Tasting

An Allgäu Helles smells of grain and fresh bread; in the mouth it's soft and nearly dry, with the hops staying in the background. Before the first sip, it's worth looking at the glass: the beer should appear clear golden, the foam fine and white. The Helles beers from Zötler in Rettenberg or Allgäuer Brauhaus in Kempten make fine examples.

The Allgäuer Büble Bier has been around since the early 1950s, according to the brewery. It recalls an old custom: even grandfathers were once sent to the inn by their fathers to carry open beer home in a stein.

Wheat beer is a different experience altogether—take the one from Klosterbrauerei Irsee. It smells of ripe banana and clove, with a lively, creamy character in the mouth. Irsee also produces the Kloster-Urtrunk, an unfiltered, mild beer with a light yeast aroma.

A Helles tastes best at around 6 to 8°C (43–46°F); a wheat beer suits a similarly cool temperature. Too cold, and the aroma disappears. Helles belongs in a stein or half-liter mug, while wheat beer goes in the tall, slender Weizen glass, which captures its dense foam and shows off its haze.

When pouring a wheat beer, tilt the glass, let the beer run down the side, then give the last of the bottle a gentle swirl so the yeast on the bottom makes its way into the glass. That's what creates the haze and gives the beer a bit more body.