What the Helles Going on? Sly Fox Helles vs. Red Oak Hummin' Bird

By: Jack Horzempa
(Originally posted on Beer Advocate)

Well, let me tell you what is going on. It has been a while since I discussed a side-by-side tasting in NBS so today is the day to do this.

I was fortunate that I was gifted a bottle of Red Oak Hummin’ Bird Helles beer. The bottle has a very appealing, colorful label as you
 will see in the photograph below.

I had a can of Sly Fox Helles Golden Lager in my fridge so this beer will be the ‘challenger’. The cool aspect of this can of beer is that it has a 360° top so you can pull it off and the can becomes a ‘glass’ of sort. As you will see in the photograph I will be using a glass for this tasting but I think this is a nice feature that Sly Fox provides.

Below are descriptions for these beers:

Red Oak Hummin’ Bird Helles BA description:

“From the brewery: Hummin' Bird is a Light Lager or Hell (Helles) similar to those found throughout Bavaria. We use carefully selected Pilsner Malt...then it is delicately hopped with imported Tettnang Noble Hops. Then we add a proprietary lager yeast strain which is not filtered out providing ones daily supply of vitamin B. Hummin' Bird is slow-cold aged for over one month resulting in a lush mouth feel.”

Sly Fox Helles Golden Lager from the brewery’s website:

11.5 OG 18 IBUs 4.9% ABV

A German-style golden lager brewed with imported German pils malt and Saaz and Hallertau hops. This light-bodied beer offers a gentle, dry finish. A perennial favorite in the Sly Fox pubs and our brewer's go-to session beer.

AWARDS: Bronze Medal GABF 2002


My wife was willing to help me with this tasting; she was the proctor for conducting a blind triangle taste test. For those of you unfamiliar with the triangle test you pour two of one beer in two glasses and one of the other beer in the third glass. The taste tester (me) then drinks from the three glasses and tries to identify the two beers which are the same. I was able to determine the two beers which were the same.

I then conducted my side-by-side taste test.

Served in my Spiegelau Lager glasses:

Appearance:

Red Oak: Straw colored with a fluffy white head.

Sly Fox: Ditto

Aroma:

Red Oak: A bready Pilsner Malt aroma.

Sly Fox: A sweet-ish Pilsner Malt aroma.

Taste:

Red Oak: Bready Pilsner Malt flavor; moderate-low bitterness.

Sly Fox: Sweet-ish Pilsner Malt flavor; moderate-low bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Red Oak: Moderate Carbonation with a soft mouthfeel.

Sly Fox : Lively carbonation with a crisp, clean moutheel accompanied by a dry finish.

Overall

Red Oak: I think this is an excellent Munich Helles beer. I appreciated the soft mouthfeel.

Sly Fox: I think this is an excellent Munich Helles beer. I really enjoyed the clean, crisp quality of this beer.

The principle difference between these two beers for my palate is the differing mouthfeel. I enjoyed both the clean, crisp mouthfeel of the Sly Fox Helles Golden Lager and the softer mouthfeel of the Red Oak Hummin’ Bird Helles. This is a Win-Win!!

Cheers!

Jack Horzempa is a longtime friend of the store and an extremely knowledgeable home brewer, brewing some of the best beer I have ever tasted. Jack's palate is well seasoned and he has been a valuable source of beer expertise to the store. He has graciously allowed us to re-post his review/posts from Beer Advocate where he has achieved Poo-bah status. Since joining Beer Advocate 12 yrs ago, Jack has posted more than 20,000 times and earned over 25,000 likes.