Helles Bock Beer Tasting
Mar. 28th, 2023 08:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerRecently I decided it was time for a Helles Bock beer tasting round. The name for the style of beer is German and kinda literally means "light dark". Or more literally "light goat". 🐏🍺 I decided it was time for a proper taste-off within the category after I tried Rogue Dead Guy Ale and didn't have anything to compare it to. On a subsequent trip to the liquor store I noticed that Abita's Andygator, a beer I've had on my "try it sometime" list is also a Helles Bock.
The beers pour with Dead Guy having a slight darker, reddish hue compared to the lighter amber of Andygator. I'm not really big on judging beers by their colors, though— and since one of my all-time favorites, Guinness Draught, pours like used motor oil these don't impress me much. Thus I moved quickly to the drinking-the-beers part of my comparison.
The taste of these two brews is similar. The Dead Guy Ale has a very malty, almost bready taste up front. That's a classic characteristic of a lager, BTW. "Dead Guy Ale" is misnamed because it's a lager, not an ale. The Andygator has a softer taste up front and a sweeter finish. Again, though, the tastes are similar. It's only because I was looking for differences I noticed these.
After taking a few sips of the beers by themselves I finished the glasses over a dinner of medium-spicy Buffalo chicken and cheesy garlic bread. This combination of meat, spice, bread, and fat is a good cross-section of what the Maibock style of beer is meant to go with, IMO. I was hoping the food would distinguish one beer over the other. Would the malty taste on the front pair better, or would it be the sweet finish? Both beers tasted fine with the food. They remained very slightly different, with neither being a clearly better match than the other. I did wonder, though, if my favorite amber ale, Fat Tire, would've gone even better.
After I finished this taste test I realized I'll need a do-over. ...No, not just because I want to drink more beer! As I was double-checking info about the beers I spotted that Abita calls its Andygator a Helles Doppelbock— light double dark. Or light double goat. 🐏🐏🍺 So maybe these two beers aren't the best bock-to-bock competitors. Abita does have another brew, which is says is a regular Helles Bock. I've got a 6-pack of those in the cellar, so watch this space for another comparison round soon.
The beers pour with Dead Guy having a slight darker, reddish hue compared to the lighter amber of Andygator. I'm not really big on judging beers by their colors, though— and since one of my all-time favorites, Guinness Draught, pours like used motor oil these don't impress me much. Thus I moved quickly to the drinking-the-beers part of my comparison.
The taste of these two brews is similar. The Dead Guy Ale has a very malty, almost bready taste up front. That's a classic characteristic of a lager, BTW. "Dead Guy Ale" is misnamed because it's a lager, not an ale. The Andygator has a softer taste up front and a sweeter finish. Again, though, the tastes are similar. It's only because I was looking for differences I noticed these.
After taking a few sips of the beers by themselves I finished the glasses over a dinner of medium-spicy Buffalo chicken and cheesy garlic bread. This combination of meat, spice, bread, and fat is a good cross-section of what the Maibock style of beer is meant to go with, IMO. I was hoping the food would distinguish one beer over the other. Would the malty taste on the front pair better, or would it be the sweet finish? Both beers tasted fine with the food. They remained very slightly different, with neither being a clearly better match than the other. I did wonder, though, if my favorite amber ale, Fat Tire, would've gone even better.
After I finished this taste test I realized I'll need a do-over. ...No, not just because I want to drink more beer! As I was double-checking info about the beers I spotted that Abita calls its Andygator a Helles Doppelbock— light double dark. Or light double goat. 🐏🐏🍺 So maybe these two beers aren't the best bock-to-bock competitors. Abita does have another brew, which is says is a regular Helles Bock. I've got a 6-pack of those in the cellar, so watch this space for another comparison round soon.
