kitchen towels, raw cookie dough, fainter hints of grass, damp straw, meringue, hand soap, camomile flowers, margarine, soggy sandwiches, vague presence of pasteurization (cooked turnip-like in this case, not too disturbing), apple peel; quite ’lowbrow’, in all, but this is a typical feature of this unambitious but classic German Lager style. Neutral onset as is to be expected, some pear or apple peel touches, sweetish grains with an explicit sourish edge which stretches back to the finish, soft carbonation, bit buttery mouthfeel. Straightforward but ’pure’ pale malt sweetishness in the middle, sourish grainy edges as said, minerally and even slightly metallic accents but the emphasis keeps lying on the pale malts, in a soft and sweetish way; ends much the same way too, with the addition of a very mild, ’deep’, background presence of grassy hops, putting a late and brief, vague bitterish touch into the whole just for balance and carrying along into the malt sweet finish in a very mellow way, as it should be for this style; something faintly metallic travels along as well. The tradition of German Lagers takes a different approach in judging than Anglo-Saxon and Belgian style ales and this is easily forgotten in this turbid craft beer world; it takes some background knowledge and a sense of history to properly assess the qualities of, in this case, a Münchener Helles but fortunately I am old enough to have some experience with this ’beer family’ and after having closely tasted a number of Helles throughout the years, I think I can say that this one is far from bad within its specific style. This is a flawless, correctly made and technically decent Helles in all respects, I have had way worse ones than this, even though this style will never be my favorite (or any classic Lager style for that matter). But that is personal taste: within the boundaries of its very classic ’old school’ style, this delivers quite well. I am confident that a fresh example from tap in Moos will be better (and probably a tad creamier and less ’sweaty’) but I have only one life and there are so many things to taste in beer, so I don’t think I’ll be visiting this village for this purpose alone any time soon. Still: decent Helles in my book.

On tap at The Holbern Whippet. Clear pale gold lasting white head. some lemon. Some lager malt creamed corn. Not much on the finish. Very light lemon. Not great. Lacks body. Hops are ok. No great drinkability either. Meantime Unfiltered earlier was streets ahead.

0.5l bottle as a part of bavarian beer set, marktkauf/edeka. pours a clear pale golden with a medium white head and a nice lacing. strong aroma of grains and grass. flavour of grains, grass, hay and salt. oily mouthfeel, slight bitterness.

Keg at Taphouse CPH, RBESG ’15 day 3, 22/08/15. Clear light golden with a decent off white covering. Nose is cereals, light citrics, pale malt. Taste comprises grain, paper, caramel, hint of vanilla. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Ok for style.

Tap@Taphouse, Copenhagen (16/07/2015) - pours gold with a white head. Sweet fruity and bready malty aroma and taste, straw, hay, caramel, light hoppy into the finish.