Munich Helles | Immer Mein Herz

Historical Development

It's a bit embarrassing to admit it, but I recently shed tears of joy over how happy a beer made me (and not the "no you're my best friend" stumbly kind of tears). The crazy part was, it wasn't even a beer I was drinking…not exactly…

It was in the Augustiner Biergarten on Munich's west side, and my wife and I had just sat down with two liters of helles and a plate filled with more food than we would usually eat in a week (we ate it all). This was a moment I had been waiting for since we decided to make the pilgrimage to beer mecca the previous winter (though we were in Germany, so maybe that's biermecca?). There are a few places that every beer-lover should visit if they have the means-including Brussels, Plžen, and London among many others-but this was at the top of my list. We had spent the morning seeing the city, and when we finally sat down and took that first sip, it was a quiet revelation that couldn't be over (or under) stated. (That's not when the tears of joy came, but we'll get back to that.)

When most people get into craft beer, myself included, they search for the biggest, boldest, and most interesting new flavors you can find in a glass. Triple IPAs with ridiculous dry hopping, 15% stouts that spent more time in a barrel than some verbal children have on the earth, and, of course, any pint can with the words "New England" on it. For me, when I really started getting into beer and brewing, German lagers, and helles in particular, became the holy grail as a brewer. Its clean, crisp, malty, cracker-like profile is highlighted by notes (somehow) of white grapes and raw bread dough that are refined and delicate in a way that's tough to beat. What's even more interesting, these beers are one of the hardest you'll find to brew… with so little going into them, and so delicate a beer coming out, any subpar ingredient or small mistake in process can lead to an undrinkable beer.

As German beer styles go, the helles is one of the candidates for youngest of the bunch. Invented and released in 1894 by Spaten, it was meant to be a malty alternative to more bitter pilsners. Though it never gained quite the popularity worldwide that pilsners have, don't tell that to any Bavarians (you actually can…they love their helles enough to not give a damn). Since then, if you visit a beer garden that isn't at Theresienwiese in late September, chances are you'll see most of the people with a liter of helles. Though the story of this particular style isn't that old, when you have a few of them in a beer garden on a warm summer day, you can smell, taste, and feel the culture in that giant, beautiful glass. It tastes good, and by your second (or third) liter, you recognize the beauty in this beer: it's simple. It's there for you to enjoy the time you spend drinking it, and the people you're drinking it with.

The end of that opening story: an older man who was having a little trouble walking made his way up to the bar, got a liter of helles, and sat down on a bench he'd clearly sat in more than once over the years. He wasn't meeting anyone, but had genuine joy on his face as he looked around at the beautiful day, raised his maß away from himself just a bit, then drank a quarter of it all at once. Moments like this can remind you that beer, no matter the style, means a lot more to people than just any old drink. Sometimes it's your culture and memories poured in a mug.

Prost to that.

Modern Evolution

Created in Munich in 1894 at the Spaten brewery to compete with pale Pilsner-type beers. Currently the most popular style in Southern Germany.