This is something I’ve been meaning to get, is one of those 5L mini kegs.
Weihenstephaner Original is also my favorite. It’s the perfect beer.
Sadly, we don’t get Augustiner helles here in Iowa. Not sure why that is…
I found Schafly Helles Style Summer Lager to be delicious.
Is it a good example of the style? I couldn’t tell ya. But, I liked it. Very silky smooth delicious malt flavor.
Not likely, but if you like it, drink it.
That helles is Hacker Pschorr’s worst product IMO.
I am deeply in love with their weisse and doppelbock.
Weihenstephaner is fave if fresh, just remember to decipher the bottle date. If I remember correctly a bottle dated today would be 1146.
Paulaner is much easier to find fresh I’ve found but beware they use a 12-month best-by dating. So that 9/16 out there now isn’t that fresh.
Heater Allen makes an incredible Helles, but it isn’t widely distributed.
How do you decipher that 1146 means it was bottled today?
1xxx - either 1 or 11 depending on week.
x14x - 14th week of the year
xxx6 - 2016
So 14th week would be mid April so the 1 would be an 11.
April 11, 2016. I think.
Sort of confusing… I have a bottle of Weihenstephaner hefe in my DBF at home, maybe I’ll see what the code is on there tonight, if I remember to look.
I just had Southern Tier’s Helles offering a few weeks ago. Tasted it alongside mine and a Paulaner. I found it to be a little more hop-forward than the typical German Helles but it had no major flaws. (I have no idea how widely distributed ST is, but it’s all over New York State.) Otherwise I prefer Weihenstephan and Paulaner over Hacker, for sure.
I may have to write that down and keep it in my wallet because I damn sure won’t remember it. It’s like an irritating story problem in math class. Guess I’ve been lucky buying it because I haven’t had any old/oxidized yet. Other breweries’ helles, different story.
Okay, so the code on my Weihenstephaner hefe is 0335. That puts it at, what, August of 2015?
August 20 2015. yep
Yeah, sounds right. How is it, still tasty?
I’m confused on the first digit…
Not drinking it yet, but given how old that is, damn, I should drink it sooner than later. But that might not matter.
I’m also still confused by that first digit.
As I understand it:
Let’s use the first digit 1 and the month of January.
The first digit in the date code corresponds to the day of bottling, the next two digits to the week of the year it was bottled and the third, assuming a drink by date maximum period of one year, to the year of bottling.
The first digit of 1 for the month of January has four instances: 01, 11, 21, 31.
Here are four examples:
1016 = January 1, 2016
1026 = January 11, 2016
1036 = January 21, 2016
1056 = January 31, 2016
Now try a first digit of 5, with instances of 5, 15 and 25:
5016 = January 5, 2016
5036 = January 15, 2016
5046 = January 25, 2016.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!
So as Marc pointed out, 0335 really would be August 20th, 2015, yes?
Thanks for explaining that.
Yup. Sounds right to me.