California craft beer: What the helles is that clean, crisp beer?

Now that summer is officially upon us, I started thinking about that perfect hot weather beer. You may be tempted to reach for a low-calorie light beer when the temperature rises, but resist that impulse. A lighter-bodied beer with full flavor is what you really want when it’s hot, something that really satisfies your thirst, not just a watery resemblance of beer.

I was in Munich, Germany recently, pondering perfect summer beers. Pilsner may be the most popular brew throughout Germany and the rest of the world, but not in Munich. In the capital of Bavaria and the home of Oktoberfest, helles is the most popular beer.

Because of its slightly profane name, at least to our American sensibilities, helles is not nearly as well known here, although it is imported and brewed everywhere. You just have to know what to look for — and why you should.

In German, “helles” isn’t blasphemous. It simply means bright, light, pale or even blond. When applied to beer, a helles (or Munich Helles) is a pale golden, malt-forward lager. It’s thought to have been invented around 1894 in Munich as a response to the Bohemian (or Czech) pilsners that had become popular throughout Europe.

But while pilsners are known for being slightly hoppy, the hallmark of a helles is its balance. You can taste the sweetness of the malt and sense the bitterness of the hops, but neither upstages the other. Instead they deftly complement each other. The hops are usually from noble varieties that are floral or herbal with a soft, rounded malt character. Crisp and clean is a common way to describe them. Perfect is another.

Several German breweries export their helles to the U.S., but often under a more generic name.
Munich’s Spaten brewery is credited with originating the style, but the helles they export here is called Spaten Premium Lager. Likewise, Weihenstephaner Original Premium is the helles exported by the world’s oldest brewery, Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, founded in 1040. Munich’s famous Hofbräuhaus offers a Hofbräu Original — a helles — and Hacker-Pschorr Bräu calls their helles Münchner Gold.

Other variations include edenhell (ever bright) and urhell (very bright). And if you see the generic words lager, original or premium, check the fine print. The beer inside may indeed be a helles masquerading under a less hellish name.

Happily, many Bay Area breweries also make a helles. Russian River Brewing, for example, makes Velvet Glow, an homage to Santa Rosa’s long-shuttered Grace Brothers, which opened after Prohibition. And at its heart, it’s a helles lager.

Other Bay Area breweries are embracing their helles-ishness. Richmond’s East Brother Brewing make a Helles Lager summer seasonal available in 16-ounce cans. It’s as authentic as they come, with Hallertau Hersbrucker hops and California-grown malt from Alameda’s Admiral Maltings.

Also in Alameda, Almanac Beer Co., which brews a crisp, clean Happy Hour Helles with traditional German malts and Hüll Melon hops, a newer hop variety developed in Germany.
Neighboring Faction Brewing a makes Faction Helles Lager, though it’s currently only available on draft. But if you were looking for another reason to visit Alameda, you’re welcome.