Tucher Bräu - Helles Lager

Helles (meaning “bright” or “pale”) lagers are among the most important and popular in the pantheon of German lager styles. A bit fuller and rounder on the palate than most German pilsners, with a bit more of a restrained hop presence, they deliver artful and flavorful balance in a clean and crisp package. Tucher’s Helles presents a bright golden color with a robust head of pale foam. In the aroma, look for subtle noble hop notes offering lightly grassy, citric, and spicy tones, all mild and allowing a noticeable underlying bready and very lightly toasty malt profile to make itself known. Those malts form a sturdy core in the flavor department, with plenty of fresh bread and a touch of cracker coming through quite roundly and smoothly with a dash of malt sweetness within a medium body. Hop bitterness is low but well-balanced with the malts, while the grassy and lightly spicy notes add quintessential German character, merging with the mild bitter bite, bright carbonation, and overall crispness of this lager to refresh the palate and beckon another sip. A very food-friendly beer, this helles will pair well with German fare as well as simple summer grilling – burgers, chicken, pork chops, shrimp skewers, etc. Pizza, tempura, and tacos sound great too. It’s hard to go wrong. Prost!

Germany's Franconia region, which lies primarily in Bavaria, has a well known winemaking history, but the region around Nuremberg has dry soil not suitable to the growing of grapes. Consequently, the German vintner's industry never really gained solid footing there. Wheat-growing fields, on the other hand, have traditionally been abundant, as has a local thirst for sustaining, liquid refreshment. Thus was born a great tradition of regional wheat beer brewing, among other styles. In fact, the region is home to one of Germany's oldest and most prolific brewing heritages.

You may already be familiar with the fundamental Bavarian beer purity law known as the Reinheitsgebot of 1516, which mandates that all beer be made with only water, malt, hops and yeast. It's an edict that has guided not only German brewers, but also many of the craft brewers in the American microbrew revolution. Fascinatingly, Nuremberg had its own pure-beer law established in 1303, more than 200 years before Bavaria's more well-known Reinheitsgebot!

Tucher Bräu (Tucher is pronounced “took’er”) was founded in Nuremberg three and a half centuries ago. It began as an integral member of the wheat beer brewing force in 1672 and for part of its history was owned by Bavaria's royal family. An ancient patrician family who settled in Nuremberg in the 11th century, the Tucher family took over in 1855. Though the brewery has had several owners in the many years since, the Tucher family name has been preserved. The Tucher Bräu brewery actually straddles the border between the cities of Nuremberg and Fürth, and they celebrate their odd “2-Städte-Sudhaus” (2-city brewhouse) by marking the border line throughout the brewhouse.

The brewery produces several different beers including kellerbier, pilsner, traditional Bavarian weissbier, and more. We hope you enjoy these Franconian brews as much as we did!