Is Helles tart?

I has a Hell's Half Mile from Tri City Brewing the other day and it had a noticeable tartness to it. Odd because I've had it before and it didn't have it last time. I grabbed that because I really don't care for tart beers and I wanted to wash out the tartness from the LAST beer I drank. That one was something from Shorts, I believe, and I knew going in that there was a chance I wouldn't like it, but hey, I gotta try it anyway.

Back to Hell's Half Mile... I remember having it before and liking it. I got it in a mixer that my wife got me for X-mas.

Am I losing it or what?

So two beers from the same place were uncharacteristically tart? Maybe pub sanitation? Maybe you were eating something sweet?

Not typically.

When you say tart, I assume that you're actually referring to Hop bitterness. The perceived bitterness has much to do with what you had in your mouth before drinking. It is quite common to perceive the bitterness differently with different foods or drinks, or just on a different day. The beer hasn't likely changed, but your palate has.

A standard Munich Helles (light German Lager) has very low hop bitterness, but American craft brewers tend to bitter on the high side of the accepted values for the style.

The other day I bought some Hangar 24 Koelsch, and was disappointed with the bitterness they brewed for this style.

msjacoby23 said:

So two beers from the same place were uncharacteristically tart? Maybe pub sanitation? Maybe you were eating something sweet?

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No, one was a Bell's beer; Oarsman Ale I think. That one was supposed to be tart. The Hell's Half Mile was a Helles and Tri city hasn't emailed a response yet.

MenkeMoose said:

When you say tart, I assume that you're actually referring to Hop bitterness. The perceived bitterness has much to do with what you had in your mouth before drinking. It is quite common to perceive the bitterness differently with different foods or drinks, or just on a different day. The beer hasn't likely changed, but your palate has.

A standard Munich Helles (light German Lager) has very low hop bitterness, but American craft brewers tend to bitter on the high side of the accepted values for the style.

The other day I bought some Hangar 24 Koelsch, and was disappointed with the bitterness they brewed for this style.

Click to expand...

It wasn't bitter at all. I didn't have a bitter beer prior to this either. Just the Oarsman Ale. And the tart wasn't a lingering, stuck in the mouth kind of thing either. Each time I took a drink I could taste it with the beer.

Had a Shorts RyeBock last night. Another loser. Probably a decent beer if you like tart, fruity beer. It was a "Lager Brewed with Plums". Again, my fault for picking it out, but I was curious. It had a fruity, raisiny, tart flavor that I managed to choke down.

I have to give blood tonight. Double Red Cell Donation. I better get right home afterwards and get rehydrated! I have been wanting to try this "Über Goober" from Shorts. I think it's an Imperial Stout Brewed with Peanuts or something. Maybe it had Oatmeal too...

Got an email back from Tri City. The brewer said that I can bring the 6xer in and get an exchange. Plus, they had a bottling line problem late last summer early fall. That sounds right because I got this beer from the local party store and I doubt they sell much good beer there in my hick town. I'm guessing that explains what happens.

They do tours on Sats, so I'll have to schedule a visit some time soon.