The Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr Helles Faceoffs

One of our first rounds in the Helles Bracket pitted two Paulaner beers and two Hacker-Pschorr beers against each other.

On the food side of the equation, we stuck with tradition and ate Schnitzel and Roasted Chicken...there's no better meal to pair with the Helles style beers. Add a couple pretzels, and you're done! (And there's no cooking involved...all are available from your local Vincenzmur or grocery store).

Hacker-Pschorr describes its Münchener Hell as: 

belong[ing] to Bavaria like pretzels and white blue sky.

It's a classic, light and clear helles beer.

The Münchener Kellerbier is beer, as they made it in the 1400's. It's a darker golden beer, with some cloudiness and sediment. It also has more carbonation and has a slightly bubbly feel to it. It still has a light flavor, but slightly more flavor due to the different yeast style. The name "Kellerbier" refers to the fact that it's like the beer that was pulled straight out of the celler (where it lagered and fermented, with the air in the basement as the source of the yeast) and served to guests.

We preferred the Kellerbier and it's flavor and carbonation. Score one for "the old ways!"

Next up, we had the Paulaner beers...we had no idea how these two would differ.

Similar the Hacker-Pschorr beers, the Original Münchener Hell is their classic hells, while the Original Münchener Urtyp is closer to the old beers. The Hell was light, golden, and clear. The Urtyp here is classified as an Exportbier and thus was brewed with a higher wort to help it withstand transportation. These days transportation is no issue, but many still enjoy the slightly maltier flavor and darker color.

You'll see the word "Urtyp" often on beer labels. It just means "traditional style." This doesn't always tell you how the beer will taste, but gives you a clue that it's closer to the old style of brewing. Or you'll see combinations wtih just the prefix "Ur-" (e.g., "Urhell"), which means "traditional" or "ancient."

Surprisingly, we prefered Paulaner's Helles to the Exportbier. We typically go for the maltier and darker beers, but we just really enjoyed the crisp Helles.

But how would the Paulaner Orginal Münchener Hell compare to the Hacker-Pschorr Münchener Kellerbier? We actually chose the Kellerbier, though they were very close in taste.

It was still light (compared to many of the beers we have tasted), but with a bit more interesting flavor than the Helles. Also maltier.

This is the beer to drink when you don't like the taste of beer!

Comments

[cliff1976]

I don't have any comment for these particular variety, but may I take a moment please to exclaim thank you for living the dream!

Happy Sampling,
Cliff

[Frau A]

Hi Cliff - Thanks for the comment. Drop us an email if you're even in the area and we'll meet for a few liters... Cheers - Herr J