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Beer Reviews

Hell

Atwater Block Brewery
Detroit, MI
USA
http://atwaterbeer.com/

Style: Helles

Jill’s Rating:
   (World class.)


Comments:
In an attempt to reach further out into the Midwest beer landscape, I thought I'd see what Detroit had to offer. Baby Boy's originally from the Detroit area, and if they can produce a fine specimen like him, I'm sure their beer has to be pretty good too.

Atwater Block Brewery is located on the banks of the Detroit River, and I'm convinced that it's that water makes this beer taste special. Tell me what you want about the German methods of brewing and the hops and the malt, but when this beer hits your lips with all the gusto and grit of the Motor City, you'll know it's the water that makes all the difference.

The first swig will hit your lips with a POW! that tastes nothing like the German Helles I know--and I lived in Munich for a little while too. The taste is a combination of sparkle that's a little fruity, yet there's a bit of a bite as well, thanks to the German Caramel and Pilsner malts. From there the taste expands a bit in your mouth, though it'll stay in the center of your palate--it won't spread wide like a lot of beers that are pretty malty. That sparkle continues to fill up the front of your mouth, and you almost start to think that the taste dies away immediately, but then you feel a delicious, gentle warmth slide down the back of your tongue, into your throat, landing in your belly while you sigh with satisfaction.

Seriously, this is like no Helles I've ever tasted before. It combines the best parts of German beers with a little American ingenuity, and the result is delicious.

Reviewed by Jill Jaracz on March 15, 2007.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

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