Beer of the Weekend #944: Northside Helles

I hope everyone is having a merry, safe, and healthy holiday season!

The beer of the weekend is another Iowa City–inspired and -brewed lager, which piqued my interest not only for the style but also its nod to history: Northside Helles, brewed by the Big Grove Brewery of Iowa City, Iowa.



Let’s do these notes old-school style.

Serving type: 16-ounce can poured into a pilsner glass. “11/03/2020” is printed on the bottom of the can.

Appearance: The color is light and hazy straw. A finger of dense, buttery head leaves a collar and even skim. Bubbles rise from the bottom.

Smell: Bready, earthy, yeasty, and light. It is grassy with light zest. It is reminiscent of helles, but it is not as grassy or sharp.

Taste: It mostly mirrors the smell. It’s bready, earthy, and light. There are flavors of grass and zest, which are present but light. The earthy bitterness is light but lingers. It has been a long time since I had a helles, but this doesn’t ring a bell. It may not be 100 percent true to style—which is understandable for a helles brewed outside of Bavaria—but it’s a good, drinkable lager, though.

Fun facts about Northside Helles:

• Style: German-style helles.

• Price: I likely shredded the receipt and can’t remember the price, but it was a four-pack I bought it at Gary’s in Mount Vernon.

• Alcohol content: 4.5 percent ABV.

• The beer’s description on the Big Grove website says it all, but it’s vague about the namesake: “Light in body, rich in history. This beer was made to honor the brewing legacy in Iowa City.”

• Speaking of Iowa City’s brewing legacy, the Northside neighborhood was home to three breweries, all within one block of each other, in the 19th century. The breweries and their owners are the focus of a recently published novel, Beer Money: A Tale of the Iowa City Beer Mafia.

• According to BeerAdvocate’s handy dandy glassware guide, the proper glass for serving helles is a flute. I don’t have a flute available, so I did my best.

The Quiet Man’s grade: C.