I suppose I should make this clear at the start. What I mean by Helles, isn't any old sort of pale Lager that isn't Pils. I should really use the full name of the style I'm discussing today: Helles Lagerbier or Lagerbier Hell. I'm using the shorthand of Helles because I can't be arsed to go and change the style on hundreds of table entries.
It's a very popular style amongst the breweries I'm looking at. No surprise, as most are from Bavaria. Where Helles is the most popular style. There were only more examples in my set of two styles: Pils and Hefeweizen. Those are, unsurprisingly, the three most popular styles in Germany.
Oh, I suppose I should tell you how I split apart Helles Lagerbier and Helles Export. Some of the latter were identified by the brewery as Export. With others it wasn't clear what, if anything, the brewery considered their style. So I used something mentioned in the Deutscher Brauer-Bund website style descriptions: that Export has a minimum gravity of 12 Platoº.
It seems like a good enough dividing line, so that's what I've used. Though it is pretty arbitrary. I'll classify a beer of 11.9º Helles and one of 12º Export. You have to draw the line somewhere, but I'm not claiming my classification is perfect.
I suppose I should show you the beers now:
| German Helles in 2014 | ||||||||
| Brewer | Town | Beer | OG | FG | OG Plato | ABV | App. Atten-uation | bitterness (EBU) |
| Paulaner | Munich | Münchner Hell Leicht | 1030.4 | 1005.8 | 7.7 | 3.20 | 80.93% | |
| Göller | Zeil am Main | Hausbrauerbier | 1044.9 | 1011.7 | 11.2 | 4.30 | 73.92% | |
| Püls-bräu | Stadtsteinach | Weismainer Urhell | 1046.1 | 1010.8 | 11.5 | 4.60 | 76.69% | |
| Bürgerbräu Hersbruck | Hersbruck | Lagerbier | 1045.3 | 1009.9 | 11.3 | 4.60 | 78.13% | |
| Ammerndorfer Bier Dorn Bräu | Ammerndorf | Hell | 1045.7 | 1010.3 | 11.4 | 4.60 | 77.46% | |
| Privatbrauerei Kesselring | Marktsteft | Hell | 1046.1 | 1010.0 | 11.5 | 4.70 | 78.31% | |
| Zum Löwenbräu Flair Hotel | Adelsdorf | Vollbier Hell | 1047.4 | 1011.2 | 11.8 | 4.70 | 76.36% | |
| Brauerei Windsheimer | Gutenstetten | Vollbier | 1047.8 | 1011.6 | 11.9 | 4.70 | 75.73% | |
| Forschungsbrauerei | Munich | Münchener Vollbier Hell | 1044.0 | 1007.9 | 11 | 4.70 | 82.05% | |
| Arnsteiner Brauerei | Seinsheim | Ernte Hell | 1044.4 | 1007.6 | 11.1 | 4.80 | 82.90% | |
| Brauerei Gasthof Wiethaler | Lauf an der Pegnitz | Lagerbier Hell | 4.80 | |||||
| Brauereigasthof Winkler | Berching | Lagerbier Hell | 1045.7 | 1008.8 | 11.4 | 4.80 | 80.74% | |
| Klosterbrauerei Andechs | Andechs | Vollbier Hell | 1046.1 | 1009.2 | 11.5 | 4.80 | 80.05% | |
| Braugold | Erfurt | Braugold Hell | 1046.1 | 1009.2 | 11.5 | 4.80 | 80.05% | |
| Holsten | Hamburg Altona | Edel | 1044.9 | 1007.3 | 11.2 | 4.90 | 83.73% | 23 |
| Kulmbacher Brauerei | Kulmbach | Kulmbacher Feinmild | 1045.3 | 1007.7 | 11.3 | 4.90 | 82.99% | |
| Kulmbacher Brauerei | Kulmbach | Mönchshof Bayerisch Hell | 1045.3 | 1007.7 | 11.3 | 4.90 | 82.99% | |
| Kulmbacher Brauerei | Kulmbach | EKU Hell | 1045.7 | 1008.1 | 11.4 | 4.90 | 82.27% | |
| Brauhaus Leikeim | Altenkunstadt | Hell | 1045.7 | 1008.1 | 11.4 | 4.90 | 82.27% | |
| Paulaner | Munich | Münchner Hell | 1046.1 | 1008.5 | 11.5 | 4.90 | 81.57% | |
| Kulmbacher Brauerei | Kulmbach | Kulmbacher Lager Hell | 1046.1 | 1008.5 | 11.5 | 4.90 | 81.57% | |
| Kulmbacher Brauerei | Kulmbach | Mönchshof Lager | 1046.1 | 1008.5 | 11.5 | 4.90 | 81.57% | |
| Gasthof Gundel | Kammerstein | Urhell | 1046.1 | 1008.5 | 11.5 | 4.90 | 81.57% | |
| Brauerei Weller | Erlangen | 3x11 | 1044.0 | 1006.5 | 11 | 4.90 | 85.35% | |
| Kitzmann-Bräu | Erlangen | Helles | 1046.5 | 1008.9 | 11.6 | 4.90 | 80.87% | |
| Kitzmann-Bräu | Erlangen | Kitzzz | 1046.5 | 1008.9 | 11.6 | 4.90 | 80.87% | |
| Brauerei Hermann Sigwart | Weißenburg | Hell | 1046.5 | 1008.9 | 11.6 | 4.90 | 80.87% | |
| Schübel Bräu | Stadtsteinach | a fränkisch | 1047.4 | 1009.7 | 11.8 | 4.90 | 79.52% | |
| Strauß Karl Brauerei | Treuchtlingen | Wettelsheimer Helles | 1047.4 | 1009.7 | 11.8 | 4.90 | 79.52% | |
| Göller | Zeil am Main | Hell | 1047.4 | 1009.0 | 11.8 | 5.00 | 81.00% | |
| Hacker-Pschorr | Munich | Münchner Hell | 1046.1 | 1007.8 | 11.5 | 5.00 | 83.19% | |
| Schwechater | Vienna | Schwechater Bier | 1046.1 | 1007.8 | 11.5 | 5.00 | 83.19% | |
| Kulmbacher Brauerei | Kulmbach | Original | 1046.5 | 1007.5 | 11.6 | 5.10 | 83.99% | 21 |
| Weihenstephan | Freising | Original | 1046.5 | 1007.4 | 11.6 | 5.10 | 84.10% | 21 |
| Spaten | Munich | Münchner Hell | 1047.0 | 1007.1 | 11.7 | 5.20 | 84.88% | |
| Löwenbräu | Munich | Original | 1047.4 | 1007.5 | 11.8 | 5.20 | 84.17% | |
| Average | 1045.6 | 1008.7 | 11.4 | 4.8 | 81.01% | 21.7 | ||
| Sources: | ||||||||
| Brewery websites. | ||||||||
As you can see, there's not a huge amount of variation. And the average does look like the spec of a typical Helles: 11.5º Plato, 4.8% ABV, 80% apparent attenuation. The biggest variation is in the degree of attenuation, which ranges from 74% to 85%.
Though by limiting the gravity to 11.9 º Plato, I did, of course, dictate that the beers would be generally similar.
Pils next time.
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2 comments:
That slackened parsnip on the label. What's with that?
It's a radish, a traditional Bavarian beer snack.
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