Two If By See

So Augustiner won the first round of the great Helles challenge, though it was hardly an impressive victory. Day one produced a few notes- I'm not very good at describing the beers I drink in detail- but day five produced only "meh" for both beers. I was pleased that at least I made a consistent selection. In the end, it was a verrry slightly hoppier taste that won the day for Augustiner.

We now move on to round two. This time, I'm stepping outside the city limits to try two breweries that are also quite popular within Munich: Andechs and Tegernseer. (Sadly, finding Ayinger in bottles in Munich is a Quixotic task.) My wife dutifully poured me two beers, marked one of the glasses and I got to work. Beer one was a slightly darker color than beer two. This is a plus. Munich helles pours very, very light. It'll be a while before I drink an American Budweiser, but when and if I do, I'll pay attention to how light it is. It's hard to get much lighter than Munich helles. Beer one also had a bit of aroma from the head. This is also a plus. I'll admit that between sinuses and allergies, you have to beat me over the head with a scent, but I have to practically snort a helles until I can smell it. The taste was ok, but nothing remarkable.

Beer two had very nice head. While I complain about the lightness of the liquid, I have to confess, that I love a nice, pure white pile of foam on the top of a glass of helles. The scent may have had a bit of pine. This one actually tasted pretty good. The hop was noticeable and there was a slightly sour malt.

Beer two was the winner. Can't wait to drink four more and see which one I actually prefer.