Haimhauser - Kellerbier Hell

After a long day of being ruthlessly efficient and conforming to stereotypes I like to sit in my well ordered garden and relax. It is days like this that I truly understand the Germans. I've spent all day lugging heavy vegetables around while all around me people were purchasing sausages and BBQ equipment. I did not fuss, I simply got on with it and promised myself that when I got home I could sit in the sun and drink something light that looked happy to see me. I'd made sure that it was chilled perfectly as anything less than perfection just wouldn't do and popped the cap. The pour was a joy, bubbly and excitable with the perfect proportions of head, the kind you only ever see in the movies. The smell is lightly spicy, which suits its hazy blond body perfectly.

I have not had a helles in a long time.

Equal parts soft and citrussy, this is a joyful beer that must be enjoyed only when the conditions are right. A true German chugging beer that you should really be drinking out of a litre stein in front of a plate of meat, potato dumplings and sauerkraut. It's not complex but who needs complex on a glorious day like today? I've got other things to do with my time, just let me laze in the sun, basking like an iguana. Keller, I imagine, stands for "...that is as refreshing as being doused with cold champagne after 3 hours in a sauna," in German and bier stands for "beer."

The smoothness and drinkability of this is high level and there are biscuity undertones with only a very light hoppy zing. This maybe isn't the beer for everyone because some people prefer something that challenges them, which is fine because I'm often one of those people but sometimes I just want to lounge and I want to lounge with really well made beer that just makes me feel good about my life. Today Kellerbier Hell is that beer.

Food Suggestion: Currywurst or Wienershcnitzel with a mound of mash or a potato dumpling and enough gravy to drown in. Failing that, a sausage butty with caramelised red onions and your choice of pickle/chutney would go down a treat too.

Drink this if you like: Germany.