Matilda Bay - Big Helga...

[O'Henry]

I was on the Bitter and Twisted site having a look at the line up of beers and saw that Matilda Bay has something called 'Big Helga' listed. Anyone seen/tasted it before?

 

[Pollux]

I was wondering that myself to be honest.

 

[sydneyhappyhour]

I just had one at the Orient in the rocks, slight floral hop aroma very light on the palate, reminded me of a Pilsner more than anything. The guys i was with all agreed nothing to write home about.

 

[winkle]

Yes -meh.

 

[BrenosBrews]

It's an OK, fairly hoppy lager. Supposed to be a Helles.

 

[Sprungmonkey]

Munich dry lager dry hopped - not too bad.

 

[Andyd]

I was lucky enough to get some of the first keg tapped publically... it's got a hop forward character, and doesn't quite have the biscuity malt character I'd expect from a munich lager, but otherwise its a very enjoyable beer, particularly as a gateway beer for mates that find it hard to part ways with their crownies

Andy

 

[thirstycritter]

I haven't tried it but BeerMatt has... nice little review over here ->

http://beermatt.com/2009/10/08/my-date-with-helga/

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Not bad - but nothing to write home about. Mild hop aroma, mild malt - dies on your palate a little after mid way.. no finish to speak of.

In a standard pub tap line up of mega brew lagers... this is the beer I would be drinking. But if there was other quality beer on tap I doubt if I would be drinking more than one or two.

 

[JestersDarts]

Not bad - but nothing to write home about. Mild hop aroma, mild malt - dies on your palate a little after mid way.. no finish to speak of.

In a standard pub tap line up of mega brew lagers... this is the beer I would be drinking. But if there was other quality beer on tap I doubt if I would be drinking more than one or two.

Definate hoppieness over maltiness, but neither overdone - no real lasting finish..

..had about 7 pints of it last night during darts comp at my local..

..didnt help my darts game much. We still won though GO YOU JESTERS!!

 

[big78sam]

There was a 2 page spread on this beer in a recent beer and brewer magazine. I thing it was the recent summer edition that has a recipe book included (beer and food matching). It was an interesting read about how/why it was developed.

 

[Pennywise]

I really love this beer, one of the few Lagers I could drink in a session. I got a comlpletely different impression of it than the way you fellas are describing it. I got a fair whack of malt in the taste and just a little hop aroma, quite dry though. I agree with the finish though, not much there, which for me makes for a good swilling session beer.

 

[jiesu]

I had one of these about 3 months ago at the clock tower in Surry Hills.
All I could taste was metal, probably the worst beer I have ever had. On par with Hammer and Tongs.
Mind you it was likely the the beer lines.

Still it has turned me off them.

 

[Dazza_devil]

I didn't mind this one actually, not that I told me mum about it.
I could detect a nice hint of hop flavour and I thought the malt and bitterness were reasonably balanced from memory.
There are a lot worse lagers out here.

 

[Muggus]

After having a couple of $12 jugs of this stuff at the Cambridge in Newcastle, I decided it's quite a good session beer.
Certainly better than the vast majority of Aussie "lagers".

 

[QldKev]

I really like the hops, but the malt is waaay to dry :icon_vomit:

QldKev

 

[Fents]

good snags shit beer

 

[eamonnfoley]

I find it undrinkable. Rough malt flavour (cloying, dry), strange hop character. It is light miles away from a helles. Very hard to put down.

 

[HoppingMad]

It is light miles away from a helles.

I actually like this beer.

But I have to agree with Foles that in terms of style this beer is nowhere near a helles. Their PR reads 'Munich-style lager'. :blink:
If you dig around you'll discover this beer uses NZ Pacifica hops dry-hopped in the fermenter. Using a big NZ hop this way drowns out any
sense of German Noble hops the brewery claims to also use in this beer. And last time I checked, New Zealand wasn't anywhere near Munich.

You drink one and all you can taste is the Pacifica - which tastes a bit like a grassy version of a US Cascade to me.
That said - I did enjoy drinking an unpasteurised version of the Helga at the Melbourne Microbrewer's showcase. Tasted like it was poured through a 'randal' the hop flavour was that big.

When I drink this beer, I try to forget they're even trying to make a lager here. It's more of a pale ale to me.

Hopper.

 

[JestersDarts]

Yes I like beer - thats why I kept coming back for another, and another.

I agree on the ale like qualities - nothing like the lagers i'm used to.