Mephistop-Helles

I can't say that Bavarian brewery Faust has appeared much on my radar, in Germany or beyond. It's always been there in the background but the only one of the beers I've tried was an Eisbock I found in Barry's cellar. Today I have two bottles of more regular fare, acquired in Molloy's off licence in Dublin.First up, in the pale blue and white livery that's standard for the style, Bayrisch Hell. I swear these didn't used to be all under 5% ABV, but here we are again at 4.8%. What happened to Bavarian luxury? It's brightly gold, perfectly clear, and has a fine head, if not a full and handsome frothy one. It'll do. The low-ish gravity robs it of fullness, and instead this is light and crisp, with lots of fizz and more dry grain husk on the malt side than the spongecake I prefer from Helles. There's an odd fruity ester kick; a little more clove than I deem appropriate, which suggests that the technical side of things may not be quite up to code. I would worry about this getting headachey…