From mid-February, discerning beer lovers can take home the lofty blonde they met and fell in love with in Aussie bars late last year as Matilda Bay’s latest and greatest brew, Big Helga is released into bottle and available across Australia.
A Munich style lager, Big Helga is strong-bodied, well-rounded and full of character. It’s brewed with malted barley, producing loads of malt flavour. After being nurtured during fermentation the brew is dry hopped to produce a crisp bitterness and fruity fresh aroma.
Big Helga is complex in nature yet approachable starting with a clean and crisp mouth-feel complemented by well rounded malty notes on the palate. Balanced by a tropical fruit and slightly resinous hop bitterness, the finish is dry and refreshing.
Being a lager style, Matilda Bay Head Brewer Scott Vincent assures us his latest brew is not your stock standard lager.
“While something like 99.9% of the beers enjoyed in Australia are lagers, we’ve bucked the trend with Big Helga and brewed one which actually has shedloads of flavour, a bit of complexity and is still easy drinking,” said Scott.
She’s the perfect partner at BBQs where gourmet sausages (German of course) are on the menu, and is the ideal dinner accompaniment for curries, tapas, the occasional Thai salad and has even been known to pair with Mexican . . . she is nothing if not versatile.
For Matilda Bay, Big Helga is part of an on-going journey of discovery and exploration of the world’s greatest beer styles.
“While we’ve brewed a number of award winning beers, and some other cracking brews in our time, Big Helga is our first real attempt at a lager, and we think we’ve nailed it. She’s the perfect beer for lager drinkers looking for something a little bit more in their beer,” said Scott.
And how did ‘Big Helga’ come about? Well, the Big Helga story goes something like this…It all began when a Matilda Bay brewer went in search of inspiration and found it in a beer hall in Munich during Oktoberfest. Here, he fell in love with a lofty blonde beer maid named Helga. . . well that’s the story he told us anyway.
Helga, he said, through misty eyes and with a croaky voice, could carry 12 steins of beer while his mates struggled with two. Helga was large, certainly, but she had a heart of pure Munich gold. Helga, he reminisced, should come to Australia one day and meet his parents . . .
But alas, she never came. So he made a beer in her honour instead.
So here’s to you Big Helga! And while it’s not October (far from it), she’s enabled the Oktoberfest spirit to live on!
Big Helga available at Dan Murphys, Vintage Cellars, First Choice or other selected premium liquor stores in six-pack or a cases from mid-February.
Big Helga RRP is $19.99 per six pack or $59.99 per case
Big Helga ABV is 4.7%
Call us if you need more info, pics, beer or someone to chat to about the weather. We’re here…all the time, waiting for you to ring, drinking a little beer…
Kate Kriven | katekriven@liquidideas.com.au | 02 9667 4211 | 0416 924 061
Charmaine Glase | charmaineglase@liquidideas.com.au | 02 9667 4211 | 0419 840 464