Beer Styles

What is a Munich Helles? It's a pale, bottom-fermented full beer with mild bitterness, first bottled by the Spaten brewery on March 21, 1894. Brewers created it in response to Pilsner, invented by Bavarian-born Josef Groll in Pilsen in 1842. A year later, Helles hit the Munich market, and the other breweries soon followed suit.

The difference from Pils lies in the hops. Helles is maltier and softer, Pils sharper in its bitterness. Drink a Helles and you'll taste grain, bread crust and a hint of honey, but barely any hop character. A Helles Export carries a bit more original gravity and is more robust—a well-known example is Augustiner Edelstoff. Original gravity refers to the dissolved substances in the wort, which later determine the alcohol content.

Munich Dunkel is the older style. Before Helles came along, the city's beer was brown, carrying roasted notes of bread and caramel but without bitterness. Despite its color, it's not heavier than Helles: the original gravity sits between eleven and 14 degrees Plato.

Märzen and Festbier are often confused. Märzen was a robust lager brewed in March that turned out amber-colored. Josef Sedlmayr brought such an original Märzen to the Wiesn in 1872. Today, breweries there pour a golden Festbier instead. Bock originated in Einbeck but arrived in Munich from 1555 onward, and Einbeck's own brewmaster Elias Pichler brewed at the Hofbräuhaus starting in 1614. 'Ainpöckisch Bier' became 'Bock' in the local dialect.