"Maxlrainer Schloss Gold", Flasche (50 cl) von Grabsch, Berlin-Lichterfelde. - Goldgelb, klar; sahniger Schaum. - In der Nase mild brotiges, tiefes helles Malz mit Anklängen an Vanille und Honig und feine Kräuter, die eine milde aber aromatische Hopfung zeigen. - Antrunk weich und satt hellmalzig mit zarter Vanille. Ganz milde aber elegante Hopfung mit Kräutertee, zarte Anklänge an Seifenlauge (die aber nicht störend wirken). Milder rezent, vollmundig, weich, leicht mineralisch. Im Nachtrunk etwas strohig-dumpf, sogar muffig: hier verrät sich der Hopfenextrakt. - Schönes, klassisches Export mit Tiefe und Charakter, enorm süffig. Die Biersorte "Export" schneidet auf RAB ja ziemlich schlecht ab (schon weil sie unsinnigerweise mit dem Hellen zusammengeworfen wird), aber dies ist einer ihrer besten Vertreter. Könnte richtig klasse schmecken, wenn auf Hopfenextrakt verzichtet würde ...

"Münchener Helles", the ’commercial’ answer to the world’s oldest Lager style back in the 19th century, from a brewery situated in Maxlrain (and named after it as is custom in old German beer tradition), some thirty or forty miles to the southeast of Munich and allegedly this brewery’s flag ship Lager. From a sixpack with local Munich-area beers, big cheers to Glenn for bringing me this lovely box - amidst all that present-day craft beer violence, it still feels good to ’retreat’ into a completely traditional European beer like this one. If it is well-made, that is, so time to find out: medium thick, nicely ’continuously’ lacing, snow white head with very good retention, initially frothy and generous but ending in a firm moussy rim and a white veil in the middle only showing gaps very slowly; underneath shines a perfectly cristal clear, pure straw blonde beer with warmer golden hue and a couple of loose translucent yeast bits here and there - but just a couple really, as in any semi-’artisanal’ (or rather: not exaggeratedly industrial) pale lager. Classic Helles aroma of old dry cookies, damp cloth, sweetish white bread dough, white sweetclover flowers, something paper glue pen-like, wet straw, green apple peel, fresh lettuce hearts even - simple, but nothing really off-putting, industrial or otherwise. Pretty neutral start, malt sweetness apparent quite rapidly and spreading onwards towards the finish as a straightforward, cereally, vaguely sweetish background against which a few things happen: minerally, spritzy carbonation at first, laying fresh mineral water-like notes on the tongue without ever becoming overcarbonated or numbing; a lean, slick and eventually almost glue-ish mouthfeel; and, importantly, a grassy and floral hop accent in the end, hovering discretely above the malt sweet finish but still adding a subtle bitterness to it as well as a very faint floral aroma retronasally. This is a textbook example of a Helles: clean, clear, not overindustrialized, native to the region where the style originated, straightforwardly malty and in that sense sweetish with only the slightest noble hop accent in the tail to balance out the pale malt sweetness. Münchener (or other) Helles will never be the most exciting beer style, this is a style that was already restrained in the 19th century compared with the crispier, hoppier Pilsener style - likely the reason why it never achieved the same amount of fame, by far - but in this particularly simple and unambitious context, it all comes down to balance, accuracy and ’truthfulness’ and in that particular sense, this beer performs perfectly. This is all I would expect from a typical Helles, nothing more, nothing less - I had worse ones than this even from Germany. I can understand how this managed to earn a gold medal in its category multiple times - if you look at it from a traditionally European, classically (not to say 19th- and 20th-century) point of view. One I’d recommend as an introduction to people interested in getting to know classic German Lager styles.

0.5l bottle from rewe in weil. pours a clear pale golden with a frothy white head. aroma of bread, grains, hay. flavour of sweetish malts, honey, bread, slight soap and spices.

Jan. ’16. A 0.5 l bottle shared with Marko and ogivlado. It poured a yellow to golden body with medium sized head. Weak lemony and chlorine watery aroma that might be also part of the Zagreb water. Flavor was lightly sweet grainy, hay and bready, lemon hop with a metallic off note. Medium body with longer sweetish grainy and a bit stale finish. Overall, okay after all said, but a bit boring.

Bottled 500ml. -Courtesy of heavy, shared with him and Marko. Yellow/golden coloured, medium sized white head, slightly grainy nose. Sweetish malty, dusty grainy, slightly herbal and whiff of corn with short finish. Usual and boring.

Thanks heavy! Shared with him and ogivlado. Paaale goldenyellow body, tiny thick white head, somewhat lasting. Grainy appley aroma, pungent, meh. Sweet, slightly vegetabley, grainy slightly honeyish taste. The finish is slightly dull. The malty-hoppy notes create a vaguely cereally-fruity thing, on the sweet side, but, though OK enough, it’s not my thing. Slightly stale sugary note in the finish. Hm.

on tap oro limpida schiuma media discreta persistenza discreto naso maltato un leggero cereale un filo erbaceo non molto amara

Goldgelbes Bier mit geringer Schaumkrone. Geruch malzig, fruchtig, würzig. Geschmack auch malzig fruchtig, grasig, leicht würzig.