Can you spot Big Helga?

Somethings are just meant to be right. Like the other day when an invitation to try a new offering from Matilda Bay Brewing Company hit the inbox.

Summer proper seems to have hit, so does one need any other reason to drink beer? Just ask Homer Simpson, "mmmm, beer!" So, with a couple of mates, we caught a train to the Transport Hotel to road test a few Big Helgas on a stinking hot day.

One of my friends was in search of, "a beer that tastes like beer", which, loosely translated, means beer that doesn't taste like water.

Matilda Bay have been around for while, bringing us well known beers like Beez Neez, Dog Bolter and Fat Yak. Operating since 1984, they have established a solid track record for fine, innovative beers.

I'll spare you the cheesy blurb introducing Big Helga, other than to say a dry Munich style Oktoberfest lager is what they had in mind. Did they nail it? Not quite. But what we did taste could quite possibly be the next generation in Australian boutique beers.

My friend searching for a flavourful beer loved it, what got my attention was that there was no one component standing out like a sore thumb, everything was in balance.

More than one local producer of beer has fallen in to the trap of singling out a particular flavour, be that of the hops, or in the roasting of the malt and letting it dominate, producing one dimensional brews.



But Big Helga had curves in all the right places.

A proper German style lager it's not, but one could rightfully say it's an Australian style lager of some finesse.

As you can see, it's a little cloudy, which means the interesting bits haven't been stripped out. Big Helga's a great girl with discreet charms, you should meet her one day.

Oh, and if you like the Transport Hotel, it's up for grabs too, much cheaper to buy a beer there though.