Weltenburger Kloster Barock-Hell
Pale lemon with superfine bubbles that take their time joining a wonderful looking bright white crown. The foam has quite a bit of character and is a pretty good lace maker as well. This is a good looking helles that is as clean and as bright as any I've seen. The nose, while decent, is less impressive. Its best feature is its balance, if one cares about such things. Slightly sweet pale malt is countered by mildly musky hops, with the total being no greater than the sum of the parts. I wish I could figure out the dating code because I'd love to know how fresh my bottle is. Barock-Hell is a fraction more hoppy on the palate. Otherwise, the same elements described for the nose are still present and accounted for. Unfortunately, all of the hop bitterness made the trek across the Atlantic, but some of the hop flavor didn't (which is another reason I'd love to know when the beer was bottled). Thankfully, the metallic nature of the first few ounces is no longer present. What's left isn't overly special and is closer in personality to a hoppier than usual Euro pale lager than it is a Munich helles lager. Having said that, those two styles overlap to some extent; at least by my palate. I am enjoying the grassy spiciness more and more as I get deeper into the bottle. The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium and is surprisingly well-carbonated. The flavor profile may not be overly 'helles' (bright), but all those bubbles ensure that the mouthfeel is. I'm still not inclined to reward it with a high score. With the exception of their doppelbock (Kloster Asam-Bock), I haven't been bowled over by Klosterbrauerei Weltenburg beer. Barock-Hell is yet another better than average offering that does nothing to excite my taste buds or make me want to give it another go round.